Proverbs 9 (New King James Version)
1 Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars;
2 She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table.
3 She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city,
4 “ Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
5 “ Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding.
7 “ He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
10 “ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”
13 A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing.
14 For she sits at the door of her house, On a seat by the highest places of the city,
15 To call to those who pass by, Who go straight on their way:
16 “ Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
17 “ Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.
I relate verse 10 to a story I heard John Bevere tell in one of his messages. This may not be an exact retelling, but I hope it is close enough to convey the point:
John Bevere was visiting a man who had lost his position in an influential ministry. John asked him when he had stopped loving God. The man responded that he had never stopped loving God, but that he had stopped fearing God. I think this honest self-evaluation is important for us as 21st Century believers. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If we lose that reverential fear, foolish thinking and behavior will follow. These are dangerous times we live in, days when we need God's help more than ever. Wisdom and understanding comes to those hearts that "fear" the Lord. That's our heart check for today's Proverb.
Proverbs 9:10 (New King James Version)
10 “ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
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8 comments:
Verses 8, 9, and 10 spoke to me today. They reveal a couple of things to me. They show that wisdom is not a destination, but a journey. It is the result of a series of day to day decisions we make. We exercise or walk-in wisdom when we take the “understanding” and “knowledge” we have and choose to apply them to our lives. When we have the “fear of the LORD” we understand that His commandments are not suggestions, but commandments. We also understand that we will not truly walk in the blessings of God unless we follow His WORD. Just like faith, I believe wisdom is incomplete without works. James 2:17-19 tells us this about faith.
“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”
If we have wisdom and knowledge and do not apply it, have we accomplished anything? Proverbs seems to show us two distinct paths to follow, that of God or wisdom, and that of sin and destruction. If we know the wise or Godly thing to do in a situation, and choose not to do it, which path have we taken? I have been guilty of choosing the wrong path on more than one occasion (too numerous to count actually), as I believe we all have. The other thing I love about these verses is that they speak to this “human” condition we have.
Verses 8 and 9 show me that GOD understands our humanness. They show that even though we are walking in wisdom and applying the understanding we have it is possible for us to miss the mark and head off in the wrong direction. If this were not the case, the wise would not need to be rebuked. When corrected or “rebuked” about this misdirection verse 9 says the wise will become wiser and increase in learning. Verse 8 says that the wise love the one bringing the correction. Why? Because the wise want to walk blamelessly before the LORD and they know the rebuke and correction is to help them get back on the correct path, and that is the desire of their heart.
None of us are perfect, but wisdom does not demand perfection. We cannot walk in perfection, but we can walk in wisdom. We can take the knowledge and understanding we have and walk it out, step by step, day by day. We need each other to come along side and help us walk in these paths of wisdom. I count it a joy and honor to walk along side each and every one of you in this journey.
This chapter really grabbed my attention today. After reading Pastor Dave's comments, I wonder if I myself have ever stopped fearing God. The answer is of course, Yes. It is not a good place to be when you do not fear God and seek his wisdom and understanding. There is no way that we can be perfect. We will never be "sin free." This is why even wise men must be rebuked. HOwever, this does not mean that God does not love us or that we are loosing favor. It has taken me a while to learn that. It is no different than me correcting a child in my class. Some children hede the correction and correct the undesirable behavior. Others need to be corrected over and over again. Those students usually end up alone in "time-out." Yes, this is a simple example, but God warns us that we too will end up bearing it alone if we choose to scoff rather than receive correction. I want to be a person who desires to be corrected and have undesirable behaviors replaced. To do this, I must give God access to my heart and must take his rebuke as it comes and not question it. Perhaps for me that is the most difficult part, as my nature is to always ask "why?". This is what I took from this chapter. I hope this makes sense to you all.
Yes Joni, it make sense...good post! Thanks!
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Bruce Waltke writes, “What the alphabet is to reading, notes to reading music, and numerals to mathematics, the fear of the Lord is to attaining wisdom.” If I truly want to pursue wisdom, I must fear Him!
I have to be honest – I struggle with understanding what fearing God really means. I understand that it isn’t a fear like a victim feels with his perpetrator. It isn’t a fear that makes Him unapproachable or distant. It has to be an understanding of who I am in relation to Him. I am a sinner, while He is righteous. I am filthy, and He is holy. I am weak, and He is powerful. I am creation, and He is the creator. I am helpless, and He is my Savior. I am subject to His judgment, and He is my judge.
I never want to flippantly enter His presence. I want to come before Him with clean hands and a pure heart. I can do this because of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Only because of the forgiveness that He freely offers me can I approach the throne with confidence. I truly am nothing apart from Him. And I have no righteousness in me apart from Him.
It is sobering to realize that I am so undeserving of an intimate relationship with the Creator of the universe! I have the ability to enter the presence of a holy God every minute of the day! And I am such a sinner! Thank you, Jesus, for providing a way for us to get to the Father and for teaching us how to feast with wisdom rather than folly.
Great comments from everyone! I don't want to forget today's lessons. I know I will need correction, but I want it to be through His voice, not through extreme measures, like time-out! :) I have struggled with the concept of "fearing God", but I know from my natural ability to disobey what is like to say I love God, and not obey His Word. I want to stay on a path of increasing obedience.
I have been blessed studying God's word with you each day. All of your comments are awesome!
Chris, thank you for the sermon--I needed to be reminded of those things. And Joni, yes, your comments make sense. I've been in my own "time out" with God, when He's had to correct me. It hurt while I was there, but it was a necessary time to stop, re-evaluate, repent, and then MOVE ON and walk in forgiveness.
Hey! Thanks so much for the comments! What a blessing to hear the message impacted your life! Awesome message from you in this too!
Godspeed,
Messenger International
Check out the blog http://messengerinternational.blogspot.com/
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