Proverbs 2
Proverbs 2
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Value of Wisdom
1 My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
4 If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
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 uprightly;
8 He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.
10 When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
11 Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
16 To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
19 None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
20 So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.
My Thoughts:
- So let’s start with (v. 4) we read “ If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;”
- “seek her” in Hebrew the word for wisdom is feminine and personifications of wisdom. And we must seek her as silver; it is necessity for an active endeavor to gain wisdom. We must dig for this saving knowledge just as the earthly search is for earthly things such as silver.
- In (vv. 6-7) we read “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 uprightly;”
- This is the reason any man that truly seeks wisdom will achieve it and that is because, God gives each person that seeks the truth what he is seeking. He is impelled by His love ti reward all that turn to Him.
- When I read “walk upright I think of (Job 1:1) we read that “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” I hope to be remembered as a man such as this.
- Let’s finish with (vv. 21-22) “For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.”
- What comes to mind when you read (vv.21-22)? For me it is (Matthew 25: 32-46) “32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels;…46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Thought of the Day
No one can search the Scriptures in the spirit of Christ without being rewarded. When man is willing to be instructed as a little child, when he submits wholly to God, he will find the truth in His word. If men would be obedient, they would understand the plan of God’s government. The heavenly world would open its chambers of grace and glory for exploration. Human beings would be altogether different from what they now are, for by exploring the mines of truth men would be ennobled. The mystery of redemption, the incarnation of Christ, His atoning sacrifice, would not be as they are now, vague in our minds. They would be not only better understood, but altogether more highly appreciated. – Ellen White {COL 114}
Personal Reflection and Discussion
- What do you think (v. 15-19) are saying?
- What other things do you see in the text?
Prayer Activities
- Call your Partner and discuss this devotional.
- Continue to have a prayer list and continue to praying for them.
- Pray with them and ask for the following;
- For God to help us in our search for wisdom.
- For God to give us the understanding and the knowledge of His plan for salvation.
- For the individuals on your pray list.
- Let’s use (Nehemiah 8:11) for today’s prayer verse.
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Chapter 2 tells us that wisdom must be accepted. We must seek wisdom out and the place to find it is in God’s word. It then follows with the warnings against the strange woman. The warnings against the strange woman, the immoral woman or the adultress come often in these verses. The way of evil is in direct contrast to the way of wisdom and the strange woman is a way to evil. Evil is characterized by perverse things. Lies, deception, darkness,and deviousness are some of these listed. The strange woman represents prositution and adultry. It seems many ancient middle eastern fertility cults included sexual practices in their worship rituals. Proverbs was and still is designed to be a teaching tool for young adults. That does not mean it applies to only the young though. We should all strive to be remembered as an upright man such as Job. Personally, I feel you are on the right track,Pastor. Just remember to always walk in the Spirit.
I was preaching on Jeremiah 18:1-6 this weekend and the one thing that keep coming up was we are all under construction. Sometimes we forget this and think that just because we are the head elder or the Pastor we have made it and the truth is we will never be there until the return of Christ.
First we need to have the fear of the Lord, before the Knowledge of God. How can we know God with out first recongizing and respecting his authority and power. I invision wanting to know God better as apporching His throne; we would see Him seated as King over all with beauty (light and rainbows) and power (lighting and thunder) not to mention all the mighty host surrounding Him and showing him honer…how can we not first recognize who it is we’re approaching. The Bible says come boldly before the Lord with trembling. Know that he is Good; come humble and He will recieve you and teach you. Try to teach someone who is proud; it’s almost a lossing battle. They need to want to be taught. If they don’t see a need for it, it’s not taking root.
Some think being a Chrisitain requires blind faith; this is a good example of God wanting to reason with us. Empty works don’t count….just giving the right answer to the questions, or doing the right thing at the right time isn’t really enough. God is looking for the right heart and understanding first and foremost. With the right heart then we would “understand righteousness, judgement, and equaility; yeah, every good path”, Prv. 2:9 The good path leads to life; vrs 20-22. How can we expect to come into heaven without showing respect and honer for the One who offers us the invitation, guides us there, fits us for the occasion and sits us at His dinner feast as honered guests; we first need fear… or it proves we’re not deserving of His grace.