Listen to the Instruction of Wisdom!

 

 

 

 

[Proverbs 8:22-36]

 

 

While serving in the church, we often find ourselves overwhelmed with many tasks, and our hearts become restless (Luke 10:40). As a result, we begin to feel frustrated with our brothers and sisters who "leave me to do everything alone" (Luke 10:40). In the midst of our dissatisfaction, we even approach the Lord in prayer and complain: “Lord, do you not see that they leave me to do all the work alone?” (Luke 10:40). At that moment, I believe the Lord would respond to us by saying: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only a few things are needed—indeed, only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:41-42). The Lord desires that we, like Mary, “sit at His feet and listen to His word” (Luke 10:39) and obey His will. Yet, we often become busy doing many things according to our own will, hoping to give God glory by our actions. The Lord says, “One thing is needed” (Luke 10:42), but we are not satisfied with that. In the end, we are not obeying God's will, but serving in the church according to our own desires. While the Lord praises Mary for choosing “the better part” (Luke 10:42), we, like Martha, are troubled by many things.

As we began to meditate on Proverbs 8, we learned from verses 1-11 that in order to become wise, we must listen to the call of wisdom and follow its instruction to gain knowledge. We thought about four reasons why we should listen to wisdom’s instruction:

  1. Wisdom speaks to us of “the best thing” (Proverbs 8:6). This means that wisdom gives us the right values.

  2. Wisdom speaks to us of “integrity” (Proverbs 8:6). In other words, we should listen to wisdom because it guides us on the right path.

  3. Wisdom speaks to us of “truth” (Proverbs 8:7). This means we should listen to wisdom because it gives us proper knowledge.

  4. Wisdom speaks to us of “justice” (Proverbs 8:8). This means that listening to wisdom will lead us to act rightly.

An interesting point is that at the end of Proverbs 8, from verses 32 to 36, King Solomon repeats three times the command to “listen to wisdom” (Proverbs 8:32, 34) and “listen to instruction” (Proverbs 8:33). In other words, he is telling us to listen to the instruction of wisdom. Now, let us reflect on three ways we should listen to the instruction of wisdom and receive the lessons that God has for us:

First, we must humbly wait every day to listen to wisdom’s instruction.

Look at Proverbs 8:34: “Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.” As a pastor, I personally often find myself struggling with the preparation and delivery of sermons. In the midst of this, I especially wrestle with interpreting the Scripture correctly and how to proclaim it to the congregation in a way that accurately communicates its meaning. At times, I think: “How are the congregation members listening to the sermon?” When I think this, I often feel that the members of the congregation also need training in how to listen to a sermon. I recall a time when we studied Jay Adams' book, “How to Listen to Sermons”, where he teaches how to prepare to listen to a sermon, the attitudes we should adopt, and what hinders attentive listening. One of the reasons we studied this book was to cultivate the hearts of those who listen to the sermon, like good soil that receives the seed of the Word, so that much fruit can be borne. As Pastor Park Yun-Seon said: “The effective attitude for listening to God’s Word is to receive it with sincerity and trust.” This sincere attitude is to listen to God’s Word with a humble and eager heart. In today’s passage, King Solomon describes this attitude in Proverbs 8:34 as “watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.” This seems to describe how we should wait humbly and eagerly to hear the Lord’s voice, as if we are standing at the threshold of the King’s palace, awaiting His voice with devotion (Park Yun-Seon).

Jay Adams, in his book “How to Listen to Sermons”, shares that one of the ways to listen well is “with eager expectation.” He explains: *“Attitudinal preparation is needed. The Bible says, ‘They received the word with all readiness of mind’ (Acts 17:11). If you have an expectation, you will hear better. When listening to a sermon, focus on one thing: ‘What message does God have for me today?’ You need to have a childlike attitude. A pure heart and an open mind are essential to hearing well. When studying the Bible, it should be with a fervent desire to discover the truth. If you go with preconceived notions, you will gain nothing. Listening to find fault is a sign of a sick ear. In Hebrews 5:11, it says, ‘We have much to say about Melchizedek, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.’ There are ears that are slow to listen. Listening to a sermon is not about ‘finding faults,’ but about ‘seeking the truth’” (Adams).

So, why must we humbly wait every day to listen to the Word of Truth?

The reason is that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of Truth. More specifically, because Jesus Christ is the wisdom that was with God from the beginning, we must humbly wait every day to hear the Word of Truth that comes from His mouth. If we look at the passage from Proverbs 8:22-26, we can see that King Solomon emphasizes that wisdom was with God from the very beginning, even before the creation of the heavens and the earth: "The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth" (Proverbs 8:22-25).

