and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18 Surely her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the just
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
Questions to consider:
- What is (a) God’s and (b) your part in your understanding of wisdom?
- Relate wisdom and silver
- Who is the source of wisdom?
- How do righteousness, justice, and equity relate to wisdom?
- What are the benefits of possessing wisdom?
- What is your attitude toward wisdom?
- Why do you need wisdom today?
Possibilities for prayer:
Solomon seems to suggest here that we need to “cry aloud” for wisdom--which means crying out to God, the source of wisdom--in order to receive it. Solomon also gives lots of reasons why wisdom is an excellent thing to have. Today, let’s take some time to cry aloud for insight and understanding, for wisdom, from God. Let’s seek after this great gift as though, as Solomon writes, it was a hidden treasure, and embrace the good things that wisdom from God brings into life.
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