The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of understanding,
To receive instruction in wise behavior,
Righteousness, justice, and integrity;
Prov 1:1-3
To the best of our knowledge, Solomon wrote twenty-nine chapters in the book of Proverbs with the last two chapters being written by someone else. This is the purpose of Proverbs: to receive instruction in wise behavior. To have wisdom is to behave in a godly, divine way; to speak to people in a godly, divine way; to write to people in a godly, divine way. We don’t have these things in us, because nothing good dwells in our flesh. But God’s will and purpose is that increasingly we learn to speak, behave and conduct ourselves in a godly way – in the same way that God would act and speak – and to deal with other people in a divine way. The sad thing is when many years go by in our life, and we still speak in a human way. Very often you still find that husbands and wives, even after ten or fifteen years of hearing these truths, still speak in such an Adamic way to each other. Then we know that they don’t really have any wisdom at all. When people speak to one another in such a human, Adamic way, then you know that they really need to go into the book of Proverbs and cry out for wisdom, because they don’t have it. So, the purpose of Proverbs is to receive instruction in wise behavior.
They can teach you how to live intelligently and how to be honest,
just, and fair.
Prov 1:3, GNT
Righteousness, justice, and equity speak of being honest, just, and fair. That is divine, wise behavior.
To give prudence to the naive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion
Prov 1:4
The simple person is the one who is inexperienced and particularly the one who is open to every influence. Somebody says one thing, and he’s influenced by that. Tomorrow, somebody says something else, and he’s influenced by that. That’s how most young people are. They are influenced so much by what they read in the newspapers, what their friends say, or what their relatives say. That is a simple person. We read about that type of person in Ephesians 4:14, where it speaks of children tossed about with every wind of doctrine. They are never sure, never stable. It says here that this book has been written to give prudence and wisdom to that simple-minded, unstable, unsteady person, so that he can be stable, steady, and mature. Therefore, the book of Proverbs has been particularly written for young people. It says in the latter part of verse 4, “to the youth…” Here is a book written particularly for young people, to give them knowledge and discretion, and wisdom in dealing with situations and people – particularly, the opposite sex. We find tremendous stupidity among young people in many of these areas, which they themselves don’t realize. If they take the book of Proverbs seriously, they can become wise, even while they are young. They don’t have to wait until they are fifty to become wise. There are many people who are seventy who are still quite foolish and simple; simple in a bad sense – in the sense that they have no steadiness in their life. They haven’t acquired wisdom even though they are seventy years old. And yet, a person who is twenty to twenty-five can be wise if he takes the instructions of this book seriously.
A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel
Prov 1:5
This verse tells us that this book is not only for simple people. It’s also for wise people – people who already have a certain amount of wisdom. They will hear and they will increase in learning. One mark of a wise man is that he is teachable; he has an ear that is willing to hear and willing to be taught. Therefore, he can acquire even more wisdom. “A man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.” In one translation, the second part of this verse says that a man of understanding will get a steersman to steer his life. Wisdom will become like a man who steers the ship. A man of understanding has wisdom to steer his ship.
