Author: Denis Gibson

The Source is in God (2:6). The seeking is set out in 2:1-4. Again we have the familiar My son, if! O, what a challenge is this if. We have some idea what it takes to win “gold” at the Olympics, for a corruptible crown (1 Cor. 9:25). Dare we put forth less effort for the incorruptible crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8)? In our verses today we have:

God, to be known by man, must be self-revealing, and all knowledge of Him, and therefore all Wisdom, depends on His self-disclosure. Life, for man, is impossible without this divine Wisdom to interpret aright life and death, heaven and hell. Unless man confesses the One above him, he will yield to that which is within him and about him.

The Pardoned: Praise God for verse 33. Set it against the backdrop of this portion. Men’s sinful folly leads to their awful, but just, doom. “I know not when ye are. Depart from me into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Lu. 13:25, Mt. 25:41). Yet, here surely is Good News! Here is “light to enlighten our darkness”!

The Perished: How dreadful is the end result of rejecting the call of Wisdom! Every verse, from 24 to 32, bears testimony to this tragedy. It’s the old story. The sinner won’t face the fact that there is something seriously wrong with him. Why should he leave the exciting crowd, the in-group, for the killjoy minority on the narrow road? But if only men could see their end, as brought out in these awful words, they would not be so brazen or so reckless with God’s call while it is still the Day of Mercy. The contrasts between the fear of folly (v.32) and the faith of wisdom (v.33) set the plan for the rest of the book.

The Prospect: These are the words of Christ, who, under the name Wisdom, is heard crying without, in the streets, in the opening of the gates. We may take this as the public preaching of the Word, by Christ Himself or His ministers. Yet, in spite of the open disregard and contempt for the message, God still displays His purpose of grace to sinners. Now there remedies are proposed (v.23), following the three questions of verse 22.

Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly speak with opposing voices. There are those who seek to point youth to the Lord, and those who would seduce them for the Devil. In a very real sense we all stand here. It is not enough to listen to those nobler voices. We must say No to the baser, often the loudest voices. To be weak is usually to be wicked.

Sin digs deep graves. If a man could see sin in all his hideousness, he would no more embrace it than he would a leper! Only as we see sin through the spectacles of God will we know it aright, for it seldom shows its true colours. Again the proverbs prove that they are never out of date or out of place among us.

When a Boy Scout, we learned to tie knots. How often, in later years, this skill proved very useful. Bishop Ryle wrote a book entitled, Knots Untied. Its purpose was to “unit” difficult Bible “knots” that troubled many sincere believers. It has proved a useful tool. In today’s proverbs we will show the importance of “tying” three Bible nots which are specific in their bearing and practical in their application. “Tying” these “knots” will strengthen young people to honour both parents for both are responsible to God.

It is vitally impossible to see that the word knowledge is used into two distinct ways. Fallen man has knowledge, but no according to wisdom. Paul distinguishes these two types of knowledge. He points out that man knows God, yet morally he does not know God at all! This is not an intellectual problem. It is a moral one! Paul’s point is that all men do know God, involving covenant obligations on man’s part. Either man accepts or rejects his obligations to his Creator. Accordingly man acts either wisely or foolishly. Dr. C. Van Til, with Paul, taught that man was either a covenant-keeper who knowledge honours God, or a covenant-breaker who knows God, yet acts as a rebel (Rom. 1:18-20), and jettisons God, who is the source of all knowledge.

This verse (1:7) is the Motto of Proverbs (Pr. 9:10), and deserves special treatment because it is also the theme of the whole Bible (Ps. 111:10, Job 28:28). To acknowledge the Sovereignty of God in every area, is the first step to knowledge and to successful living.