Today, I want to share a word about the blessings of wisdom as I comment on passages from Proverbs 9:1-6. This passage reads:
Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars; she has slaughtered her meat, she has mixed her wine, she has also furnished her table. She has sent out her maidens, she cries out from the highest places of the city, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.”
Solomon personifies wisdom in the passage as a literary device, but wisdom is not a person, but it does originate in the person of God, and we know God is all benevolent. Since God is good and benevolent, then wisdom is also good and benevolent.
In the first verse, we can see that wisdom gives perfect shelter.
One resource all people need is shelter. Shelter is vital for a safe and pleasant life. Shelter is also encouraging. If one has been trudging through a cold rainstorm, or a snowstorm with a biting wind, nothing is more uplifting than to arrive at a warm, snug, and dry home.
Wisdom’s shelter is more than physical, however. Wisdom shelters us from the attacks of the evil one. It also shelters us from the sinful world around us and even from our own failures.
In the first verse, we also see that wisdom gives perfect stability.
People need shelter, but we also need stability. When our shelter is unstable it can fall and expose us to the very dangers and discomforts that it was designed to protect us from.
Instability is dangerous also. Unstable buildings can fall down, unstable ships can capsize, and unstable people have unstable lives. They may join cults, they may drift from job to job, and they may fall in and out of love. James wrote that double-minded people are unstable in all their ways.
In contrast, wisdom provides stability. Notice that wisdom has seven pillars hewn from solid rock. Seven is the number that represents perfection in the Bible, and of course, our God is our solid rock. Wisdom prevents our emotions from leading us astray, and it helps us focus our minds on Christ.
The way you walk a straight line or plow a straight furrow, or fly a straight course is by picking a point directly in front of you and focusing on it. You will walk, or plow, or fly straight to it. This is the same with our spiritual life. Wisdom stabilizes us by directing our attention to God, and as we focus on Him, we spiritually walk toward Him.
In verse two, we can see that wisdom provides a perfect sacrifice.
Under the sacrificial system in the Old Testament, when people sinned, their relationship with God had to be restored by repentance and a blood sacrifice.
God would graciously accept human repentance and the blood sacrifice they offered up, and He would forgive their sin. But, like washing dirty dishes or dirty clothes, human hearts would soon be soiled again, and the process would start all over again.
Blessedly for us, God has provided the perfect sacrifice for us. Christ offered Himself and became our sacrifice, our perfect and permanent sacrifice. He was a sacrifice that never needs to be repeated, and it satisfies all of God’s requirements. It was a costly sacrifice that God made for us, but it was the only one suitable for our needs.
Wisdom leads us to accept God’s provision for us. Wisdom leads us to take Christ’s work for us and to accept His perfect sacrifice.
In verses 2-6 we can see that wisdom provides a perfect supply.
Wisdom provides all of our needs. Here we see that it set an abundant table. This is not a table of food and drink, but this bounty is of wise advice and guidance
We can also see that wisdom found abundant guests. Wisdom sent out messengers to the most advantageous points to announce loudly and publicly the blessings and gifts of wisdom.
Finally, we see that wisdom gives abundant guidance.
We all have tried to use an item of equipment or put together a piece of furniture with inadequate instructions. A good, clear set of instructions can make the hardest job much easier. Wisdom makes clear the most obscure and difficult issues, because we see life from God’s point of view through exercising wisdom.
Conclusion.
Exercising wisdom is not just the right thing to do, though it definitely is that. Exercising wisdom brings blessings to our lives. We only have to participate with God in His wisdom to see those benefits!
Thanks so much for visiting with me today! I'll be back soon with another word from the Bible that we can share together.
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
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