To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
Prov 1:6
Proverbs can give us understanding into the spiritual truths of God’s word. The first six verses outline the purpose that Solomon wrote this book. You remember that God asked Solomon, “What do you want?” (1 Kings 3:5). Solomon didn’t ask for wealth, he didn’t ask for honor, but he asked God for wisdom. And it says God was pleased with this request and gave it to him. Of course, the sad thing is that later Solomon drifted away, which teaches us that you can even write a book like Proverbs and still drift away if you’re not wholehearted. The life of Solomon is a tremendous warning when we read the book of Proverbs, that even the man who wrote this fantastic book finally drifted away. We can preach to others and be disqualified ourselves if we don’t remain in humility and the fear of the Lord, which Solomon speaks so much about. It’s not just a question of understanding this book, but of living out this book all our days and enduring until the end. Here Solomon is a frightening warning to all who think that they’re something, or think that they have come somewhere, or think that they have achieved something. We can even be used to write Scripture and bless thousands and still drift away if we don’t hold fast to the end!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Prov 1:7
This is the first Proverb. It is very significant that this is the first Proverb. When it says the beginning of knowledge, we can say this is referring to the foundation. Later on in Proverbs 9:10, it says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Knowledge and wisdom are really interconnected, because knowledge does not mean bible knowledge. It means the knowledge of God. When we read of knowledge, it doesn’t mean academic knowledge of the bible. Because the devil has that, and he doesn’t have the fear of the Lord. So it’s obvious that verse 7 is not referring to bible knowledge. The knowledge spoken of here is the knowledge of God! That’s quite different from bible knowledge. A lot of people who have bible knowledge have no knowledge of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3). To know more and more of what God is like. Paul said that was the great longing of his life: “…that I may know him…” (Philippians 3:10). That is, he wanted to know God more and more and more and more. To know more and more of what God is like, how God looks at people, how God looks at circumstances, how God looks at things – then Paul could change his own mind to that way of thinking. That is the knowledge spoken of here. And it says here that the first step to know God is to fear him; to have a reverence for him. To hate sin and to love righteousness. That is to fear God. And then we can know him better and better. That’s why it’s not a question of how much intelligence we have, but rather how much fear of God we have which determines how much we increase in spiritual knowledge and spiritual wisdom. So that’s right at the beginning – the foundation, the cornerstone, whatever you want to call it – the fear of the Lord. It’s the starting line of the race. If you don’t get there, you don’t get anywhere. We can also say that it’s the essence of all knowledge. The main part of all knowledge is the fear of God, and the day I lose the fear of God, I can’t get any more understanding of God or wisdom. The way to increase in wisdom is to increase in the fear of God. The way to increase in the knowledge of God is to increase in the fear of the Lord.
We also understand from this verse who a fool is. When the bible speaks about a fool, it’s not speaking about someone who got fifteen percent in mathematics and ten percent in science. A person who got those scores may still be wise according to the scriptures if they have the fear of God. When the bible speaks about a fool, it’s not speaking about someone who is bad in his studies. It’s speaking about someone who does not have the fear of the Lord – a person who can lust after women and not mourn over it, not weep over it. He’s a fool even if he gets ninety percent in math and science! He’s an absolute fool, and he’s the person about whom Solomon has written sixty-six things in the book of Proverbs. This is the type of person who doesn’t have any fear of God when it comes to sin – when it comes to telling lies or signing false statements or committing all types of other sins. The one who is not disturbed in his heart about such things. Solomon has written sixty-six things about such fools. Fools are those who despise wisdom and instruction. They do not have the understanding to look at things from God’s viewpoint. We can say that wisdom is to look at people and things and the whole world the way God looks at them. The more wisdom I have, the more I should look at people the way God looks at them – with tenderness, compassion, love and purity. If I can’t look at people with tenderness, compassion, love and purity, I’m not getting wisdom, however much I may be increasing in bible knowledge (which the devil has more of than me in any case). That’s where we need to see that the fool that the bible speaks of is the fool that does not fear God, who does not have a reverence for God in his life, who does not hate sin, and who does not love righteousness. So that’s the first thing: to fear God.
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;
Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head
And ornaments about your neck.
Prov 1:8-9
Once we have the foundation of the fear of God laid, Solomon begins his instruction in the home of a child with its father and mother. Notice how Proverbs links that together. Verse 7 is about the fear of the Lord, and verse 8 is about honoring your father and mother. I’ll tell you something I’ve seen through the short years of my life: those who never learned to sincerely, wholeheartedly honor their earthly father and mother never, never, never acquire wisdom. Even though they may increase fantastically in bible knowledge, they never become wise. I’ve seen that again and again and again and again. The first commandment with a promise was to honor your father and mother (Ephesians 6:2). That’s why if we want children to grow up into the wisdom of the book of Proverbs, we have to first teach them to obey their parents. It’s no use sending your children to school if they haven’t learned to obey daddy and mommy at home. It’s an absolute waste of time. You haven’t given them the education they need first of all. That’s what we need to tell our children: “Hear, my little son, listen to what your father tells you. Listen to what your mother is telling you.” That’s where we have to begin. And that’s where all wisdom begins with that little child at home. If it begins like that, as they grow up, this can promote them to honor.
