The Power of Wisdom
[Proverbs 8:12-21]
What do you think is the power of a Christian? Personally, I believe that the power of a Christian is the power of God revealed through our own weakness. Therefore, while it is painful and difficult to feel the limits of our own abilities in the midst of life's hardships, I believe it is necessary. The reason is that in those moments, we have the opportunity to experience God's infinite power in the midst of our limitations. Aren't we, day by day, living by God's power, which makes us strong when we are weak?
In today's passage, Proverbs 8:12, the Bible says, “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,” and in verse 14, it says, “I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have power.” In other words, wisdom is prudence, and power belongs to wisdom. So, under the title "The Power of Wisdom," I would like us to receive three lessons about the power of wisdom. Through this, we should recognize the limits of our own wisdom and foolishness, and desire to experience the power of God's wisdom.
First, The Power of Wisdom is to Hate Evil.
Let's look at Proverbs 8:13: "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." If we refer back to Proverbs 1:7, we see that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." The foundation of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. If we connect this verse to today’s passage in Proverbs 8:13, it means that the wise person, who fears the Lord, hates evil, while the foolish person, who does not fear the Lord, loves evil.
The foolish person loves pride, arrogance, evil actions, and perverse speech, things that the Lord hates (13). However, the wise person, who fears the Lord, also hates these things because God hates them. This is the power of wisdom. In other words, the power of wisdom is the ability to hate what God hates. To put it another way, the power of wisdom is to hate evil, pride, arrogance, evil actions, and perverse speech—things that God abhors.
Not long ago, I was having a conversation with a deacon, and he quoted Romans 3:10, “There is no one righteous, not even one,” and then spoke about Romans 7:19, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” He also mentioned Paul's words in Romans 7:24, "What a wretched man I am!" I agreed with the verses he shared. No Christian who believes in Jesus would fail to identify with the spiritual struggle Paul speaks about in Romans 7. One reason for this is because, like Paul, we often find ourselves doing what we do not want to do, as he says in Romans 7:19. Have you ever found yourself not doing the good you want to do and instead doing the evil you don't want to do? If so, how do you feel when you see yourself doing evil? Don’t you sometimes feel remorseful and fall into self-condemnation?
The power of wisdom helps us to hate evil because we fear the Lord. In other words, the power of wisdom allows us to hate what God hates. In today’s passage, Proverbs 8:13 clearly states that God hates pride, arrogance, evil behavior, and perverse speech. Wisdom has the power to help us hate all these things. The reason this is possible is because wisdom “dwells with prudence, and finds knowledge and discretion” (Proverbs 8:12). What does this mean? Wisdom gives us the knowledge to properly discern good from evil and, even further, wisdom makes us prudent and helps us avoid committing religious and ethical sins (as explained by Pastor Park Yun-seon). Wouldn't you want to receive such a powerful wisdom?
The power of wisdom can be said to make us love what God loves. So, what does God love? It is good. And when the Bible says that God hates evil, such as pride, arrogance, evil deeds, and a perverse mouth, it can be understood that what God loves is humility, gentleness, good deeds, and an honest mouth. Therefore, the wise believer who possesses the power of wisdom is humble, gentle, does good, and speaks truth. Are we truly wise Christians who possess the power of wisdom?
Secondly, the power of wisdom is to establish justice.
Look at Proverbs 8:15-16: “By me kings reign and rulers decree what is just; by me princes govern, and all nobles who rule on earth.” For a country's president and leaders to govern the nation with justice, they need the wisdom of God. In other words, for a government to govern a country well, the laws and order of that country must be set right. To achieve this, the role of the judiciary, which judges according to the law, is crucial. If the judicial system does not establish justice by properly executing the law, what would happen to that country? Wouldn’t we call it a "lawless land"? Every country that aspires to be a nation of laws must have its governing authority exercised according to the law, and certainly, God’s kingdom is no different—it must be governed and ruled according to God's law.
