"You Must Be Wise"

[Proverbs 8:1-11]

Personally, as I live in this world, the more I realize how foolish I am, the more I feel the need for the wisdom that God gives. Reflecting on the words of Proverbs, I see many of my foolishnesses, but I would like to share three of them:

(1) My foolishness is not loving knowledge. In other words, my foolishness is hating knowledge.

Proverbs 1:22 says: “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge.” How do I know that I do not love knowledge, but instead hate it? I can see it clearly in my foolishness. My foolishness is not standing firm on God's word, turning away from God's instruction and laws (v. 8), being deceived by the devil's traps (v. 10), and being swept away by sin to commit transgressions against God.

(2) My foolishness is the spiritual regression that comes from my complacency.

Proverbs 1:32 says: “For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.” Complacency is being satisfied with the current state. In my spiritual life, when my passion for the progress of faith and the advancement of the gospel cools down, and I am simply content with my current spiritual state, regression in my faith is inevitable. This spiritual regression comes because I dislike God's knowledge, His teaching, and His rebuke. The root cause of this is that I have turned away from God's love and distanced myself from Him. The result is that I disobey God's word and commit sin against Him. What sin do I commit? Just like the people of Israel during the time of Joshua, I end up becoming too friendly with the world (Joshua 23:12) and living in alliance with it, regressing in my faith.

(3) My foolishness is impatience of the heart.

Proverbs 14:29 says: “He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive shows folly.” God often shows me my own impatience. As someone who is impatient, I often react quickly with anger, especially internal anger. So, as I meditate on wisdom books like Proverbs, I increasingly realize my own foolishness and begin to feel more and more the urgent need for the wisdom that only God can give. In this process, God has been teaching me wisdom and discipline through Proverbs (1:2), and I am experiencing His grace as He helps me grow wiser (v. 4).

In this process, God speaks to me today through Proverbs 8:5: “O you simple ones, understand wisdom! And you fools, be of an understanding heart!” So, based on this verse, I want to share two lessons from God on how I—how we—can become wiser. I pray that you and I will humbly receive these lessons from God and obey them, so that with the wisdom He gives, we can live wisely in this world.

First, in order to become wise, we must listen to the call of wisdom.

Look at the first verse of today's passage, Proverbs 8:1: “Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?” What does it mean that wisdom and understanding raise their voices and call out? It means that although the wisdom God reveals to all people is filled throughout the entire universe, there is lament over the fact that people do not know God (Park Yun-seon). Therefore, in Proverbs 8:2-3, the writer, King Solomon, says that wisdom calls out “from the heights along the way, at the crossroads, at the gates of the city, at the entrances of the doors”. A similar statement appears in Proverbs 1:20-21, which we have already meditated upon: “Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech.” Isn’t that interesting? In the passage we meditated upon during last Wednesday’s prayer meeting, the crafty woman in Proverbs 7 stands “at the corner of the streets and at the markets” (v. 12) and “loudly calls out” (v. 11) to seduce a foolish young man, but in today’s passage, Proverbs 8:1-4, wisdom is calling people from “the heights along the way, at the crossroads,” and “at the gates of the city, at the entrances of the doors.” Isn’t that interesting? Ultimately, all of us are living while hearing two kinds of voices: one is the foolish temptation of the devil, and the other is the voice of God's wisdom. What voice are you and I listening to right now? Wisdom is calling aloud in the streets, in the marketplaces, at the crossroads, and at the gates of the city, but the problem is that people are not listening to that voice, and as a result, they lack spiritual wisdom that fears God. They not only fail to know God but also do not revere Him, so they walk in sinful ways and transgress against God. However, the problem is not just that unbelievers do not hear the voice of wisdom. We believers are also turning a deaf ear to the voice of wisdom. As a result, many Christians also lack spiritual wisdom and fail to discern the right (correct) path that God is showing us. We are walking in the wrong and sinful paths because of our foolishness. What is the cause of this? The cause is that we are not listening to the call of wisdom.