Notice in verse 9 this word “grace” comes. A wreath of grace to your head. It’s very interesting to see. I mentioned that the book of Proverbs is like a New Covenant book in the Old Testament. The word “grace” comes a number of times in the book of Proverbs. It also comes in Zechariah 12:10, where it says, “I will pour out upon them a spirit of grace…” And in that New Testament sense, we can say it is found mostly only in Proverbs and Zechariah. Consider, for example, Proverbs 3:34, which Peter and James quote – “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” That was written by Solomon in the Old Testament long before Peter and James wrote it in the New Testament. In fact, Peter and James quoted from Solomon in the Old Testament. “He scoffs at the scoffers but gives grace to the afflicted.” That means he resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. And so, we find this word “grace” coming in the book of Proverbs. And that’s why this is a book we need to study carefully, those of us who have come into the New Covenant.
We need to pay attention when Solomon says “my son” in Proverbs 1:10, 1:15, 2:1, 3:1, etc. He’s speaking to someone who is willing to submit to him as a father. He’s not speaking to people who have not understood the principle of submission. If we have not understood the principle of submission as a child to our earthly parents and in the church to those who are spiritually like fathers to us, we’ll never get wisdom. It’s written to those who are able to hear an exhortation which says, “my son”. Can you listen to that? Not when God says it, but when a man whom God has appointed over you says it; at home – an earthly father or mother; in the church – those who are above us in the Lord. That’s a very important principle. I’ve come to see as of late how so much revolves around this principle of submission to authority, and how God would do ALMOST ANYTHING for a man or woman who has understood that one principle. God will do ALMOST ANYTHING for a child who has learned to submit to his parents or a wife who has learned to submit to her husband or a person who has learned to submit to spiritual leadership in the church. ALMOST ANYTHING. That’s a fundamental principle. That’s why the devil always tries to move us out from that place of submission, so that God can do ALMOST NOTHING for us. And we also deprive ourselves of God’s blessing, because God gives grace to the humble. And the humble are those who have learned submission to authority.
My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait for blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;
We will find all kinds of precious wealth,
We will fill our houses with spoil;
Throw in your lot with us,
We shall all have one purse,”
Prov 1:10-14
If the first place we have to learn wisdom is the home (verses 8-9), then the second place where we have to be careful is with our friends (verses 10-19). Verses 8-9 are referring to the child at home, and verse 10 is referring to the young man who has now gone to school and is growing up around other companions of his who are enticing him and inviting him to sin. Just like it says that the lusts of the flesh entice us, here are friends enticing this young man to sin. Sinners. Sinners are those who don’t have the fear of God, who entice the young man through flattery, saying something nice to him so that they can entice him away from the way of truth. They say, “Be a man! Smoke a cigarette if you’re a man! Have a drink with me if you’re a man! Prove that you’re a man!” This young person who wants to be a man is tempted so much. He says to himself, “Oh! I’m willing to show this person that I am also a man.” And thus, he is enticed into sin. The word of God addresses those who are out of the home and out with their friends now. If those friends are trying to entice you, do not consent! Don’t be deceived by their flattery! Don’t be deceived by their challenges to be a man or a woman. No. You show that you’re a man by saying, “No, I’m not going to do what you say. I fear God.” That’s the proof that we have courage and that we are men and women of God.
Verses 11-12 are speaking about some extreme circumstances of a gang of murderers inviting some young man. They say, “Come. Let’s be like highway robbers and murder and kill people. Let’s lie in wait for them and ambush them and kill them to get their money.” There we see that they are enticing him to come and commit murder. Now, I don’t think anyone here is in danger of being enticed to join some gang of murderers. How shall we apply this to ourselves? We can apply it in this way: this is a backbiter inviting you to come and backbite against a brother. That is the New Covenant equivalent of murder: to shed a brother or sister’s blood when he or she is not there. “Come. Let’s talk about so and so – something bad about so and so.” Listen to the word of God which says, “My son, when sinners entice you to backbite, do not consent.” Take a stand. Don’t participate with them. That’s the warning for us.
