she raises her voice in the public squares;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,
in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
22 "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
and made my thoughts known to you.
24 But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
25 since you ignored all my advice
and would not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.
29 Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the LORD,
30 since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm."
Questions to consider:
- Where does personified wisdom cry?
- What three classes of people pay no attention?
- What are the consequences of ignoring wisdom?
- What are the results of heeding wisdom?
- How are knowledge and the fear of the Lord related?
- List the specific wisdom and instruction that you need to know for today’s situations.
Possibilities for prayer:
Solomon’s personification of wisdom creates some rather powerful imagery. The rejection of wisdom seems to lead to calamity, and when that strikes, people call out for wisdom, for knowledge and guidance--but it might be too late. Today, let’s ask to be people who cry out for wisdom each and every day. Let’s not wait until we are unable to figure a “way out” on our own, but instead be seeking God’s wisdom for our daily decisions. Let’s ask God to allow us to be people who are “at ease, without fear of harm.”
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