Desire for the Truth Leads to Fearing God

Introduction

Solomon has appealed to his son in passages that will become very important.

Prov. 1:8; and especially Prov. 1:10;15.

He has also reminded his son that wisdom calls in a public setting and that there is personal accountability for a refusal to listen.

He has posed an alternative way to live:

Listening to friends

Getting rich through gang behavior

Dying early.

Life can be looked at transactionally, ie. it is strictly about getting money, having fun, belonging to a group, having physical intimacy. That is not how God made us to live, and it is not consistent with his revelation of how we are to live. Life is about more than the transactional business of life. It is about pleasing God; fearing Him, and living an ordered, righteous life within the boundaries of His commands.

This section of Proverbs presents this alternative.

What is at stake in the passages this morning is the irreplaceable importance of the will and the inevitable arrival at God for wisdom.

God is reliable and trustworthy. He is pure and holy.

A Second Appeal

Solomon personalizes this again, and makes an appeal to his son.

Notice, now, the “if” structure of the text:

If you receive and treasure (Prov. 2:1).

If you call out and raise your voice (Prov. 2:3).

If you seek and search (Prov. 2:4).

Following this order, we get the following sequence:

The son must first show proper respect for his father’s appeal to him to listen to his words.

The father can advise his son to live his life according to the wisdom of God.

But, it has to be something he values for himself.

There are limits to what parents can do for their children.

We can teach them and set an example for them, but we cannot make them value either our own guidance or the wisdom of God so that they seek it for themselves.

(bînâ). n. fem. insight, discernment, understanding. Describes one’s ability to wisely cogitate data that has been received; it moves beyond simply gathering information into the activity of discerning and judging its importance.

An Arrival at God

Prov. 2:5 transitions to the conclusion or the first apodosis of the conditional sentences.

Now, he reiterates the teachings from Prov. 1 especially on the matter of fearing God.

God is the giver of wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Consequently, to value wisdom and to seek it puts the seeker on a direct path with having to respect God.

To pursue true wisdom, then, brings the individual to God.

God’s word does not lead death and destruction.

It also does not lead to the destruction of ones life.

Instead, notice what the Lord is:

A shield to those who walk in integrity.

Guarding the paths of justice.

Watching over the way of his saints.

We can see beginnings in Prov. 2:11 ff the opposite of the circumstances presented in Prov. 1.