What should we do? We must listen to the call of wisdom (vv. 1, 5). In order to become wise, we need to listen to the voice of wisdom. Why should you and I listen to the voice of wisdom? The passage of today, Proverbs 8:6-9, gives us four reasons:

(1) We must listen to the voice of wisdom because it speaks of "the best things."

Look at the first part of verse 6 of today’s passage: “Listen, for I have worthy things to say…” The term "worthy things" (noble/princely things) in Hebrew means things that are valuable, appropriate, and very true (Swanson). Ultimately, this means that the more we listen to the voice of wisdom, the more we will establish a correct value system through God’s wisdom. In other words, the more we listen to the voice of wisdom, the wiser and more discerning we become, enabling us to distinguish between what is eternal and beneficial and what is momentary and useless. In short, when we listen to the voice of wisdom, we will develop a correct value system. Therefore, a wise Christian who listens to the voice of wisdom chooses what is eternal and beneficial and does what is valuable in the eyes of God.

(2) We must listen to the voice of wisdom because it speaks of "integrity."

Look at the second part of verse 6: “My lips will speak what is right.” The word "right" in Hebrew refers to ‘integrity’ or ‘honesty and uprightness’ (Koehler), and in terms of direction, it means ‘straightness’ or ‘not deviating from the correct path’ (Swanson). This means that the more we listen to the voice of wisdom, the more we become wise and discerning, enabling us to distinguish between the crooked path and the straight path. In other words, the more we listen to the voice of wisdom, the more we will be able to walk in a straight line without being swayed to the left or right. In short, when we listen to the voice of wisdom, we will walk on the correct path. Therefore, a wise Christian who listens to the voice of wisdom does not choose crooked or distorted paths but rather chooses the straight path and walks it.

(3) We must listen to the voice of wisdom because it speaks of "truth."

Look at verse 7 of today’s passage: “My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.” The word "truth" in Hebrew is the same word we often use for "Amen," which means ‘to be firm’, ‘to endure’, ‘to be faithful’, ‘to be true’, ‘to trust’, and ‘to believe’ (Vine). So, when we hear the voice of wisdom, we become wise and discerning and can distinguish between truth and falsehood. We also begin to despise evil as we grow in the fear of God (v. 7). In short, when we listen to the voice of wisdom, we gain true knowledge. Therefore, a wise Christian who listens to the voice of wisdom rejects falsehood and chooses truth, speaking truth with their lips and living a life of truth.

(4) The reason why we must listen to the voice of wisdom is because wisdom speaks to us about "justice."

Let us look at today’s text, Proverbs 8:8: "All the words of my mouth are righteous; nothing crooked or perverse is in them." Here, the Hebrew word for "righteous" means "just" or "fair." In other words, the words that come from God’s mouth are just and fair. As we meditated on the second half of verse 6, the reason we need to listen to the voice of wisdom is that it speaks to us about "honesty," and in the same way, today’s verse 8 teaches us that we must listen to wisdom’s voice because it speaks to us about "justice." Both "honesty" and "justice" have one thing in common: they are like a straight line, a line that does not bend. So, King Solomon says that "all the words of my mouth are righteous, and there is nothing crooked or perverse in them." In short, when we listen to the voice of wisdom, we can act rightly. Therefore, a wise Christian, who listens to the voice of wisdom, will depart from crooked paths and rebellious ways and will walk only the path of justice.

Brothers and sisters, we must listen to the voice of wisdom that comes from the mouth of God. When we hear God's voice, which is the most righteous, honest (verse 6), truthful (verse 7), and just (verse 8), we will gain knowledge and become more discerning (verse 9). Furthermore, as we hear and obey God’s words of wisdom, we will become even wiser and more discerning (verse 9), and we will know what is good, honest, truthful, and just. We will be able to choose and walk the best path, the righteous path, the path of truth, and the path of justice. In other words, when we hear the call of wisdom, we will have the right knowledge, the right values, the right path, and we will act in the right way. My hope is that both you and I, as wise Christians, will listen to the voice of God's wisdom, choose that path, and live a life that is true, the best, honest, and just in God's eyes.

