The Promises of Wisdom

Text—these are the very words of God

Proverbs 2 ESV

My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways. So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life. So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Introduction

There is a famous old preacher story that has gone around for sometime.

Maybe you have heard it before.

If not—today is your lucky day.

A young pastor went to visit an elderly man in his church on afternoon.

The pastor was very hungry because he had a busy day and had skipped breakfast and lunch.

The pastor sees a bowl of peanuts on the man’s living room table and he says, “May I have a few of your peanuts? I’m so hungry.”

The man says, “Go right ahead.”

As they talk, the pastor eats almost the whole bowl.

He realizes it and says, “Brother, I am so sorry. I was so hungry that I ate all your peanuts.”

And the old man said, “Pastor, that’s no problem. Since I lost my teeth, all I can really do is suck the chocolate off of them anyways.”

That horror story has been used again and again in preacher circles to warn each other about eating snacks on visitation.

It has also been used a sermon illustration to remind Christians that things are not always what they promise to be.

What appears to be appetizing peanuts is someone’s leftover legume spittoon.

But this morning we use it to say that God’s wisdom is not like that bowl of disgusting peanuts.

God’s wisdom does not promise to be one thing, only to be something else that is much worse.

Instead, we will see that God’s wisdom makes promises and then follows through on all it says that it will.

We will see that the promises of wisdom are promises kept.

Context

Chapters 1-9 of Proverbs is the first of seven collections in the book of Proverbs.

Much of Collection 1 is taken up by ten “heart to hearts” between Solomon and this son.

Chapter 2 is the second of those father and son talks.

Its focus is on what wisdom promises.

Outline

1. Wisdom promises treasure to those who find it (v. 1-7a, 9-10).

2. Wisdom promises protection to those who have it (v. 7-8, 11-19).

3. Wisdom promises life to those transformed by it (v. 20-22).

Treasure to Those Who Find It

1. Wisdom promises treasure to those who find it (v. 1-5, 9-10).

Metal-Detecting Illustration

When I was a kid, my father did what many other dads did in the 1990s—he got a metal detector.

He would take it to the beach and scan the sand early in the morning.

The impossible dream was to show up at family vacation breakfast and wave around a Rolex he found buried on the beach.

Inevitably what would happen is he would come back with about $1.63.

In fairness to my dad—he did find some pretty awesome stuff from time to time, as I am sure the rest of you do who are avid wavers of the wand.

I respect the game.

But much like the bowl of peanuts, the wisdom of God is not like a metal detector.

It does not give you merely the hope of finding treasure—a hope that often remains unfulfilled.

It gives you treasure every single time, if indeed you find it.

To find wisdom, it must be received (v. 1-2).

And if you want to find it, it must be received.

We see that in v. 1-2.

If you receive my words...

If you treasure up my commandments with you...

...making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding.

If you were to wonder, “What does it mean to truly receive wisdom?,” Solomon is telling you in these first couple of verses.

These three other actions described in the first two verses are just synonyms of receive.

To receive is to treasure, to make the ear attentive, to incline the heart.

If his son is truly receiving his words...

...Then his son will be treasuring up his father’s commands (v. 1)

...He will be tuning his ears to his father’s wisdom, the way we used to have to tune a radio to the right station—before we all got every song ever made streamed right to our phones.

This is what is meant by “making your ear attentive to wisdom” in v. 2

...His son will incline his heart to understanding.

The Hebrew word that translated to “inclining” is a word that was used to describe stretching or bending something.

Meaning, Solomon’s son is to bend his heart so that it will be able to grasp and comprehend the wisdom of God.

To bend toward God’s wisdom means to bend away from the wisdom of the world.

It is the same way with us and God.

We will treasure what God is saying through Solomon here knowing they are His Words.

We will receive wisdom by treasuring its commands, tuning our ears to it and inclining our hearts toward understanding.