In Verse 13, why are these murderers and robbers after these innocent people? With one aim: to make themselves rich. But it need not be murder. People do all types of things to get wealth and fill their houses. There are people who take bribes in order to fill their houses with television sets and video recorders and refrigerators and cars which they got unrighteously. There are people who cheat the government of taxes in order to fill their houses with mixers and pressure cookers, which they’ve been able to buy because they cheated the government of taxes. There are so many ways. It doesn’t have to be murder, but to fill my house with a lot of things using unrighteous money is warned against here. It’s a warning against covetousness. It’s a warning against the lust to fill our houses with things when Jesus has said that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he has in his home. If God gives you the ability to get things that are useful, get them. But if he has chosen not to give you that ability, we have to learn godliness with contentment and have no desire to acquire anything unrighteously or be covetous in order to fill our houses.
Do you know that this phrase in verse 14 – “we shall all have one purse”- is not Christianity? It’s communism. And it’s put here in the mouth of sinners: “We shall all have one purse.” There are some groups of people that think it is spirituality for everyone to live together and just have one purse. But you never find that anywhere in the word of God. In fact, it’s a misunderstanding of Acts 2 and Acts 4. If you read carefully in Acts 2 and Acts 4, it never says they all had one purse. It said they had all things in common – in the sense that if a man had something, his brother was quite entitled to use it. That’s right. “All things in common” means if you have a bike or a scooter, it must be perfectly available for another brother to use if he needs it. That’s the meaning of having all things in common; not that we all have one purse. Because if we pull all our resources and have one purse, none of us would be able to learn faithfulness with money. It would just encourage all the lazy people to join us. No. “We shall all have one purse” is not Christianity. It’s communism. And we are never to get into that deception. Some people have and found it doesn’t work, because God never intended that type of communism to be found among Christians. But to not possess anything as exclusively our own and to give according to peoples’ needs, that is Christianity. I just mention that in passing. To share with the needy is Christianity, but to have a common purse is communism.
This also gives us a warning about ungodly business partnerships. It’s wrong for a believer to join hands with a man who doesn’t have the fear of God in any business partnership. That’s also the meaning here of ‘We shall all have one purse.’ “Let’s get into this business enterprise together, and we will be partners and share together in what we get. We shall share the profit together.” That’s the meaning. And when you join hands with those who don’t have the fear of God, it’s going to lead you into calamity. There we need to hear the word of God which says, “My son, when a sinner invites you into a joint business enterprise, do not consent.”
My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,
For their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood.
Prov 1:15-16
In other words, break off those relationships which are leading you astray. “Their feet run to evil” means they don’t have any principles in the way they do business. You’ll be entangled in their ways if you go with them.
Then it goes on to say something very interesting. It uses a picture about what it means to be greedy: “They hasten to shed blood.” This speaks of a young man growing up and trying to make money quickly. Therefore, he is enticed by those who say, “Come, we’ll show you how to make money quickly.” Young people can take a warning from this, particularly when they are newly married. They suddenly desire to have all the things in their home which many others have who have been married for fifteen or twenty years. They can be tempted in so many ways to do things that are unrighteous.
It does no good to spread a net when the bird you want to catch is
watching, but people like that are setting a trap for themselves, a
trap in which they will die.
Prov 1:17-18, GNT
There’s no use spreading a net when the bird is watching, because the bird is not going to come into that net. It’s watching you spread the trap. BUT greedy men are more stupid than that bird in the sense that they are setting a trap for themselves – a trap in which they will die because of their own greed. Verses 17-18 mean that a man who is covetous, who has not conquered in his own flesh the lust to possess more and more, and to have what this person has or that person has, doesn’t realize that he’s more stupid than a bird! A bird sees that trap and avoids it; but the greedy, covetous man is making a trap, through his greed, by which he’s going to destroy and ruin his own life. The word of God speaks in 1 Timothy 6:10 about those who have the love of money piercing themselves. It’s very interesting to see how the book of Proverbs begins. It begins with practical instruction concerning the pursuit of mammon and the desire to acquire it quickly. That’s how young people can be tempted.