Lastly, to become wise, we must listen to God’s discipline and gain knowledge.

Let us look at Proverbs 8:10: "Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold." If two choices are before you, one being silver and gold and the other being God’s instruction and knowledge, what would you choose? When I think of this question, I remember the saying, "Rather than giving your children fish, teach them how to fish." In other words, teaching them the skill (the method) to catch fish is much better than simply giving them the fish itself. However, when we examine our actual lives, it seems that we often choose the fish itself. How can we tell? It’s evident in how we pursue wealth—gold and silver—more than we pursue God's knowledge and instruction. The core message of Proverbs 8:10-11 is that God's wisdom is far better than gold, silver, and pearls. The reason is that gold, silver, and pearls are like fish, while God’s wisdom is like the method or skill for catching fish. When we gain God's discipline and knowledge and grow wise, God will grant us the ability to acquire wealth, so God's wisdom is far better than wealth itself.

I recently read an article about patent disputes between Samsung and Apple on the internet, and I remembered something said by Mr. Ahn Cheol-soo: "There is no chance of victory through hardware anymore." This suggests that, in today’s world, we need to focus more on software than on hardware. In this context, "hardware" refers to the tangible parts of a computer, like the CPU, hard disk, mouse, and monitor, things that you can touch. "Software," on the other hand, refers to the "programs." For example, you cannot play a computer game with hardware alone. You need to install a program on the computer for the game to work. Some people have compared this to our human lives: the body is like hardware, and knowledge is like software (the internet). While the body is important, a body without knowledge is like hardware without software—it may look functional, but it cannot perform the tasks it was meant to. Both are important, but I worry that in our current age, people are abandoning knowledge of God in favor of pursuing wealth.

I think of Deuteronomy 8:17-18 when I think of "wealth": "Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth, that He may confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers, as it is this day." The Bible clearly says that God gives us the ability to acquire wealth. Isn't that ability to acquire wealth more important than wealth itself? Therefore, in Proverbs 8:10-11, King Solomon advises us to choose God’s discipline and knowledge over silver or gold. In other words, the Bible encourages us to strive to gain God’s wisdom, which is what enables us to acquire wealth, rather than simply pursuing wealth itself.

Let’s look at Proverbs 8:18-21: "Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries." God desires that, as we gain His wisdom and walk the path of righteousness and justice, we will be able to acquire wealth. Therefore, we must gain God’s discipline and knowledge, and become wise. We need to understand that wisdom is more valuable than wealth.

In conclusion, I’d like to share a thought I recently read in a Christian newspaper. One of the pastors in our denomination wrote an article, and in it, I encountered the term "digital dementia" for the first time. "Digital dementia" refers to the phenomenon where people, relying on technology, stop using their minds, and as a result, they start forgetting things. For example, many people have become so accustomed to smartphones that these devices do everything for them, reducing the need to think much. Because of this reliance on machines, they stop exercising their minds, and it leads to symptoms similar to dementia. I find this an interesting observation, and I agree with it in many ways.

However, when I think of "digital dementia," I also think of "spiritual dementia." When we fail to meditate on God’s Word and listen to His voice through that Word, and instead live our busy lives without reflection, we forget God’s teachings and knowledge. As a result, we may walk on crooked paths, unable to live a life of truth and integrity. Moreover, we may end up seeking material wealth, which seems best in our eyes, but which God sees as unjust, and we may commit sinful acts.

So, what should we do? We must become wise Christians. To do so, we must listen to the voice of God's wisdom. We need to gain God’s instruction and knowledge, which are more valuable than wealth. I pray that we all may become wise in God’s sight.