Sunday July 19, 2026, The Promise of Wisdom Prov 2
Practical Wisdom for an Enduring Walk • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 43:20
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Introduction
Introduction
Revival is something many of us desire to see and pray for in the church.
Explosive growth of the church and spread of the gospel.
In February 2023, a group of students at Asbury Seminary stayed after chapel and continued to worship and pray. Over the next few weeks, Asbury and the town of Wilmore, Kentucky hosted 70,000 vistors as the “Asbury Revival” continued day and night. Up to 15,000 people were present on any given day between February 8-24.
3 years on from Asbury, the question has been raised, what was the result of this “revival?” What has its impact been on the church at large?
I don’t mean to denigrate something that held great significance for many Christians, because it speaks to something that I think we all deeply desire, to grow in Christ.
This raises the question, how does one grow in Christ?
What is the process?
Chapter 1 served as some what of a prologue for the book of Proverbs.
It teases the major themes of the book and what the reader can expect to be instructed about.
Chapter 2 is like a table of contents; a more detailed outline of the content of chapters 1-9.
It begins to answer the question of how we grow in Christ (what does growth, sanctification, and renewal look like?)
If we were warned against complacency in chapter 1, we learn how to be non-complacent in chapter 2.
“My son,”
This continues the theme of God speaking as a loving Father.
He is speaking to us about how we may grow in our relationship with Him as His covenant people.
Proverbs 2 lays out in common covenant language, the stipulations (our responsibilities) and sanctions (blessings and curses) regarding wisdom.
Consider the New Covenant in Jesus Christ: Membership in this covenant is by grace alone.
Nevertheless, it requires our commitment (faith) and ongoing participation in it (obedience).
In the same way, if we want to reap the rewards of the wisdom that God gives us, we must do our part (listening to and keeping God’s commands).
Grace is free, but we must still reach for it, run to it, and abide in it.
This requires decisiveness on our part.
And far from a cold and unemotional process, God wants us to see wisdom as a great good and full of wonderful promises.
The first promise…
Wisdom Promises Us Treasure
Wisdom Promises Us Treasure
1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
The means of gaining wisdom. Practices that we must undertake in order to enjoy the blessings of wisdom.
I have previously said wisdom is not automatic; it requires discipline and dedication.
Receive my words: [Receive It]
We should show the kind of eagerness that Mary, sister of Martha, or the Bereans, or even the Thessalonians had to gain God’s Word.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.
11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
Believe it/consent to it.
Treasure up my commandments: [Retain it.]
Memorizing scripture if you can (I am terrible at this) but remember the message.
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
The great value of God’s word should cultivate in us an active attention to the matter of wisdom.
Making your ear attentive…Inclining your heart: [Attend to it]
Dwell on the Word and apply it to your life.
Diligent thought and reflection. (Chewing on it like a cow chews on cud—getting the most out of it)
Call out for insight…Raise your voice for understanding: [Pray over it]
Leads to diligent prayer and supplication.
If you don’t have the understanding you want, ask for help.
Seek it like silver…Search for it as for hidden treasures: [Value it]
Diligent pursuit of all that is in the wisdom of God.
Like a prospector looking for veins of gold…when one is found, you can’t just leave it untouched. You want to get every nugget out of it.
In the face of every discouragement you continue on because what you are seeking is of such value.
This is an escalating process, demonstrating a continually increasing focus on the things of God.
If we want to take hold of the blessings of wisdom, we must have the right attitude: humility and devotion.
The question is, will you turn to Him? Because He won’t make you if you don’t want Him to.
In order to benefit from His wisdom in your life you must desire Him! Not hold Him at arm’s length.
This is a call to pursue God’s word with great abandon.
To be daily in the Word, not just when in church, but when we are alone.
Seeking to understand the whole counsel of Scripture so that we will not be like the Pharisees.
29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
To know the Scriptures is to know God and His power.
Knowing the Scriptures protects us from falling into heresies which over or under emphasize parts of the Scripture instead of understanding the whole counsel.
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 stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
The first result of this activity is that we will gain a personal relationship with God.
Not an intellectual knowledge of God, but an experiential, personal knowledge based on trust and love for Him.
When we understand the fear of the Lord; His holiness and his mercy, we come to know His great care for us.
We understand how great is the salvation that He has made for us in Jesus Christ.
And the more we understand this, the more we will love Him, and the deeper our knowledge of Him will become.
We come to see that He has not hidden himself as if he is the cheese at the end of a maze that we must travel to find Him.
He has revealed Himself to us, and He wants to have a real relationship with us.
We don’t need to be Bible experts, only earnest seekers.
He gives of the wealth of His wisdom freely to all who seek after it.
And so, the one who pursues wisdom diligently will find a fathomless depth to draw from.
God’s pours out in abundance what serves us well.
That wisdom will become a shield for us so that we can walk in a way that accords with His character and will.
To know God is never a matter of sentiment (a warm, fuzzy feeling in your tum-tum)
It is deeply linked to practical living.
We learn more of God through acting as he does (imitation and experience)
We learn it by following Christ’s example:
Sharing in His sufferings.
Keeping our eyes fixed on the hope He looked forward to.
Avoiding earthly passions as He did.
Rejoicing in all things as He does.
And we will find that God, through wisdom, will actively guard us from departing from His path.
Knowing God cannot be separated from the way we live our lives.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,
The second result is that we will be equipped for obedience and life with God.