So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence;
It takes away the life of its possessors.
Prov 1:19
Such is the fate of all who seek to make more money in unrighteous ways. They lose their life.
Wisdom shouts in the street,
She lifts her voice in the square;
At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
“How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?
Prov 1:20-22
Here is a contrast to everything prior involving the sinner inviting the young person. Here is another person inviting the young man. Wisdom. In verse 10, sinners are inviting the young man. In verse 20, wisdom is inviting the young man and saying, “Young man/woman, why don’t you listen to me?” Wisdom is SHOUTING in the street, trying to draw those young people away from foolish ways. And that’s what we must do in the church. Wisdom must SHOUT and lift her voice. Wisdom is pictured here as a woman – as a godly woman – and in that sense, the bride of Christ is inviting people – shouting and inviting people away from folly. Wherever she finds young people going astray, she’s shouting and warning them.
Notice in this verse that there are three stages of going down into the pit. First, you are simple. That means you’re easily influenced. We can say the simple person in the book of Proverbs is the person who is easily influenced. We know that many young people are like that – easily influenced by people in their schools and colleges. That’s where it starts. After some time, if they continue like that and don’t listen to wisdom, they will enter the second stage: becoming scoffers. They will think, “You know, that’s a bit old-fashioned what they preach in the church. It’s too rigid and narrow-minded.” Now he’s gone a step further and become a scoffer. That’s the second stage. The third stage is where he becomes a fool in God’s eyes. We saw in verse 7 that a fool is one who has no fear of God. Notice these three stages. First, you are easily influenced. Second, you become a scoffer and begin to look down and laugh at those things that are spoken by godly brothers in the church. And then the third is completely losing the fear of God. I want to warn all young people of these three steps. Be careful. Don’t be easily influenced. And be much more careful if you’ve gone beyond that stage to the place where you think this is all old-fashioned, religious stuff and that those in the church are so narrow-minded. If you’ve gone that far, you’re very close to the third stage: losing the fear of God altogether. Turn around! Turn around!
Turn to my reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
Prov 1:23
This verse tells us to turn around from going down the path in verse 22. Turn around, whichever stage you are in. If you’re in the third stage, turn quickly. If you’re in that second stage, turn! You might fall into the third stage easily. But the best is to turn when you are in the first stage itself. Wisdom says, “Turn to my reproof. Repent!” And what will we get? Not bible knowledge. Wisdom says, “I will pour out my spirit on you.” Here is a New Covenant experience. Wisdom will pour out on you the Holy Spirit, who in Ephesians 1:17 is called “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God.” That’s the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of wisdom and revelation who gives us the full knowledge of God. Wisdom says, “I will pour out my spirit upon you.” In other words, I will change your way of thinking on the inside. I’m not just going to teach you how to behave and act on the outside, like an actor who’s pretending to be wise. No! I’ll pour out my spirit within you so that your inside will change.
Wisdom then says, “I will make my words known to you.” In other words, she will teach you the word of God. There are two things we need in our lives: the Holy Spirit and the word of God. That’s what we see in verse 23. To get wisdom, we need the Holy Spirit and the word of God. God needs to pour out his Spirit upon us and then he can make known his words to us. You find right from the beginning when God recreated the heavens and the earth, it says the Spirit of God brooded upon the waters, and the word of God went forth and said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1). The joint operation of the Holy Spirit and God’s word changed the face of the earth. And it says here that the joint operation of the Holy Spirit and the word of God can change our lives from foolish to wise if we turn when wisdom reproves us. Our lives can be changed when we get a word of reproof or rebuke in the church from an older brother who has a little more wisdom than you! If you don’t get offended at that word but turn, that can be your salvation. That can be our salvation when we turn at a word of rebuke or reproof that comes either directly through the Holy Spirit or through a brother who may have a little more wisdom than us. But the sad thing is that most people don’t take that seriously, particularly when they are young. Therefore, wisdom has to say these sad words we’ll see in verse 24.
