Proverbs 8:12-21
12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.
14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, I have strength.
15 By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles,
All the judges of the earth.
17 I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
20 I traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21 That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.
The middle of this chapter of Proverbs continues describing and extolling the excellence of God’s wisdom. Wisdom first of all lives with prudence, which is wise understanding put into practice with deliberate application for doing good. Wisdom therefore seeks out knowledge and understanding to put to intentional purpose, which is discretion. Wisdom is built upon godly fear, hating the evil that He hates (Romans 12:9) as much as pride, arrogance, perverse speech, and every other evil path men journey down. These things all are opposed to God’s character and commands for us as shown us in His word, and must be hated by us as well in wisdom we apply to living. We find godly counsel in His sound wisdom, and our strength then comes out of the understanding of wisdom in action as we rely on God’s direction from His word’s direction and by His Spirit’s enabling. Wisdom from God is necessary to guide rulers and governments with true justice, and judges require it to keep the law for order and peaceful rule of nations, even though many forsake wisdom and troubles abound. Wisdom loves and favors those who love her and seek her out from God’s word every day for all avenues of life. If we seek her out, we will find her and Him in her (Deuteronomy 4:29, Matthew 7:7); for ultimately that is why we seek wisdom, to find God and His will to live by to be pleasing to Him as we were all created to do. True treasure and honor are in wisdom, things that last forever instead of those that perish with the using (Luke 12:21, 34, Colossians 2:22-23). Wisdom yields the highest rate of return in other words. Yes, wisdom travels the way of righteousness and justice as defined by God in His word and not according to the philosophy of people who set arbitrary rules and standards to satisfy themselves (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2). This wisdom leaves us an inheritance that is eternal and undefined (1 Peter 1:4) in the heavens before God’s throne ruling over us, and will fill our eternal treasuries (2 Corinthians 4:6-7) with His righteousness and goodness by grace. May we then lay up such treasures of wisdom in heaven!
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