But whoever listens to me

will live in safety and be at ease,

without fear of harm

Proverbs 1:33

the subject for today is:

Wisdom personified

Let us again open the Bible and read some from it

Today from: Proverbs 1:20-33

Proverbs 1:20-33

²⁰Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets:  ²¹She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she utters her words, saying, 

·        ²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

·        ²³Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. ²⁴Because I have called, and ye refused;  I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;   ²⁵But ye have set at nought all my counsel,and would none of my reproof:  ²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;  ²⁷When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

·        ²⁸Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:  ²⁹For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:  ³⁰They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.  ³¹Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.  ³²For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.  ³³But whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Dear Friends,

Before going deeper into the Proverbs, it will be helpful if we acquaint ourselves with some of the background material to the book - hence, in these opening days the messages will be more introductory than expository.

You can't get far into Proverbs before you begin to notice a peculiar thing - wisdom and its opposite, foolishness, are personified as women, Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly, each of whom attempts to persuade people to follow her ways.

This personification of wisdom and folly is a literary device which the writer uses to add punch and power to his points. We use a similar form of expression when we personify natural laws and refer to them as "Mother Nature."  For example, we may hear people say "Mother Nature is bringing out the spring flowers," or, "Mother Nature is doing her thing." It is a poetic and colorful way of referring to the principles and laws which guide and govern our universe.

Notice how wisdom is personified in these words taken from the passage before us today: "Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech" (Prov.1:20-21).

Later on in Proverbs you will see how similar language is used of Lady Folly. The purpose of this personification is to make the reader vividly aware that over and against the fatal attraction of folly, wisdom brings true delight.

Wisdom is the soul's true bride, true counselor and true hostess. Wisdom is good for us; it is what our personalities were designed for.

PRAYER:

O Father, help me to grasp the truth that I am made for a certain way of living - Your way - and when I try to live against that way, then I am nothing but a fool. Make me wise, dear Lord, with the wisdom that comes from You. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

Eccl.2:1-26; Job 28:28; Dan.2:21          

1.       What is compared to light and darkness?

2.       What does God grant to the man who pleases Him?

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