To find wisdom, it must be sought after (v. 3-4)

Not only must wisdom be received, you have to seek after it.

You don’t just sit on the couch waiting for God to beam it down.

You go after it.

You call out for insight (v. 3)

You call out for understanding and discernment to come to you the way a child my call out for their parent to help

You raise your voice for understanding (v. 3)

You seek it like silver (v. 4)

You search for it like hidden treasures (v. 4)

Once again you see this idea of how Solomon expects his son to treat his wisdom like precious jewels and family heirlooms.

Silver. Hidden treasures.

You see the action in these verses.

Call out. Raise your voice. Seek it. Search for it.

Do you see how God expects us to pray for wisdom?

Do you see how God expects me to seek it in His Word?

Do you see how God expects that you would value wisdom the way rich men value the treasures of earth?

And do you see that if we are to really pray for wisdom...

Really study for wisdom...

Really value wisdom...

...Then we must intentionally seek it out?

Wisdom is not the growth of human genius. It must be sought from above.

John Calvin

God Loves to Give Wisdom

And here is what is so encouraging in this text:

It is that God LOVES to give wisdom to those who seek it from above.

Verses 6 tells us that God gives wisdom and that from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Notice how God gives the very things that are being sought after in v. 3 are found in the Lord in v. 6.

Verse 7 says God has stored up His wisdom so He can pour it out upon the upright.

It is like He has an entire wisdom warehouse that He is eager to give to those who:

Seek after His wisdom

And those who are eager to receive it

If/Then Rewards

And here is the promise if you do seek after it and receive it—

If you treat God’s wisdom like treasure, it will deliver treasure to you.

Now before you think I just became tele-fundraiser pastor, I am not talking about sowing financial seeds for financial return.

That is witchcraft acting like Christianity on your TV.

I am talking about seeking and receiving God’s wisdom like treasure and then finding that it is indeed a spiritual treasure to your poor soul.

Notice the IF’s in this passage.

IF you receive my words...

IF you call out for insight...

IF you seek it like silver...

This is showing the conditional nature of the promise.

If you do not seek after and receive wisdom—you don’t get the fulfillment of the promise.

But if you do...

The Treasure of God’s Wisdom

You will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (v. 5)

There is a cyclical nature to the relationship between wisdom and the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

If you fear God—meaning you regard Him with an affectionate reverence—that is where wisdom begins.

And yet, once you receive wisdom, you will understand more and more how important it is to fear the Lord.

Which means your affectionate reverence for Him deepens and then you grow in wisdom even more.

And this just continues throughout the Christian life.

What a treasure it is to find the knowledge of God in this way.

To not merely fear the Lord, but to know about Him and even better— to know Him.

You will understand righteousness, justice and equity and every good path (v. 9)

Solomon is alluding to what he already said in chapter 1.

He said that one of the purposes of Proverbs was to:

Proverbs 1:3 ESV

to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

One of the great treasures that wisdom deliver is the ability to live wisely with your neighbors.

This is what v. 9 is all about.

Wisdom will lead you to have the skill of living in a way that pleases God.

To live a life where you deal justly and fairly with everyone.

Wisdom will keep you off the path of the evildoer and on the path of righteous living.

You will have wisdom in your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul (v. 10).

When a person really finds God’s wisdom and receives it, it is implanted deep within their hearts.

It impacts not just the mind, but the soul.

The wisdom of God changes the heart so that the soul truly finds pleasure in the knowledge of God.

Is not verse 10 the testimony of Christian conversion that so many have in this room this morning?

Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, moves into the soul and replaces corruption with grace.

And by God’s grace, the heart goes from being God’s enemy to loving God’s knowledge.

Application

Friends—let me ask you this morning...

Not your neighbor.

Not your spouse.

Not your best friend.

I want to ask you...

Are you actively seeking after God’s wisdom like it is a treasure?

Do you really believe that it delivers treasure to you?

