The Value of Wisdom (Proverbs 2)
Why is wisdom so valuable? Proverbs 2 gives us some answers and has two primary purposes.
Proverbs 2
Today's Scripture Passage
A Few Thoughts to Consider
Why is wisdom so valuable?
Proverbs 2 gives us some answers and has two primary purposes. As Bruce Waltke notes, “The father’s important second lecture tells the son both how to know God…and how to achieve the book’s key to understanding: the fear of I AM.”[1]
According to David Hubbard, “No chapter in Proverbs is more tightly knit than this.”[2] Hubbard goes on to explain why. “Read in Hebrew, it is virtually one continuous sentence. Since the number of its lines (and verses) is twenty-two it may be designed to mirror the completeness of the Hebrew alphabet, whose twenty-two letters form the framework of the acrostic (alphabetic) song in 31:10–31.”[3]
In verses 1-5, the author says,
1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 listening closely to wisdom
and directing your heart to understanding;
3 furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it like hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and discover the knowledge of God.
This passage shows us that wisdom is something to be pursued and stored up. It isn’t something we instantaneously receive when we become a follower of Christ. Many Christians lack wisdom. They know God but do not handle relational conflict well, struggle with their finances, and often leave themselves open to temptation by entering into situations they should avoid.
“To be wise,” as Timothy Keller says, “is to recognize multiple options and possible courses of action where others can imagine only one or two.”[4]
