Proverbs 8 – A Short Study

Proverbs 8 – NIV

 ¹ Does not wisdom call out?
       Does not understanding raise her voice?

 ² On the heights along the way,
       where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

 ³ beside the gates leading into the city,
       at the entrances, she cries aloud:

 ⁴ “To you, O men, I call out;
       I raise my voice to all mankind.

• What are some ways that wisdom makes itself known to us?
• Notice that wisdom raises its voice “to all mankind.”

 ⁵ You who are simple, gain prudence;
       you who are foolish, gain understanding.

• There is hope for the simple and foolish.

 ⁶ Listen, for I have worthy things to say;
       I open my lips to speak what is right.

 ⁷ My mouth speaks what is true,
       for my lips detest wickedness.

 ⁸ All the words of my mouth are just;
       none of them is crooked or perverse.

• Real wisdom will never lead you astray.

 ⁹ To the discerning all of them are right;
       they are faultless to those who have knowledge.

• The ability to recognize wisdom when it presents itself says something about our discernment and maturity.
• As you grow in these qualities, truth will become more recognizable to you.

 ¹⁰ Choose my instruction instead of silver,
       knowledge rather than choice gold,

 ¹¹ for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
       and nothing you desire can compare with her.

• When might you need to choose wisdom over something else f seeming value?

 ¹² “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
       I possess knowledge and discretion.

• What is the difference between wisdom and prudence and how do they complement each other?

 ¹³ To fear the LORD is to hate evil;
       I hate pride and arrogance,
       evil behavior and perverse speech.

• Here is a good definition of “the fear of the Lord.”  – a definition from contrast – speaks of the result of fearing God = hating evil,

 ¹⁴ Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
       I have understanding and power.

 ¹⁵ By me kings reign
       and rulers make laws that are just;

 ¹⁶ by me princes govern,
       and all nobles who rule on earth. 

• How do we measure this quality when evaluating potential leaders?

 ¹⁷ I love those who love me,
       and those who seek me find me.

 ¹⁸ With me are riches and honor,
       enduring wealth and prosperity.

 ¹⁹ My fruit is better than fine gold;
       what I yield surpasses choice silver.

 ²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness,
       along the paths of justice,

 ²¹ bestowing wealth on those who love me
       and making their treasuries full.

• In what ways does wisdom reward those who seek it?

 ²² “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works,
       before his deeds of old;

 ²³ I was appointed from eternity,
       from the beginning, before the world began.

 ²⁴ When there were no oceans, I was given birth,
       when there were no springs abounding with water;

 ²⁵ before the mountains were settled in place,
       before the hills, I was given birth,

 ²⁶ before he made the earth or its fields
       or any of the dust of the world.

 ²⁷ I was there when he set the heavens in place,
       when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,

 ²⁸ when he established the clouds above
       and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,

 ²⁹ when he gave the sea its boundary
       so the waters would not overstep his command,
       and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

 ³⁰ Then I was the craftsman at his side.
       I was filled with delight day after day,
       rejoicing always in his presence,

 ³¹ rejoicing in his whole world
       and delighting in mankind.

• See role and order of wisdom in creation.
• God created wisdom FIRST. What are the implications of this declaration?

 ³² “Now then, my sons, listen to me;
       blessed are those who keep my ways.

 ³³ Listen to my instruction and be wise;
       do not ignore it.

 ³⁴ Blessed is the man who listens to me,
       watching daily at my doors,
       waiting at my doorway.

 ³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life
       and receives favor from the LORD.

 ³⁶ But whoever fails to find me harms himself;
       all who hate me love death.”

• Given the importance of wisdom, our response is obvious.
• The rewards for wisdom are great.
• The consequences of ignoring it are alarming.

Lessons from this Chapter

1. Wisdom is of vital importance.
2. Get it and use it.
3. Receive the blessings or take the consequences. It’s a choice.

More from the Chapter

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” – John 14:6

If you’ve ever been lost in real time in the world of flesh, bone, and blood, you have sympathy for the question of Thomas that prompted the response of Jesus. Thomas asked, “How can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way.”

Jesus keeps it simple.

In perhaps His most beloved parable, out of collection of parables on “lostness,”  Jesus tells the story of a lost son and a seeking father. It deeply probes the question of how far a father will go to show his love and provide direction for his children.

God is the model of fatherhood. He never stops loving, never stops seeking, never stops welcoming.

We can trust Him to guide us. He knows the way and He cares for us.

He is wise and wisdom has always accompanied Him in all His ways. Wisdom speaks:

“When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:” – Proverbs 8:27

He is the author of every direction:

“The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.” – Psalm 89:12

God gave us earthly fathers, in part, to remind us of His fatherhood and to provide us the earthly guidance that He wants to give us through His Word. He sends them to point us to that Word and to Himself through His Son.

At their very best, our earthly fathers remind us of the Father who loves us, seeks, us, and guides us with the compass of His Word, the North Star of His Spirit, and the incarnate Person of His very likeness, Jesus, the Christ.

On this Father’s Day, we honor those men who have pointed us in the right direction … toward God.

More on the Theme

Psalm 11:2  – For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

Wickedness lives in the midst of dark shadows. It attacks without warning and without rules of engagement. The snipers of sin and temptation align with the forces of discouragement, bitterness, despondency, and cynicism to derail our growth in grace and righteousness.

