Proverbs 3:13-26
November 17, 2002
The Rev’d Quintin Morrow
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Fort Worth, Texas
www.st-andrew.com
“Be a Wise Guy”
The Text: Proverbs 3:13-26
The Text Outline:
I. The Worth of Wisdom (vv.13-18).
A. Wisdom is more precious than material wealth (vv. 13-15).
B. Wisdom’s benefits are more valuable than material wealth (vv. 16-18).
1. Long life
2. Honor
3. Riches
4. Happiness
5. Peace
II. The Work of Wisdom (vv. 19-20).
A. The Lord created wisdom
B. The Lord created the universe by wisdom
III. The “Will” of Wisdom (vv. 21-26).
A. The believer must order his life after wisdom (v.21).
B. The believer will receive rewards for wise living (vv.22-26).
1. Wisdom “will” result in life and grace (v.22).
2. Wisdom “will” bring safety (v.23).
3. Wisdom “will” result in tranquility and assurance (vv.24-25).
4. Wisdom “will” bring the Lord’s protection and confidence (v.26).
Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains
understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all
the things you may desire cannot compare with her (Prov. 3:13-15).
If you have, or ever have had, little children, you know the difficulty involved in teaching them the different values of money—the difference between quarters, nickels, pennies, dimes, and bills. This is because our currency is valued according to an abstract concept we know as assigned value. Assigned value is simply that action whereby an extrinsic value is assigned to an object which it does not intrinsically possess.
For example, holding out ten pennies to a four-year-old in one hand, and one quarter in the other, and then asking the child to pick a hand will invariably result in the four-year-old picking the hand with the ten pennies. Because the child is unable to conceive of how a quarter can have more value than a penny, ten pennies, to him, seem like more.
As this principle relates to another quite undervalued commodity these days, I fear that though we are adults we may be behaving very much like children. The commodity in question is, of course, wisdom. Some of our senior saints can recall a day when wisdom was highly regarded in individuals, when it was taught in school, and learned on a parent’s knee. But not today. Today it is clear that wisdom is not a valued possession at all, if it is even considered at all.
In Proverbs chapter 3 verses 13-26, King Solomon, the son of David, purported to be the wisest man who ever lived, is instructing his son concerning the unassailable, timeless value of wisdom. In this text, Solomon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, reveals the matchless worth of wisdom, the work of wisdom, and the “will” of wisdom, or the rewards, the benefits, of living wisely.
We must of course begin by defining what wisdom is and what it is not. Wisdom is not the necessary result of a good education. The world is full of well-educated fools. Wisdom is not academic achievement, a high IQ, or equivalent to “acing” the SATs. Quite simply, wisdom is skillful living.
Throughout this Book of Proverbs, which is a collection of wise aphorisms on how to live a blessed life, several Hebrew words and their related synonyms are used for the concept “wisdom.” The primary word, and the one used 45 times throughout the book, however, is the Hebrew word hokmah. The principal meaning of hokmah is “skill.” This same word is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to describe the superior aptitude of sailors, singers, craftsmen, administrators, and counselors. Thus we may confidently say that wisdom is that knowledge, which when acted upon, results in skillful living.
Wisdom is knowing the irrevocable results of an action before the action begins. Living wisely is living with intention, thoughtfully, choosing the right and avoiding the wrong—when the right is popular, and when it is not; when others are watching, and when they are not. Wisdom means living your life with God as your primary referent, with moral intelligence and discernment, knowing that real life as it is really lived is lived according to the unalterable law of sowing and reaping. Wisdom dictates that in this life what you give is what you get, how you treat others is how you will be treated, and righteousness results in blessing and sin results in heartache—every time. Living wisely means choosing the moral, and therefore often difficult, path, while avoiding the immoral, and therefore most often easy, path. The wise person lives with eternity in view, in such a way so as to produce glory for God and something of benefit to others.
Our passage from Proverbs chapter 3 begins its exhortation to get wisdom with a description of the priceless value, or the worth, of wisdom.
13Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies, And qall the things you may desire cannot compare with her.16 rLength of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.17sHer ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.18 She is ta tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who 5retain her.
The point here, of course, is that wisdom is more precious than any material wealth you can dream of. Its benefits are more valuable than the benefits of material wealth. Now, granted, this conclusion is not self-evident. Just as our children must trust us that two quarters have more monetary value than ten pennies, we must trust the Lord that wisdom is more valuable than gold, silver, and rubies. Solomon is telling us that if life offers you gold in one hand and wisdom in the other, by all means choose the wisdom. If a fork in our life’s road dictates that we must choose the road of fame or the road of wisdom, what ever you do, take the road that leads to wisdom.
