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The First & Last Step To Gaining Wisdom
7.17.22 [Proverbs 9:8-12] River of Life (6th Sunday after Pentecost)
In nearly every culture, in nearly every generation, wisdom has been held in high regard.
Wisdom has been coveted.
Revered.
Pursued.
Even today, names like Socrates, Confucius, & Gandhi are well-known and still respected today not because they accomplished incredible things, but because they demonstrated deep understanding about life.
The Holy Scriptures, too, agree that wisdom is of great value.
Wisdom is to be revered, coveted, and pursued.
Of all the books of the Bible, the book of Proverbs drives this home most powerfully.
(Pr.
3:13-15) Blessed are those who find wisdom…for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold… Nothing you desire can compare with her.
According to the book of Proverbs, wisdom offers (Pr.
8:18) riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.
But wait, there’s more.
Wisdom brings (Pr.
2:7) success, (Pr.
1:33) security,(Pr.
19:23) contentment & (Pr.
3:17) pleasant ways of peace.
(Pr.
19:23) Wisdom prevents some troubles from visiting your life and (Pr.
14:32) gives you reason to be unafraid of any calamity.
(Pr.
10:27-28) Wisdom adds joyful years to your life.
Today, we are shown the first & last step in gaining wisdom is: (Pr.
9:10) the fear of the Lord.
That makes gaining wisdom sound more than a little frightening.
But fear of the Lord is not like the fear of a monster.
It is a healthy respect, a deep awe, an abiding reverence of God’s greatness.
The greatness of his kingdom.
The greatness of his power.
The greatness of his righteousness.
And the greatness of his love.
Throughout the book of Proverbs, God makes it clear that he wants us to have this wisdom.
In fact, in this very chapter, God gives us an unusual illustration of wisdom and his desire for us to have this precious gift.
The Lord depicts wisdom as a woman.
She has built her house and prepared a feast.
It is marvelous.
Delicious meat and fine wine have been set upon her table.
She calls out from the highest point in the city to anyone who can hear her: (Pr.
9:5) Come eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
She sends out servants inviting anyone within earshot.
She is eager to share her table with total strangers.
Even simple fools.
Wisdom is generous & gracious.
What’s strange is the lack of response.
There is no stampede to her house.
We don’t read about a waiting list that is months out like the hottest restaurants.
What gives?
If wisdom is so desirable, like a delicious meal, why aren’t people pushing and shoving to get a seat?
If wisdom is held in such high regard, why aren’t more people taking wisdom up on her offer?
The key to unraveling this mystery is found in Proverbs 9:8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
In this verse there are two kinds of people: mockers and wise people.
We might think that mockers and wise people live totally different lives.
But what is fascinating here—so wise that it could only come from the Lord himself—is that mockers and wise people need the same thing.
They need to be rebuked.
Which implies they have both made big mistakes and they are unaware until someone shows them.
Solomon knew this from Israel’s history, from his royal predecessors.
Saul was Israel’s first king.
His great foe was the Philistines.
Early in his reign, he was preparing to fight the Philistines, as God had commanded him to do.
His men were (1 Sm. 13:7) quaking with fear because the Philistines had superior numbers and chariots.
Saul was waiting to attack until Samuel, the Lord’s prophet, came and offered a burnt offering.
Samuel told Saul to wait seven days, but on the seventh day, Saul became impatient and offered the sacrifices himself.
Now to you and me this may not seem like a big deal—but it as a very big deal.
When Samuel arrived the first thing he asked was (Sam.
13:12) What have you done, Saul?
Saul explained that his men were scared and that Samuel hadn’t shown up on time—which wasn’t true—and that he was afraid the Philistines would attack first and he didn’t yet have the Lord’s blessing.
Samuel didn’t buy it.
(1 Sam.
13:13) You have done a foolish thing.
You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.
When Samuel came to rebuke Saul, Saul offered excuses.
Contrast that with David.
David was Israel’s second king and in every way he was superior to Saul.
He was a man after the Lord’s own heart.
He wrote Psalms and was a courageous warrior.
But David was not perfect.
One spring night he was overcome with lust for his friend’s wife.
He leveraged his power & took her for his very own wife.
When he found out that she was pregnant, he did he best to cover his tracks, eventually ordering her husband to be struck down in battle.
Now to you and me, this definitely seems like a big deal.
And it was.
Such a big deal that God sent his servant, Nathan, to rebuke David.
When what David had done was exposed, he confessed his sin without making any excuses.
He did not just have a bad night.
He was (Ps.
51:5) sinful from birth.
He threw himself upon the Lord’s mercy.
Pr. 9:8 Rebuke a mocker and they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
How do you respond to rebuke?
When someone points out your sin, do you respond with repentance and gratitude?
More often than not we are like mockers.
We hate it when people identify our iniquities and hidden sins.
When someone points out that we are proud or impatient, a workaholic or lazy, greedy or a malcontent, a worrier or way-too-vain, like Saul, we make excuses.
We point fingers.
We are under a lot of stress.
We had bad parents or examples.
Society isn’t supportive of doing things God’s way.
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