Proverbs 9

I was reading Proverbs 9 in my quiet time this week.  Something struck me that never occurred to me when reading this passage before.

The first section (verses 1-12) describe wisdom, the pursuit of wisdom, and the result.  The second section (verses 13-18) describe folly (foolishness), the pursuit of folly and the result.

Here are some keys on Wisdom:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  (9:10 emphasis supplied);

Obviously, we aren’t talking about “fear” in the sense of “I’m scared.”  Instead, we are talking about “fear” in the sense of respect, honor, acknowledgement of power.

“For by me [wisdom] your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you.”  (9:11).

So if I seek wisdom, by seeking the Lord and the very knowledge of the Holy One, then my days will be longer.  Perhaps this is because I will seek out the things of God.  Perhaps it’s because I’ll make less mistakes as I listen to God’s call on my life.  Perhaps it’s because this is God’s plan for me, i.e. that I should seek Him out, and reverence His plans and direction for my life.

Finally, verse 8:  ”Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.”

The reason a “wise man” (that is a man seeking after knowledge of the Holy One) will love you if he is “rebuked” is that he is truly seeking out after God.  If he is taking the wrong steps (perhaps not understanding yet the principles God has for him) then he’ll be please to have gentle correction.  Why?  Because his true goal is to seek the know the Holy One.  This is always a difficult thing for us when we see a brother or sister simply seeking out things that are not Godly. So we stand silent.  Are we being judgmental if we say, “Look, this is just wrong based upon the Word of God.”    When you rebuke are you doing so out of love or out of judgment.  Sometimes we just hold back, thinking, “Who am I to say anything.” Men, this is one of our biggest mistakes with our friends when we find out that they are messing around (or sounding like they are considering it).

The next verse is pretty instructive.  ”Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;       Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.” (9:9) Understand that the premise here is that we are dealing with a man who really seeks to know God fully.  Not a pretender.

Tomorrow, I’ll compare the description of “folly” and show you what struck me when reading this as never before.

Till then,

Dan