However, when we look at the church today, we cannot help but question whether the church of God is really being governed by God’s law. The reason for this is that the church does not honor the Lord as King, it is not becoming more like Him, and moreover, it is not reflecting His glory.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:20, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” Yet, it seems that today, our church is all talk and no power. For instance, while the church speaks of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of that gospel is not being manifested through our church in the world. The law of God’s kingdom is to love God and love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39), but because our church is not obeying and living according to God’s law, the church is not showing the power of God’s love to the world. Today, the church, like the Apostle Paul, is not aligning its teachings with its actions (1 Corinthians 4:17). In other words, the church is talking about God’s word, but it is not living in obedience to it. Because of this, the church is receiving more negative influence from the world than having a positive influence on the world. Right now, we desperately need the power of God’s wisdom. We need God to pour out His wisdom on us so that our church not only hates evil through reverence for God but also establishes justice within the church, setting the order of the church right.
Establishing justice with the wisdom that God gives means discerning between good and evil (1 Kings 3:9), doing good, and rejecting evil in all its forms (1 Thessalonians 5:22). To put this in the context of today's passage, we must reject the pride, arrogance, evil deeds, and perverse speech that God hates and adopt the humility, gentleness, good deeds, and honest speech that God loves (Ephesians 2:10). Why? Because our God is not a God of disorder but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). What does this mean? When a family or a church is governed by the wisdom of God, there will never be disorder in that family or church. Instead, there will be peace that God gives. Is our family one that shows the power of wisdom?
Thirdly, the power of wisdom is to obtain wealth.
Look at Proverbs 8:21: “That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, and that I may fill their treasuries.” In Proverbs 8:10-11, which we meditated on during last week’s Wednesday prayer meeting, we learned that God’s wisdom is far better than gold, silver, or pearls. In other words, when we listen to the voice of God’s wisdom and gain His counsel and knowledge, we also acquire the ability to make wealth. Therefore, God's wisdom is more valuable than wealth itself.
Now, consider Proverbs 8:18-19: “Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.” What does this mean? King Solomon is saying that those who possess wisdom will have wealth and honor. Isn't King Solomon himself a person who experienced the wealth and honor given by God through wisdom?
As it is written in Deuteronomy 8:17-18, God gives us the ability to gain wealth. Therefore, instead of striving for wealth itself, we should put effort into obtaining the wisdom of God that grants us the ability to acquire wealth.
So, what should we do to receive the power of wisdom? We must love wisdom. We must earnestly seek wisdom. Look at Proverbs 8:17: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.” King Solomon is encouraging you and me to be people who love wisdom (verse 21). The reason is that when we love wisdom, we will receive the love of wisdom in return.
What does it mean to receive the love of wisdom? It means that just as Solomon asked for wisdom and God gave him not only wisdom but also wealth and honor that he did not ask for, when we love wisdom, it will bring all these blessings to us. Therefore, King Solomon is encouraging us to earnestly seek wisdom. When we do so, we will find it.
How can we earnestly seek wisdom? First, if we lack wisdom, we should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault (James 1:5). Secondly, we should diligently listen to the voice of wisdom (Proverbs 8:1). We need to listen to God’s voice and obey it. When we do so, we will receive the power of wisdom from God.
I would like to conclude with a personal reflection. I have a personal desire to ask God for the power of His word and the power of His love. But as I continued to meditate on the books of wisdom in the Bible, I began to desire another power—the power of wisdom, which we meditated on today. Of course, the reason I sought the power of wisdom was that as I read the books of wisdom, I became more aware of my own foolishness and ignorance, and I could not help but ask God for wisdom. One of the reasons I seek the power of wisdom is to hate evil. In other words, one of the reasons I ask God for the power of wisdom is so that I may also hate the evil that God hates and love the good that God loves.
Another reason I seek the power of wisdom is to establish justice. Especially as I serve in Victory Presbyterian Church, I want to obtain the power of wisdom to establish justice and maintain order and peace within the church.
Lastly, when I think of the congregation, I pray that God would grant the power of wisdom to obtain wealth, so that it may be used for God’s kingdom and for the work of the gospel. I hope that this will come to pass, and that we all may become those who love wisdom and earnestly seek it, so that we may be clothed with the power of wisdom.