Get Wisdom
4: 1-9
A proverb is a short and memorable saying designed to be our blueprint for living in the world that ADONAI has created. It is important to note that proverbs are not promises; they are generally true principles, all other things being equal.
The father’s fifth teaching (to see link click Aj – Proverbs for the Youth) consists of two parts: the typical introduction that includes the addressees of sons and grandsons, warnings to retain his teaching (4:1-2), and the lesson (4:3-9), which is his grandfather’s instruction. The chapter looks like this: How to get going (4:1-9), how to keep going (4:10-19), and how not to get lost along the way (4:20-27).102
Listen, my son, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding (4:1 BSB). For I am giving you sound teaching. Do not turn away from my instruction (Hebrew: torah) (4:2 Hebrew). We are overhearing a father of a teenage son coaching him in wisdom because the Word of God is the source of all true wisdom. How does he do it? He tells him what he learned when he himself was a teenager. He is saying, “I remember when I was a teenager, how my dad got me going into a great life.” We have seen this father/son conversation before (1:8 and 10, 2:1, 3:1, 11 and 21). But now we meet the grandfather. Now we see three generations in the family. Evidently the grandfather (King David) has died, and Solomon informs his son about how his dad made such a positive impact during his youth. So do you see? We are being invited into a tradition of wisdom; previous believers handing down to us something of their own. They have fought the good fight, they have finished the race, they have kept the faith (Second Timothy 4:7). And because they have gone the distance, they have something to say to us. The Bible says: Remember your leaders who taught you from the Word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith (Hebrews 13:7).103
For I, too, was once my father’s son, tenderly loved as my mother’s only child (4:3 NLT). ADONAI commanded His people to train their children in His mitzvot, saying: Speak to them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up (Deuteronomy 6:7). This principle still applies today; parents should be diligent to train their children in godly wisdom. My father taught me, “Let your heart hold fast to my words, keep my mitzvah, and you will live” (4:4 Hebrew). Solomon had learned wisdom from his father, and now was passing it on to the next generation. He spoke of his boyhood when his parents, David and Bathsheba, taught him. The queen also had strong feelings toward her son, and thus a strong motivation to instruct him in wisdom. This linking of three generations demonstrates how a love of wisdom was passed down.104
So Solomon is saying to his dear son, and urging him, to set his heart firmly on a prize that cannot fail: Get wisdom, develop good judgment. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them; for you ignore them at your own peril (4:5 NLT). Perhaps David’s encouragement for Solomon to get wisdom helped him ask for it (see the commentary on the Life of Solomon As – Solomon’s Wish). Wisdom is not something one acquires once and for all; being wise requires daily refreshing from the Word of God. It is too easy to forget true wisdom when we allow our lives to become cluttered with the things of the world. Those who wish to become wise must constantly be immersing themselves in Scripture and godly teaching.105 Therefore, do not turn your back on Lady Wisdom (see Am – Lady Wisdom’s Rebuke of the Foolish), for she will protect you. Love her and she will guard you (4:6 NLT). God your Father is looking deeply into your eyes with great love and saying to you right now: Though it cost you everything you have, gain understanding. If you value Lady Wisdom and hold tightly to her, great honors will be yours (4:8 CEV). This metaphor implies deep intimacy and suggests the marital embrace between a man and his wife. The wise have a deep love for God’s ways, and they take His Word into the most intimate parts of their lives.106 She will place a garland of grace on your head and present you with a glorious crown (4:9 NIV).
Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! Though it will cost you everything you have, gain understanding (4:7 Hebrew). If you want God’s wisdom, it will cost you. It will cost you all your preconceived ideas about how life is supposed to work. Why pay that price? Because God’s wisdom will make you alive (4:4), His wisdom will protect you and guard you (4:6), His wisdom will honor you (4:8) and present you with a glorious crown (4:9). That is how life really works, and that is a life worth living! Who else can promise you that? Every day we are being told that, if we want to really live, we need to be young, thin, tanned, sexually active, rich, and smart-mouthed. That is our cultural ideal, the wisdom of the world. Just one question. Does it work? Name one person who has thrown themselves into the lifestyle of the world and come away from it with what you would want for yourself. And how do you explain over 2,000 years of all types of people from different cultures who set their hearts on Messiah, turned to His wisdom and found fullness of life?
You face a choice today . . . the proven path of Messiah versus the meaningless way of the world (First John 2:15-16). Whichever you choose, it will cost you all that you have. But which path will give you everything you want? Yeshua is so gracious. To follow Him you do not need to measure up to a cultural ideal or youth and cool. But do need to become decisive. Though it will cost you everything you have (and it will), get Messiah. Is there something in your life that needs to change? Do you need to turn the corner? Do you want a newness of life from Messiah? Well, come and get it. Decisiveness is all you need to get going.107
Dear heavenly Father, praise You for being so extremely gracious, generous, kind and compassionate! For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves – it is the gift of God. It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Thank You for Your steadfast love and great wisdom. Your wisdom knows that it is always the best path to follow. How comforting it is that when I pray to You, asking for something according to Your will, You hear and promise to answer. Now this is the confidence we have before Him – that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have the requests we have asked from Him (First John 5:14-15).
With great hope and joy I trust completely in Your love and wisdom to bring all who trust in You, home to your glorious heaven. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). How wonderful heaven will be! He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:1-4). Thank You for being such a special heavenly Father! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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