Everyone one of us is seeking and receiving:

Everyone of us watches news commentary...

Or we watch YouTube videos...

Or we listen to podcasts...

Or we listen to music...

Or we read a book...

And as we do these things, we are seeking.

And from these things we are receiving information that is shaping us.

The question for you is—are you taking in information that is filled with the treasure-giving wisdom of God or are you taking in the fool’s gold of the world?

The answer to your question is found in what your mind is filled with.

Is it filled with nothing but frivolous things?

Is it filled with nothing but anxiety and worry?

Is it filled with anger over the state of it all?

You need more treasure in your life.

You need the treasure of God’s wisdom to produce treasure.

Let us seek the wisdom of God like gold, silver and precious stones.

Let us have faith in God’s wisdom that it will produce spiritual jewels in our lives in how we worship God and love our neighbor.

Protection For Those Who Have It

2. Wisdom promises protection to those who have it (v. 7-8, 11-19).

The protection that wisdom brings is one of the most prominent themes in this second heart-to-heart between Solomon and his son.

We see some general protection promised and then two specific promises about protection involving two specific parties.

General Protection (7-8, 11)

Here are some of the general promises about protection in these verses:

For those who are walking in integrity (which they would only be doing because they have treasured the wisdom of God), God is a shield (v. 7)

He guards the paths of justice—paths walked by those who understand righteousness, justice and equity (v. 8)

He watches over the way of His saints who receive His wisdom (v. 8)

And for those who receive His wisdom:

Discretion will watch over them (v. 11)

Discretion is the ability to look at a situation and systematically make the right choice.

This ability will watch over those who are seeking out and receiving wisdom.

Similarly, Understanding will guard them (v. 11)

Their grasp of wisdom will be like a guard dog keeping evil things away from their lives

There is a practical protection enjoyed by those who have God’s wisdom operating in their lives.

Once again, this is the testimony of the Christian life, is it not?

When we are born again, the Holy Spirit makes us alive and takes up residence in us.

The Spirit of Wisdom dwells in the believer.

Well—the Spirit of Wisdom is the Spirit of Christ and when we listen to the Spirit of Christ, He will lead us into things that are good for our souls—not harmful.

If I sew into the flesh, I will reap the consequences.

Not only will God not be pleased, but sin will practically endanger my life.

Sin endangers the spiritual life—we know that.

But practically speaking, sin is poison.

Sin parades itself as something wise for you, but inside the wrapper is stupidity.

If I sew stupidity, I will reap it.

But the Spirit of Christ leads us to righteous living.

Loving living.

Humble living.

Obedient living.

And when we live like that, we are protected from so many stupid things that can harm our physical bodies and our spiritual hearts.

Furthermore, the Spirit has inspired the written word of God, which is wisdom to us.

And the Spirit helps us understand the Word, that we may have understanding and be able to live wisely.

So then, what we can say is this:

God has revealed His Wisdom in His Word and applied His wisdom by His Spirit to protect us believing and doing stupid, harmful things.

If you reject His wisdom and His Spirit, you are opening yourself up to be injured in every way possible, by those stupid and harmful things.

Ecclesiastes 7:12 ESV

For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

Specific Protection (v. 12-19)

But not only is there a general protection spoken of and promised in this passage.

There are also two specific promises made about two different parties.

The first one are men of perverse speech.

Men of Perverted Speech (v. 12-15)

The men of perverted speech outlined in v. 12-15 are very much like the hypothetical men that Solomon’s son was warned about in Proverbs 1, during his first heart-to-heart.

These were the covetous men who would lie in wait for the innocent so they could rob them and plunder them

They were in the business of murder, theft and sinful desire.

Proverbs 1:11–14 ESV

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”—

Here is what we know of the wicked men in v. 12-15.

