Wisdom Verbs

Covenant Presbyterian Church

Biblically, wisdom is not an interior experience of detachment or inner calm (as much as we may like inner calm!). Biblically understood, wisdom always terminates on how we live, the choices we make. Indeed, there is really no difference between wisdom and godliness. To be wise is to grow in conformity to Christ. It is to love what God loves and to guard one’s life against the destructiveness of sin. Wisdom is not acquired through chanting mantras or other mystical practices. Wisdom is the gift of God: “For the Lord gives wisdom” (vs. 6). But that gift must be pursued like the treasure that it is: “…if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures” (vs. 4). Proverbs two applies an array of verbs to the search for godly wisdom. In this way, it is an enormously helpful passage of Scripture because it tells us what is required to gain wisdom, to grow in godliness. In Proverbs one, we’re told that “the complacency of fools destroys them” (vs. 32). The verbs in Proverbs two are meant to evacuate our lives of complacency and put a holy striving in its place. In the final verses of Proverbs two, it is recognized that all is not well in the world. Indeed, the world is a veritable toybox of lies, wickedness, and perversion. Twisted by sin’s deceitfulness, mankind has an enormous capacity for immorality and injustice. But wisdom holds a treasure of benefits for the one who walks in its ways. With wisdom, there is “every good path” (vs. 9). God uses Christlike wisdom as a means to grant protection, “delivering you from the way of evil…” (vs. 12). While growing in godliness (wisdom) is no guarantee of perpetual pleasantness in this world, Scripture is clear that blessings are attached to the obedient application of God’s Word: So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it… (vv. 20-21)