1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her 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 uprightly; 8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. 10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, 12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; 16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, 17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. 18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; 19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life— 20 So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. 21 For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.
Commentary
Vs. 1-2 1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;
As children of God then we are to receive His Word and treasure His commands that He gives us. For it is by these that we are guided away and preserved from all the evil that is at work in this world. Thus, by listening to God, and Godly counsel, we are inclining our ears to wisdom, we are applying our hearts to understanding. For listening (not talking) is the beginning of understanding, and understanding is the beginning of learning, and learning from God, from His Word, is how one discerns good from evil.
Vs. 3-5 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.
Discernment and wisdom then are not just gifts of the Holy Spirit; they are a lifetime pursuit for everyone of us who believe in Jesus Christ, to become wiser and more discerning as we mature in our faith. To cry out to God for wisdom, yes, (also James 1:5-7) but also, we are to pursue it, to literally seek her as valued silver and search for her as hidden treasures. For that is what Godly men and women have always done in searching out God’s Word, searching for true Wisdom, true Knowledge, true Understanding. For only then will you understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God when you believe His Word and obey Him, then you will see Him transform your own person and life as well (James 1:22-25).
Vs. 6-8 “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 uprightly; 8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.”
It is the Lord who gives wisdom to those who seek it from Him, He gives knowledge and understanding to those who know Him and want to obey Him (James 1:5-8). Indeed, He is a shield to those who walk uprightly, He stands before them as a guardian because He always guards the paths of justice, and thus those who do justly. And so, though we may be slandered and condemned by ungodly and unbelieving men and women, we will not be condemned by God because He preserves the way of His saints (consider Psalm 34:19-20, 22; Isaiah 54:17).
Vs. 9 “Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.”
These then are the benefits of knowing and fearing God (vs. 9-22), of having His Spirit give us wisdom through His Word. For then you will understand righteousness and justice, fairness and equity, and every good path that a man or woman should take. For wisdom is the path that makes for peace and prosperity in our lives. For God is in the business of making Godly people for His Kingdom; people who do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8). And in this it all begins with believing in the Lord Jesus Christ who opens the door to the Kingdom to us, who turns sinners into saints, and thus by His Holy Spirit renews them and brings wisdom and knowledge and understanding to them and everyone who believes in and obeys Him.
Vs. 10-15 10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, 12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;
Thus, it all starts with our having a willing heart that wants to know and obey God, that wants to fear Him and Keep His commandments, not rebel against them, as is continually promoted and held up in popular culture as the “cool” thing to do. Thus, when wisdom enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you, understanding will keep you…, keep you from walking in the ways of evil and thus walking with evil and perverse men and women, who only speak and do perverse things, who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, whose hearts and minds and lives have become darkened and depraved to the point that they now rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perversity of the wicked. Therefore, do not associate with such people! Indeed, open your eyes and see these people for who they really are, and consider their end, lest their end become yours also, if you choose to follow their path of life! For they are only crooked in their ways and devious in their paths. For they are the charmers and the deceivers, the manipulators and the liars, and with bold personalities and boastful tongues they sway the hearts of others. They are also the silent ones who in heart craftily work out their plans by which they seek to harm others, or profit themselves, and then craftily recruit others to do their evil will. They are experts at setting people against others while promoting themselves, and they must be in control, and they are found in every vocation and every walk of life, whether rich or poor, whether holding trusted offices or not, they are found in every walk of life. And befriending them (or being subservient to them as they wish) only assures that one will be used and abused by them, and then callously disregarded when you are no longer useful to them. Their “friendship” and their “love” then is deceitful for they utterly incapable of either, because people to them, even their closest relations, are just pawns on their gameboard of life to be moved and used to get “the win” for themselves. Therefore, God gives wisdom and discernment, knowledge and understanding to us all who know Him and who fear Him, so that we may steer clear of them and avoid all the pitfalls that come with being involved with them, so that we may not be ensnared by their charming persons, and deceitful lies and lives which promise endless riches and pleasures but, in the end, they only deliver misery and sorrow, ruin and regrets, and then death! Therefore, repent and believe now, while you can, and have all your sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ whose death on the Cross has provided the Atonement for you to be made not only right with God, but also to be made new, a new creation by His Holy Spirit, who will regenerate your person the moment you believe in Him! Therefore, call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to be your Lord and Savior, and He will take away all the old and make all things new! And that includes you sinner, yes even you who think you are the worst of sinners, yes absolutely, even you! (2 Cor. 5:17).
Vs. 16-22 16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, 17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. 18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; 19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life— 20 So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. 21 For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.
Wisdom, knowledge, discernment etc. then not only brings to us understanding, that is soul saving and life changing truth about God and ourselves, but also reveals to us the real nature and the true cost of sin. The true danger of becoming involved with an immoral woman, who knows nothing of love, but only how to satisfy her lust, (and or her own greed through the same), who eyes out her victim before she makes her move towards him, and in this she is a skillful seductress who knows how to use flattering words and seductive speech to seduce and slay the simple man whom she has set her eyes upon. Many a man has been taken by her, and many a marriage has been ruined by her, including her own. And so, verse seventeen tells how she forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God. Abandoning her husband (or love of her youth) she forgets her marriage vows before God to run after whomever she has now set her heart upon (vs. 17). She is then a very dangerous person for any man to get involved with because as verses eighteen and nineteen reveal, “…her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; 19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life—” Vs. 18-19 She then is the way for a man to shortened his own days and perish his own soul! To make his life pleasurable in the short term, only to suffer long lasting and sometimes everlasting misery, destruction and ruin both in this life and in eternity, Therefore, wisdom is given us by God, “So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. 21 For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.” Vs. 20-22 In God’s Kingdom then such men and women who reject His counsels and choose to follow their own evil desires will find neither a place or a refuge there (Mark 9:42-47; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Isaiah 66:22-24).
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