Satan would have us flee to the hills and abandon our God-given assignments. Or he would be equally pleased if we would take the battle in our own strength and suffer defeat at his hand. God calls us to take refuge in Him. His is the battle; He is our protector, defender, and friend.

Do not be discouraged, dismayed, or shocked by the sinister conniving of evil. Satan is an accuser and liar and hides in darkness. Bring every thought, motive, and deed to the light. Allow every memory that pains the heart to come into the brilliance of God’s grace. Then we can speak as forthrightly and with the same matter-of-factness as the psalmist. Then we can bring these matters that once caused us to tremble before a God who already knows and cares. Then we can take refuge in Him.

Psalm 11:3 – When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Who has not expressed such a lament in the recesses of a discouraged heart?  If indeed, the foundations are destroyed, there is not much the righteous can do. The righteous person depends upon foundations to stand under the weight of external conflict and internal stress. There are values and beliefs in which we invest ourselves. We call them ultimate and we hang our lives upon them. There are irreducible standards that we set for our families, our communities, and ourselves. When these are threatened, we are flung into chaos and spasmodic reaction.

We cry out to God in utter desperation and confusion. “God,” we cry, “ is there nothing that is sacred, nothing that is permanent, nothing that cannot be destroyed by the forces that afflict with without and within?” And God answers us that what we thought were the foundations were only part of the extended structure of our lives, that He is our true foundation and He will never be shaken. Paul concluded that no other foundation can be laid than that which is laid: Jesus Christ (I Cor. 3:11).

Anything else can be destroyed, but the believer whose life is planted in Jesus Christ cannot be toppled. Trust Him in the midst of the quaking of the earth and the battering of the storm.

Psalm 11:4a – The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.

When the foundations are seemingly being destroyed, God remains securely seated in His holy temple and rules from His throne. There is no interruption in His reign, no pause in His oversight, and no cause for concern by His subjects. He is the true foundation that cannot be shaken. He is our refuge. He is our sure protection in times of trouble.

Nothing escapes His constant attention. When, in the bleakest moments, all that is right appears vanquished, He speaks and the frayed strands of time and space come into their proper order. We are not a patient people. We are easily stirred from our strident faith. We become disturbed by the news, by prognosticating commentaries on our times, and by our own emotions.

We gaze into our problems with such intensity that we, for a moment, lose sight of God on His throne. But He is there. He has not moved. He will not be displaced, replaced, or ultimately ignored. The greatest relevance in the universe is that God is active and alive in His Holy temple supervising and involved in the affairs of men and women. Tune your hearts to that reality today and live in joyful confidence in God.

Psalm 11:4b – He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them.

God is watching. There is a popular song that announces that truth but distorts it with the words, “from a distance.” That is only half-true. There will always be a distance between God and man because He is God and we are men – but that is a distance of essential nature that Jesus bridged and brought us into intimate fellowship with the Father. Even those who do not know Him are known by Him for He is as imminent as He is transcendent. 

Some envision a God so far away that He requires a telescope to observe us, but it is with His eye that He watches and nothing escapes His notice.

He examines us with such divine scrutiny that all is known, even that which our hearts cannot acknowledge in awareness. Knowing that God knows frees us in prayer to be absolutely honest. It liberates us from the limitations of language to open ourselves to Him. He knows every circumstance and every deed done in darkness or in light. He has all the information and, in His wisdom, is the only true and reliable interpreter of history and current events. It would behoove us to withhold judgment until He speaks in a matter for we see only within a thin spectrum of all that is. He sees all.

Understand that as you meet Him in prayer today.

Psalm 11:5 – The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.

Does this bother you? Are you disturbed by the psalmist’s assertion that there are people who God’s soul hates? Let me ask you this: at your best, how do you feel about that part of you that loves wickedness and violence? Do you not repudiate that false self within you in order to embrace the Christ-life which is the truth about who you are and who God made you to be? Doesn’t God know that the false self within you wars against the true you that He loves passionately and sacrificially? We must embrace this paradox in our understanding of God if we are to fully appreciate His love. It is love that produces this level of hate because it is wickedness and violence that destroy those made in the Father’s image. He despises that which destroys what He loves. Ask Him for a special grace today to hate within you that which destroys you and your relationship with Him and know that His love for you is so deep and strong that He will fight for you against all wickedness and violence.

Psalm 11:6 – On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.

There is another dimension of this hate that God has for the wickedly violent: judgment. When we try to assign human emotion to God it is called “anthropomorphism.” That is a complicated word that means any attempt to understand something other than a human being by human standards. God’s hate is not man’s hate. Man expresses arbitrary hatred based upon emotional considerations (or lack thereof). God’s anger is against anything that goes against Him and it is expressed in wrath and judgment. Even that is paradoxical for He is, at the same time, actively and lovingly reaching out to the individual who is embroiled in sin and rebellion. He judges the sin and the sinner while sending His Son to take the penalty upon Himself and pleading for all to come to repentance. When we would understand the horror of the wrath of God, physical descriptions are required to impress upon us how awful it is to come under His judgment. The reality is more horrible. To go against God is to place ourselves in the concentrated path of all the evil He is flushing out of a sinful world to fashion His Kingdom. Take this truth and embrace it. In Christ, you are not under judgment. Cheer for the triumph of God’s will and invite all that will hear to come into His merciful grace. Pray for the victory of truth, righteousness, and holiness in your own life and in the life of your community.