They walk on the way of evil (v. 12)

They are perverse in speech (v. 12)

They forsake the paths of righteousness that wisdom has taught us to understand (v. 13)

They walk in the ways of darkness (v. 13)

They rejoice in doing evil (v. 14)

They delight in how wicked evil is (v. 14)

They have crooked paths (v. 15)

They have devious ways (v. 15)

In chapter 1, Solomon gave a hypothetical, but there is no hypothetical situation here.

These men are spoken of as a reality that is waiting just outside the door.

The dangers of men like this are two-fold:

Injury and influence

On one hand, Solomon’s son needs wisdom’s deliverance because men like this will injure him.

They will hurt him.

And wisdom will help you avoid situations where you are vulnerable to the devices of evil men.

Not always—but often.

On the other hand, Solomon’s son needs wisdom’s deliverance because of influence—there may be a temptation to join up with men like this.

The world can be a lonely place and people will take a friend wherever they can find it.

Even if that friend leads them into all sorts of evil.

Do you have any friends like that in your life this morning?

Maybe it is someone you are romantically involved with.

They are your last resort, but they are also dragging you into perversion and darkness and crooked paths?

God’s wisdom will deliver us by leading us to separate from people like that.

The Forbidden Woman(v. 16-19)

We have another threat in v. 16-19.

This time it is the Forbidden woman—an adulteress with smooth words (v. 16).

She forsakes the companion—or husband—of her youth and forgets the covenant she made with God (v. 17).

Her house is a house of death.

To walk the path to her house is to depart from the Lord (v. 18).

Those who go there do not come back.

Giving in to her temptation brings ruin and death to their soul—they do not find the path of life again (v. 19).

The Forbidden Woman will appear throughout Proverbs in a few different ways.

In particular, we will see her in chapters 5-7:

Proverbs 5:3–7 ESV

For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Proverbs 6:23–26 ESV

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life.

All of chapter 7 will focus on this woman:

Proverbs 7:4–5 ESV

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend, to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.

She is the opposite of Lady Wisdom, who is representative of Christ—the wisdom of God, calling out to us in chapter 1 and again in chapter 8.

Lady Wisdom will show you the paths of life.

The Forbidden Woman will lead you to death.

We’ve all heard stories of men throwing away their lives and their families for the allure of lust.

We have seen preachers lose their ministries because they went to this woman’s house.

We have seen marriages destroyed. We have seen legacies ruined. We have seen reputations obliterated by walking on her path.

From pornography to sinful flirtation to full on physical adultery...

Lust is an appetite run wild.

FB Meyer

Men—how do we make sure this would not be our end?

How do we make sure we would not make a shipwreck of our lives?

The answer is—be a hunter of God’s wisdom.

Receive it.

Beg God for it.

Incline your heart to it.

How do we make sure our boys don’t end up in destruction at the house of the Forbidden Woman?

Teach them wisdom.

You can teach them to fish.

You can teach them to throw a spiral.

You can teach them how to shave.

But teach them wisdom and they will be protected and guarded men.

Roofing Illustration

I remember around 6 years ago when we replaced the roof on this building.

The company we used had some guys who had been roofing together for a while. These were not novices.

So they got on the roof with no harnesses and they just started working.

We started getting phone calls from concerned citizens driving by:

You have men on your roof with no protective harnesses and they are going to fall.

We had to go out and tell them to use protective equipment so that our roof didn’t end up costing more than money.

The point of that story is that it is concerning to see people doing something without the proper protection.

It was alarming to see the guy climb the tower on Netflix with no protection.

It is alarming when a football player loses their helmet and dives in a pile with no protection.

And oh how alarming it is when we see someone trying to live life in this world without God’s wisdom.

If you are that man or that woman this morning, there is no reason to carry on in this way.

God’s wisdom is being held out to you this morning, if only you would receive it.

It promises to protect and protect it will.

Life To Those Transformed By It

3. Wisdom promises life to those transformed by it (v. 20-22).

Transformation in Verse 20

To see transformation in this passage, we need to look at v. 20.