God will set us on the right path by transforming us internally so that we can live well externally.
Wisdom will transform our minds. Pursuing wisdom will grant greater understanding of God’s ways.
God’s Word contains the fullness of knowledge that we need to lead godly lives.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
It teaches us how we may act in accordance with what pleases God.
Righteousness—the moral character of God.
Justice—the ethical character of God.
Equity—the practical character of God.
We will be transformed internally by wisdom as it takes root in our heart (sanctification).
Knowledge in the heart shapes our affections and motivates our actions
Now, we have been changed at the level of our desires.
God shapes our hearts to desire him more.
The things of God are no longer a burden, but a delight.
We will embrace the wonderful, countercultural view that good things are, in fact, good.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
What was the object of our search now becomes the source of our great pleasure.
Wisdom is pleasing.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.
12 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.
The focus of our hearts is on the right object.
It purifies our thoughts and affections which is the most powerful answer to the temptation to sin.
Resisting sin is never a matter of willpower alone, but a will shaped by a heart that loves God above all other things.
Obedience from the heart.
17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Transformed by what we are beholding, our Lord Jesus Christ.
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
With the proper equipment of wisdom and a heart transformed by wisdom, we will now transform our eyes so that we will see the right and wrong paths.
And we will be ready to walk in every good path.
Reflecting his character.
Delighting in His provision.
Assured of His protection.
If you seek the wisdom of God, you will have a relationship with Him, and He will change you from the inside out.
And wisdom will prepare you for life in this world.
And wisdom is so needful for us in a world twisted and broken by sin, and by the pursuit of it…
Wisdom Promises Us Protection
Wisdom Promises Us Protection
We need deliverance from the many snares and temptations that come for us.
We need wisdom to enter into our hearts; we need to enjoy its goodness.
Only this will preserve us and protect us from sin.
Our enemy is far more experience than us.
We should not be so arrogant that we think we will be able to resist ever scheme (that we are unassailable).
Once again, we are reminded of the terrible danger of bad company.
20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
First, we are threatened by the words of wicked men.
12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.
These are the same men of violence that were spoken of in the previous chapter.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”—
These men bear their bad character on their lips.
They spew venomous things against God and His people (revilers).
This isn’t just a matter of bad words or dirty jokes (those are obvious).
It can be good words that are put to use in overturning God’s order.
Words can be used to twist reality (we are well aware of this fact in our modern cultural conflicts).
Sometimes words can be twisted so that their meanings are flipped entirely upside-down.
Consider words like patriotism…racism…family…Jesus…what is meant and what is heard are not always the same.
We no longer have the guarantee of a shared understanding in a postmodern world.
Evil actors often smuggle bad ideas in using good words.
Wisdom gives us the clarity to see through it all. To hold fast to the truth and its Author.
They forsake the path of righteousness:
They are not ignorant about what they are doing.
They know his goodness and still reject it.
They choose to walk in the darkness because they love it.
They love their sin (heathens)
And they loudly proclaim and celebrate their departure from God’s way and try to convince or compel others to celebrate and affirm them in their sin.
So, they become ever more twisted in their sin and bent toward evil.
Sin always leads to more sin (escalation.
By embracing the wisdom of God, we will be well-guarded against the danger of wickedness.
16 So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words,
17 who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed;
19 none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life.
Adultery is the second danger that wisdom prepares us against; the danger of faithlessness.
In the Old Testament, Israel was forbidden from intermarriage with foreign peoples.
This was not because of any kind of ethnic prejudice.
Rather, it was a matter of religious purity.
The “forbidden”, or “foreign” woman is foreign because she engages in activity different from God’s standard, not because of what tribe she was born into.
If the Israelites were to marry foreign women, those who were not of the covenant people of Israel, then they would be increasingly susceptible to drifting away from proper worship.
We see this in no less famous a person than King Solomon, the wisest man ever to live.
1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
Solomon certainly knew better, but he didn’t practice wisdom better, and it was to his ruin and the ruin of Israel.
The foreign women represent more than just prostitutes and adulteresses, but anything that would seek to supplant the Lord in the position of our chief desire.
Lady folly, as she will come to be called, insinuates herself in our hearts by degrees, drawing us inexorably off the path of righteousness if she can.
Those who have departed from faithfulness often want you to join them (misery loves company).
Speaking pleasing words in our ears in order to turn our desires.
They may even appear outwardly like members of the flock.
She invites us more and more to follow after her.
Wisdom prepares us to see her words for what they are, and invitation to abandon proper relations with God.
And it reminds us where her path ends; death.
Conclusion
Conclusion
20 So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it,
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.
The psalmist places the issue of living a good life at the for of Psalm 119
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
Wisdom will be your salvation.
Saving you from the ways of wickedness that lead to destruction.
Be sure, God never winks at sin. He takes it seriously, and so should we.
Saving you to the blessing and inheritance of the holy.
“The Land” has great meaning to the children of Israel.
It represents the covenant blessing of God, promised to Abraham in his sojourning.
The stipulation on Israel was that they must keep the law of Moses in order to keep their inheritance.
In Christ, we have a greater promise, an inheritance (a land) with Him in the new creation.
An eternal inheritance (unfading, and imperishable) to look forward to.
And while we sojourn in this world by God’s wisdom, in His grace, we have good companions on the way.
The good…the righteous…the upright…those with integrity.
The church; we support one another and stir one another up to pursue wisdom and grow in Christ.
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