Because I called and you refused,
I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
And you neglected all my counsel
And did not want my reproof;
I will also laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your dread comes,
When your dread comes like a storm
And your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
Prov 1:24-17
How did wisdom call? Wisdom SHOUTED. She shouted and shouted and shouted. But he wouldn’t listen. He says, “I know how to take care of myself.” That’s the spirit of self confidence in young people who have not been shattered and broken, and they refuse to take heed. They refuse the warnings of godly older people. Wisdom stretches out her hand and says, “Come, let me lead you.” But they won’t pay attention. And all her counsel they neglect. Wisdom advised them, warned them, and told them, but they just wouldn’t listen. Think of young brothers and sisters who are growing up like that: listening to exhortations and warnings in the church but not taking it seriously. Wisdom says, ” You did not want my rebuke. You got offended when somebody rebuked you. You hung around the brothers who were always saying nice things to you, and you avoided the people who rebuked and corrected you. Alright. One day calamity will hit you like a sudden flood or cyclone.” We hear about that in the papers – suddenly people living on an island are all washed away. Suddenly a tidal wave came and hit them. Wisdom says, “When your calamity comes and hits you, I’ll just stand back and laugh. I’ll mock when dread comes upon you. And your dread will come like a storm, like a sudden cyclone. Your calamity will come like a whirlwind, and distress and anguish will come upon you.” Wisdom says that. Those who go astray from God’s paths, one day or the other, distress and anguish will certainly come upon.
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord.
“They would not accept my counsel,
They spurned all my reproof.
“So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way
And be satiated with their own devices.
Prov 1:28-31
Do you know that a day can come when it is too late to get wisdom? Thank God that day hasn’t yet come. Brothers and sisters, now we can turn. Those are serious words. “They will seek me diligently at that time!” They had no time to seek her diligently at the right time. But later on, after they’ve made a mess of their life and it’s too late, they will seek diligently, but they won’t find her. We can find her now. But a day will come when we will not be able to find her, because we hated the knowledge of God. We may have been interested in bible knowledge, but we hated the knowledge of God which is pure and good and loving. We did not choose the fear of the Lord. “They would not accept my counsel. They spurned all my reproof.” They got offended when they were reproved and rebuked. Notice how often the word ‘reproof’ comes. So, what’s going to happen to them? They are going to reap what they sow. That’s all. It’s not that wisdom is going to go and punish them. No. They are just going to reap what they themselves have sown. Wisdom is only standing back and watching the whole thing. They shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and they will be satiated with their own devices. Their own cleverness is finally going to lead them astray, and they’re going to reap the corruption that comes as a result of sowing to the flesh.
For the waywardness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
Prov 1:32
Here we see two dangers: waywardness and complacency. Waywardness means that you don’t go along the right path. You sort of drift a little bit this way and that. And complacency means that you sit back and say, “Everything’s alright with me. Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’m alright.” In other words, there’s no fear and trembling in your life in relation to working out your own salvation. You’re quite complacent and happy with your own condition. Two dangers: the waywardness of the simple, and then that simple person who has become wayward gradually becomes a fool who is quite satisfied in his waywardness. That is the second stage. That’s the final stage which he reaches, and which finally destroys him. The thief has come to steal and kill and destroy, and the way he steals and kills and destroys is by allowing a person to be influenced by his surroundings and finally allowing him to be satisfied with his condition.
But he who listens to me shall live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.
Prov 1:33
Thank God that day in verse 32 has not yet come. You can still listen to wisdom, it says in verse 33. This is a great word for the insecure days we are living in in the world and in our country. Security comes through listening to God speaking through his spirit. Wisdom says, “If you listen to me, you will not only live securely, but you will have no fear in your life. You will be at ease from the dread of evil.” There is no fear in love – the kind of fear that something evil will happen to me. Do any of us have that fear: something evil may hit me or my family at some point? It says here you need not have that fear if you make it a habit in your life to say, “Lord, I want to listen to you. I want to do what Mary did: sit at your feet and listen.” That is the one thing needed.
