606_Wisdom from above (Proverbs 2) Proverbs 2:1-15 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; 10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, 12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, 13 who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, 14 who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, 15 men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways. A young apprentice asked his master carpenter why he insisted on measuring every piece of wood so carefully before making even the smallest cut. “I already know the length,” the apprentice said. The master replied quietly, “Knowing the length is not the same as submitting to the measure.” Years later, the apprentice understood. Without the humility to submit to an external standard, rightness or accuracy cannot be assured. Wisdom lies in not living by one’s assumptions or confidence, but in submission to the One who shapes reality and sets the ultimate standard. The book of Proverbs underscores the truth that the Lord is the source of wisdom, and those who wholeheartedly seek wisdom inevitably find that they know God. Proverbs 2:1–15 unfolds this theme. Wisdom is not a human invention or refinement. The world may define wisdom as the right use of knowledge, yet who determines what is “right”? Not culture, not the times, nor the situation – for what is now accepted may soon be dismissed or condemned in another age. Human wisdom is self-serving and self-contradictory. Proverbs gives us a different starting point. “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Wisdom is the result of divine revelation. True wisdom in Scripture is neither intelligence nor brilliant decision-making. Rather, the wise are those who live in right relationship with God and therefore with others. It is morally attuned to God’s holiness and goodness. It is rooted in faith, hope, and love. It results in a lifestyle of obedience and reverence, a walk directed by the fear of God. James echoed this truth, distinguishing two types of wisdom. “The wisdom from above,” he says, “is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits.” By contrast, wisdom that is earthly and unspiritual is