Proverbs 2:20 ESV

So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.

Solomon does not say that if you receive wisdom you MIGHT walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.

No—He says YOU WILL.

There is something transformative that wisdom will see to in the life of the son if he receives it.

It HAS to be transformative.

No one is born walking in the way of the good and keeping to the path of the righteous.

Romans 3:11–12 ESV

no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

This is why Augustus Strong once said:

Sinners, like water, if simply let alone, will run downhill to ruin.

Augustus Strong

You and I fell IN Adam in the Garden and WITH Adam in the Garden.

We have been condemned from birth because we are born in sin.

We are condemned in our living because we choose to sin.

We will be condemned in our dying because we will be judged for our sin.

UNLESS—God does something.

And He has.

As we have already said this morning:

His Spirit makes your heart alive

Your born again heart repents of sin and trusts in Christ for salvation

By faith, you receive the gift of Jesus’ death for you on the Cross

He was punished for your sin

You receive His righteousness and are now counted as upright by God because Jesus died in your place

By faith, you receive the gift of forgiveness

Titus 3:5–7 ESV

he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

And by faith, you keep to the path of the righteous because God is preserving you with His grace and you are persevering in His grace by continuing to seek after Him.

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The Promise of Life

This is the life transformed by Christ, who is the Wisdom of God.

And For those who have been transformed in this way, they will inhabit the land.

They have life forever.

For those with integrity—they will remain in the land.

The word for land here means ground or earth.

For those who have been transformed by Wisdom, the are rooted in the land.

They have life.

They are growing.

And they will never be uprooted.

Matthew 5:5 ESV

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

The Promise of Death

But there is another side to the coin.

Verse 22 shows us how those who do not seek after and receive the Wisdom of God, they will be cut off from the land.

For the treacherous, who reject Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, and refuse Him, they will be rooted out of the land.

They will be judged.

They will be cast out.

Just as Adam was cast out of the Garden, they will be cast from having life itself.

Instead, they will experience the judgment of death.

For this is the wages of a sinful life.

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Need for Transformation

This means that every soul desperately needs that transformation that only the Wisdom of God can bring.

Every soul needs the grace that Christ, the Wisdom of God, pours out.

Every one who has ears to hear, must come and receive the grace that saves.

They must submit to the Wisdom of God.

There they find justification—they will be made upright.

There they find sanctification—they will be kept on the path of the righteous

And ultimately—there they find glorification—they will be rooted in the land forever.

They shall inherit the earth.

Conclusion

So then, as we close this morning, I want to ask you all:

Where do you stand with the wisdom of God this morning?

Have you sought it and received it?

Has Christ our wisdom saved you?

Is your life a life that has been transformed?

If you are not a believer in the Lord Jesus today, you don’t know wisdom.

And you don’t know God.

But all of this is solved by responding to the Good News of the Gospel.

There is a way to be saved.

Receive God’s wisdom.

Be transformed by His grace.

Live a life on the path of the righteous

Own the hope of a future rooted in the land forever—eternal life

And if you are a believer already today, may I ask you this question:

Have you strayed from the Wisdom that saved you?

Have you strayed from Christ who died for you?

Are you toying with the wisdom of the world which is not treasure and does not protect and brings death?

What you need this morning is what brought you to the dance to begin with.

You need the grace found in Christ the wisdom of God.

Count Him as treasure once more.

Count His words as your life once more.

Repent of going along with those who have perverted speech

Repent of settling for the fool’s gold of the world’s so-called wisdom

Ask God to put you on the path of the righteous once more

But whatever you do—do not go on stiff-necked.

Do not leave here trying to stiff-arm the Wisdom of God.

Don’t try to find treasure outside of it

Don’t try to find protection outside of it

And understand there is absolutely no life outside of it

All Wisdom promises it, it provides.

Believe this today.

The promises of wisdom are the promises of Christ.

And the promises of Christ are promises kept.