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2applying your heart to understanding 5then you will ' find the knowledge of
God. Proverbs 2:2 and 5
the subject for today
is: So wise - yet so
foolish!
Let us again open the
Bible and read some from it Today from: Proverbs
2:1-11 |
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Proverbs
2:1-9 (AV) 1My
son, if you will receive my words, and hide my commandments with
you; 2So that you incline your ear unto
wisdom2.1,
and apply your heart to understanding2.2;
3Yes, if you cry after knowledge, and lift up your voice for
understanding; 4If you seek her as silver, and search for
her as for hidden treasures; 5Then shall you understand
the fear of the LORD5.3
(JaHWeH),
and
find the knowledge of God5.4.
6For the LORD (JaHWeH)
gives
wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler
(shield)
to them that walk uprightly. 8He keeps the paths of
judgment, and preserves the way of his saints. 9Then
shall you understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every
good path. 10When
wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep
thee So
that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to
understanding; 2.1)
So that you incline your ear unto
Wisdom. Listen to Wisdom, that is, Christ; or rather to the
instruction of Wisdom, which is the Gospel; so called, because it is the
produce of divine wisdom. A produce what the wisdom of man could never
have devised, and which it even opposes; and in which there is a most
glorious display of the wisdom of God, in the justification and salvation
of his people by Christ (1Cor.2:6,7). It is worth listening
to with the greatest attention. This is what is designed by this
expression. 2.2)
Apply your heart to
understanding; this is: to a spiritual and experimental
understanding of the Gospel, and the truths of it: for an inclination of
the ear, without an application of the heart, which signifies the
intenseness of the mind, an earnest and hearty desire after knowledge,
will signify nothing. A hypocrite
may seemingly hear with great attention, and show much affection, and yet
his heart 5.3)
Then shall you understand the
fear of the Lord. The grace of fear, and the exercise of it:
which is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, and is a treasure itself
(Prov.1:7, 9:10;
Isa.33:6). It is the
Gospel which induces and encourages a true filial fear of God, by which
men depart from evil; for
that teaches them to deny all manner of sin, and to live a godly life and
conversation: so that through a diligent search after the knowledge of the
Gospel, and an attaining it, men come to have a spiritual, experimental,
and practical understanding of the fear of God as a
grace. And also, as
it includes the whole worship of God, by means of Gospel light, they come
to understand ·
what sort of worship that is God is to be
worshipped with; that it is pure, spiritual, and evangelical, suited to his nature and
will: ·
what the ordinances of divine service are;
and that these are to be kept as they were delivered, and in the exercise
of faith, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory, of God,
without trusting to them or depending on them for
salvation. And this is
the advantage arising from a diligent search after the doctrine of wisdom,
or the Gospel, and a knowledge and understanding of it; and is used as an
argument encouraging to it; and another follows;
5.4)
and find the knowledge of
God. Such a knowledge of God as is not to be found
by the light of nature, in the whole volume of the creatures, and in all
the writings of the philosophers; not even in the law of
Moses. For though
much of God and his perfections may be seen and known by the things that
are made, and much of the will of God by the law he gave; yet by neither
of these is the knowledge of God in Christ, which is life
eternal. This is only
to be found in the Gospel, and by means of it; here only it is brought to
light; and through this men not only find it, but increase more and more
in it: herein is a glorious display of his persons and perfections, of his
counsels and purposes, of his covenant and promises, of his mind and will,
with respect to doctrine and worship; and of the way of peace, life, and
salvation, by Jesus Christ; which must serve greatly to engage and excite
persons to a diligent search and pursuit after it. And all that is here
said is designed to encourage a diligent search after divine things; for,
as the poet says, “there is nothing so
difficult but by searching it may be found
out.” |
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Dear
Friends, Permit me to explore a
little of Victor Frankl's thinking. Although now a well-known
and highly respected psychiatrist, Frankl seems unable to accept the
divine perspective. Listen to this: "The reason so many people are unhappy is
because they fail to understand what human existence is all about. Until
we recognize that life is not just something to be enjoyed but rather a
task that each of us is assigned, we will never find meaning in our lives
and we will never be truly happy."
So near yet
so far! So wise yet
so foolish! He understands that
without meaning life is drab and difficult, but he fails to go on to the
next step and say that true meaning can only be found in Christ. He is
both a delight and a disappointment, ·
a delight
because he says, "Life is a task," ·
but a
disappointment because he fails to bring in Christ to help perform that
task. Yes, life is a task, a
tough one that is sometimes almost unbearable. That's why we need to have
the Lord at the center of our lives - we then pursue the divine task with
the help of divine grace. Both the writer of the
Proverbs and Victor Frankl say that life works better when we give
ourselves to it with diligence, but there is much more to it than this.
Why do you think God inspired the writer of Proverbs to personify wisdom?
Because it prepares us to face the fact that true wisdom is not merely found in principles,
but in a Person. And that Person is
Christ. PRAYER: O Father, how sad when the
wise of this world show themselves to be so foolish. They get so close -
yet pull back at the vital moment. Thank You, Father, that through Jesus I
dwell in wisdom and am indwelt by it. Help me exhibit it more and more.
Amen. FURTHER
STUDY: Col. 2:1-5; John 2:24;
16:30 ·
What did the
disciples testify of Jesus? ·
What did
Paul declare to the Colossians? |
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