And there is an irony about choosing wisdom over fame, fortune, pleasure, and power. Notice wisdom’s benefits—verses16, 17, and 18: long life, honor, riches, happiness, and peace. If you forego those things for wisdom, wisdom will eventually result in those things.
Next, notice that the admonition to get wisdom proceeds with the revelation that wisdom—order, righteousness, the law of sowing and reaping—was built into the creation by God from the beginning.
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens (3:19).
This is the work of wisdom. What it means is that wisdom is a constituent part of God’s character; and also that He infused this attribute into the very DNA of creation. Consequently, to reject wisdom and follow the path of foolishness is not only unnatural, but is also a rejection of God Himself.
And finally, we are admonished—verses 21 to 26—to pursue wisdom because of its promised benefits. This is the “will” of wisdom, or the rewards of living wisely. Notice that in six short verses, the word “will,” as it is associated with the wise living, is used eight times.
My son, let them not depart from your eyes—Keep sound wisdom and discretion; so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck. Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; for the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.
Wisdom will result in long life and grace. Living wisely will bring safety and security. Wisdom rewards its companions with tranquility and assurance. Ordering your life after wisdom brings God’s protection and quiet confidence in the midst of trouble. Not a bad bargain, that. Get wisdom, and then get all of these blessings besides.
One question yet remains; namely, where does one find this priceless commodity called wisdom? Three places.
The first is God. That’s not really a surprise.
Solomon begins his instruction about wisdom in Proverbs chapter 1 with the revelation that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. And James tells us in chapter 1 verse 5 of his letter,
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
One of the consequences we inherited from the Fall was the inability, apart from grace, to easily recognize right from wrong, wisdom from folly. Another was our inability, apart from grace, to choose the right and the wise, and reject the wrong and the foolish. In other words, we need help.
St. Paul reminds in Colossians chapter 2:
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
You can’t get wisdom apart from wisdom’s author. To find out what is wise, righteous, true, and beautiful, you must get your beak in the book. Honesty, integrity, thrift, character, generosity, fidelity, and loyalty always, always, always, bring blessing and peace in the end. And greed, immorality, selfishness, dishonesty, duplicity, and treachery always, always, always result in sorrow, heartache, regret, and destruction.
If you want to find wisdom, go to God and His Word.
Secondly, to get wisdom, learn from your past mistakes.
Wisdom’s schoolmaster is also called the School of Hard Knocks. The Book of Proverbs observes elsewhere that as a dog returns to his vomit, so too does a fool return to his folly. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Madness has been defined as doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.
It is the recalcitrant fool who fails to learn good lessons from the consequences of foolish choices. Negative consequences for foolishness are life’s lickin’ behind the woodshed to teach us what not to do again. If you are on marriage number five, and you have found all five of your previous husbands in bars, maybe you ought to try and find a husband somewhere else. If you have had several businesses fail because of dishonest partners, maybe it’s time to try a business by yourself. God designed the universe in such away that wise choices bring blessing and foolish choices bring disappointment and regret. But you’ve got to learning the lessons and correcting your heart.
Wisdom comes from learning from life’s mistakes.
Finally, wisdom comes from listening to our elders.
Our modern culture foolishly values youth, strength, and beauty over age, experience, and wisdom. According to Scripture, it is our elders that can teach us the best way to live a blessed life. Proverbs chapter 3 begins with this admonition:
My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.
Most of us as adolescents considered our own parents the stupidest creatures on the planet; we wondered how they got their pants on in the morning. We thought their sole job was to spoil our fun. But then we grew up. We matured. And hopefully we got a little wisdom. Then we realized that our parents and grandparents were smarter than we thought. And we realized that their restrictions arose from love and a desire to see us safe and happy.
Young people, listen to your elders. They’ve experienced more of life than you have. They’ve learned, usually the hard way, what works and what doesn’t. They’ve had disappointments, friendships sour, and businesses fail. They instruct you because they love you and want to save you some heartache. Which way is a better way to learn not to put your hand on a hot iron? Being told by another to avoid it, or putting your hand on it to see for yourself?
Proverbs says that it is a foolish child that ignores the instruction of his parents. Heartache invariably follows the rejection of parental rebuke. The fifth commandment says we are to honor our fathers and our mothers. Why? “So that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
Wisdom comes from heeding our elders.
The revelation from Scripture this morning is very straightforward: wisdom is a precious commodity and ought to be desired by God’s people more than anything else. The admonition, or the application, is likewise straightforward. Get wisdom. Whatever you do, get wisdom. Humble yourself; ask for it, seek it, and learn it. There is blessing and peace in being a wise guy.
AMEN.
