The Benefits of Wisdom
“My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you, if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding, if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure, then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity, to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul. Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity, from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness, from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil, whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.
It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits. None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life. So you will follow in the ways of good men, and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.”
“My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you, if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding, if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure, then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.” In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says that there is nothing new under the sun and boy, is he right! When we really go in for both wisdom and understanding, we discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. But notice, we need understanding to bolster the wisdom. There are all kinds of wisdom circulating, and much of it is rubbish!
Thanks or no thanks to our satellite dish, we are offered the opportunity to view programs on “Ancient Aliens,” promulgating the idea that someone from another planet has previously visited earth, leaving mysterious objects behind. We are invited to speculate as to the nature of these ancient beings, perhaps even to worship them. The Bible tells us that when Satan fell from heaven, one third of the angels fell with him, coming to earth and becoming demons. So much for ancient aliens-a perfect example of wisdom without understanding.
“For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity, to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul. Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity, from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness, from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil, whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.”
Many of us are cheating our children and endangering them spiritually! Why? Because we have chosen to believe that small children are incapable of memorizing Scripture; meanwhile, ask any small child to sing you the song about Barney, the purple dinosaur, and they will repeat it endlessly. I am blessed that I was raised in an unenlightened age in which Sunday Schools assigned memory verses to children. Each Saturday night, my parents helped me study my Sunday School lesson and learn my memory verse for the next day so that I could make a good showing in Sunday School. When I was confirmed in the Lutheran Church, we had to memorize large sections of Luther’s Small Catechism, including Luther’s emphatic affirmation after each of his statements that “This is most certainly true!” Later, when I wandered away from God, those Bible verses and Luther’s affirmations that would pull me up short of total self-destruction.
“It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits. None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life. So you will follow in the ways of good men, and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.” I can already hear the feminists in my audience screaming, “Male chauvinism! Why don’t they mention a forbidden man as well?” These verses are products of their culture. Obviously, there were women who strayed; that’s where the forbidden woman” came from, so there were also “forbidden men.” But for women in that time, the consequences of infidelity were horrific-they would be turned out of their husband’s home and possibly rejected also by their own families, leaving them to suffer and starve. But the point remains: stick close to God and you will be protected from seductive strangers of either sex.
APPLICATION: “For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be uprooted.” As I am writing this, my husband and I are embroiled in a situation involving a sister institution that has been badly mismanaged. Crooked individuals have been controlling the finances, resulting in corruption throughout the system and shortages of drugs and consumables so that those who do want to work effectively are hampered. One of those taking a stand for righteousness has recently seen his business burnt to ashes, and it is unclear whether this tragedy was due to an electrical fire or to arson by vicious opponents.
One thing is absolutely certain: God knows all the details of this situation and God will not allow the righteous to be removed. Even when we have no means of rooting out transgressors, God sees all, knows all, and is infinitely resourceful. The individuals who have mishandled things will answer to God.
Perhaps you find yourself in a similar situation. You have taken a stand for righteousness and now people whom you have not even suspected of wrong-doing are attacking you. Hang in there! Stay calm and trust God. God knows the human heart and God is the One who can sort things out completely. Trust God and He will work on your behalf.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to trust that when we are doing Your Will, You will guide us, lead us, and protect us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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