TEXT: Proverbs 8:1-36

SUBJECT: Exposition of Proverbs #15: A Poem of Wisdom

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. His wisdom extended in every direction. He was a political scientist and a moral philosopher; he mastered botany and zoology; he wrote fine prose and better verse. In this chapter, he turns poetic to celebrate and commend his favorite theme, wisdom.

Wisdom is portrayed as a merchant hawking her wares. She's on a hilltop shouting to people below; she's by an intersection, pleading with her passers-by; she's at the city limits, greeting everyone who comes to town. She's making her goods available to everyone; no one is excluded.

No one? Right. No one. In general, she's calling "men" and "sons of men"--which just mean people. In particular, she's inviting "the simple" and even "fools" to take advantage of her special offer.

What's she offering? The thing we need most: Wisdom. God offers it to everyone. To adults and to children; to men and to women; to geniuses to dimwits and to everyone in-between.

The offer is sincere and universal. To get a job, you need experience; to get a loan, you need collateral. But to get wisdom, you need nothing; nothing but a desire for it.

This is borne out by the teaching of the New Testament. Its wisest people were--for the most part--shamefully unqualified. The Apostles (except for Paul) were "unlearned and ignorant men". Yet they new "the one thing needful". Our Lord's mother was not "the queen of heaven", but a peasant girl, and quite probably illiterate. Yet she "kept all these things in her heart". Wisdom, therefore, is available to everyone; to everyone who truly wants it.

Do you want wisdom? You can have it. Without an education, without an oversized IQ. It's yours for the taking. Or rather, it's God's for the giving. And it's good to know He prefers to give it to "the weak things of the world...the base things...the things which are despised...(even) the things which are not..."

Plead with God for wisdom. Use your foolishness as an argument for it. William Gadsby was horrified at his call to the ministry. Until he read, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world..." He turned in prayer: "Well Lord, if this is the way Thou workest, Thou never hadst a better opportunity; for Thou never hadst a bigger fool to deal with".

One of Gadsby's favorite hymns was:

"Let not conscience make you linger,

Nor of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness He requireth

is to feel your need of Him".

Wisdom is there for the taking. Take it.

Next, we have the value of wisdom, vv.6-11.

It is called "excellent" and "right". These words mean noble or princely--wisdom lends dignity to the one who has it. It makes one graceful in ways good breeding and a refined education cannot.

Wisdom is truthful and upright. It exposes crookedness in others and in oneself.

Wisdom is worth more than "silver", "gold", and "rubies". And, if you're unmoved by precious metals and stones, then "all things one may desire cannot be compared with [wisdom]". On an accurate scale, "wisdom" outweighs all the good things in the world combined.

This is but a poetic way of saying: "Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom and in all of your getting, get understanding".

If you obtain wisdom--true wisdom--you'll have everything. The things you lack won't matter much. The poorest wise man has much more than the richest fool. The loneliest wise man has better companions than the most popular simpleton. The sickest wise man is much healthier than the healthiest man who lacks wisdom.

Do you value wisdom? If you did, you'd get it. And in getting it, you'd have it all.

In the third place, we find the utility (or usefulness) of wisdom, vv.12-21.

Wisdom makes true learning possible, v.12. Without it, learning is counterproductive. Socrates thought universal schooling a disaster! Why? Because it would make the unwise into something very dangerous: "Astute rascals". But wisdom sanctifies learning, makes it useful to ourselves and others.

Wisdom makes us discerning, v.13. It enables us to detect and to abhor "arrogance" and "the perverse mouth". Not just ridicule them (as any smart aleck can do) but to truly loathe them--in some measure, as God hates sin.

Wisdom is the key to leadership, vv.14-16. Wise leaders rule well; fools at the helm cause shipwreck.

Wisdom provides wealth, vv.17-21. Under the Old Covenant, the two were tied--not always, but usually. Those who sought wisdom prospered financially; those who didn't suffered poverty. The same is sometimes true today. But, in light of the New Testament, the passage must be understood spiritually. Wisdom provides a storehouse of spiritual goods to those who have it.

Wisdom is good in itself; it is good for us; it is available to us. Therefore, choose wisdom.

Next, we have the divinity of wisdom, vv.22-31. Wisdom is so wonderful that even God has it. And uses it. He embraced it in the beginning; He used it to create the universe; it brought Him much joy.

If God needs wisdom, how much more do we? If it pleases Him, shouldn't it be our "principal thing"? Wisdom is not obtained by mental exercises alone; the getting of wisdom is a deeply religious act. It is, therefore, to be sought piously.

This anticipates the Christology of the New Testament. It begins with "the Word"--our Lord Jesus Christ. He's in the beginning with God and at the base of all things. In Him are "hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". Wisdom, therefore, is found nowhere but in Jesus Christ.

The pursuit of wisdom is no option; it is a necessity. We're commanded to "Listen", to "hear" and to "not disdain" wisdom. If we truly seek it, we will become "wise" and be "blessed" of God.

Wisdom is gotten by "watching daily at [its] gates" and by "waiting at the posts of [its] doors". The imagery is that of a student anxiously awaiting his teacher's arrival and hanging on his every word. The Word on which we must hang is God's Word, the Holy Bible. In its daily reading and meditation, we fill our minds with Divine thoughts, warm out hearts with sacred emotions, and direct our lives to holiness.

Whoever finds this Wisdom finds with it "life" and "obtains the favor of the LORD". But the one who misses it--and remember, no one misses it innocently, it's available to all--ruins himself by his choice. The conclusion is inescapable: "He who hates [wisdom] loves death". Physical death. Moral death. Eternal death.

We must choose between life and death, wisdom and folly. You can choose folly over wisdom (millions do). But you can't choose its consequence. If you choose folly, you'll have death. But I don't think you'll make that choice: I think you'll choose wisdom. When you do, you'll have life. In this world. And the next. Choose wisdom. For Christ's sake. Amen.