Here, the words "before", "not yet", and "when He had not made" indicate that Solomon is stating that wisdom was with God from the beginning. This statement is very similar to what is said in John 1:1-2: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." Therefore, the "wisdom" mentioned in Proverbs 8:22-26 refers to Jesus Christ, who was with God from the beginning (as mentioned in John 1). And since Jesus Christ is the "Word," we must listen to that Word humbly every day. The reason is that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Secondly, we must listen to the instruction of wisdom and keep it.

Look at Proverbs 8:32: "Now therefore, listen to me, my children; blessed are those who keep my ways." We should not stop at humbly and fervently listening to all the words of Jesus, who was with God from the beginning. We must listen to them and keep them. This is the true blessed life for Christians. However, we experience problems in our lives not only in hearing the Lord’s word, but also in keeping it. For example, when we listen to the Lord's word, we need to diligently cultivate our hearts like good soil every day. But when we neglect this task, we fail to humbly receive the seed of the Lord's word and bear no fruit. Likewise, in order for the word we have heard to bear fruit, we must keep it, but Satan tries to take the word away from our hearts so that we do not bear fruit (Luke 8:12). Moreover, we fail to keep and follow the word because our faith roots are not deep enough. Therefore, when we first hear the Lord's word, we accept it with joy, but when trials come, we betray the Lord (Luke 8:13) and disobey His word. Additionally, we fail to keep His word properly because of the worries of this life, materialism, and pleasures (Luke 8:14), so we are unable to bear fruit fully. However, if we have a "good and honest heart," we will hear the Lord's word, keep it, and bear fruit with patience (Luke 8:15). This "good and honest heart" is one that experiences the power of God's word that has worked in creation. In other words, those who listen to and keep the Lord's word have a wise heart that experiences the power of the Lord’s word, which accomplishes the work of the new creation.

The power of the Lord’s word, which brings about the new creation, can be understood more clearly when we look at Proverbs 8:27-30: "When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, I was beside Him, as a master workman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him" (Proverbs 8:27-30). Here, the expressions "I was there" and "I was beside Him" show that Solomon is saying that wisdom was with God from the very beginning and was with Him during the creation of the universe, becoming the "Creator." This is also described in John 1:3: "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." Therefore, the "wisdom" mentioned in Proverbs 8:27-30 refers to Jesus Christ, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In other words, the Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord, who created the universe by His word, has the power to bring about the work of the new creation. So when we hear that powerful word, and our hearts are captivated by its power, we cannot help but keep it. The reason is that this word is a life-giving word and our light (John 1:4), and that light, which is the word of life, drives away all darkness from our hearts.

Brothers and sisters, blessed are those who hear and keep the Word of God. What kind of blessing do they receive? The blessing of prosperity. Look at Joshua 1:8: "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." The wise person, by listening to and keeping the instruction of wisdom, enjoys the prosperity that God gives.

 

Lastly, in third place, we must listen to the counsel of wisdom and gain wisdom.

Look at today's passage, Proverbs 8:33: "Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it." When we listen to and obey the words that come from the mouth of the Lord, who is the wisdom that brings about the new creation, we can gain wisdom. And when we gain wisdom, we will experience joy and delight. Look at verses 30-31: "Then I was beside Him as a master workman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, and my delights were with the sons of men." Here, King Solomon says that when God created the heavens and the earth from the beginning, Jesus, who is the wisdom, was with Him, and He rejoiced in what God had made. In particular, Jesus, who is wisdom, rejoiced when God created mankind (MacArthur). However, man disobeyed God's command and sinned, and as a result of that sin, evil spread throughout the world. God saw that every plan of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually, and He regretted having made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with sorrow (Genesis 6:5-6). Ultimately, through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and through sin, death spread to all people (Romans 5:12). However, through the obedience of one man, Jesus Christ, who became the last Adam and obeyed even unto death on the cross, we have received the gift of grace and have been brought to eternal life (Romans 5:21). In this way, those who listen to the words of Jesus, who lead us to eternal life, can obtain wisdom.

And the reason we must listen to the counsel of wisdom and gain wisdom from Jesus is to obtain life and grace from God. Look at Proverbs 8:35: "For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord." However, those who lose Jesus, the true wisdom, harm their own souls, and those who hate Jesus love death (Proverbs 8:36).

I would like to conclude with a reflection on the meditation of the Word.

I am reminded of the words Jesus spoke when He sent His twelve disciples in Matthew 10:16: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." As we live in this world, surrounded by false teachers like wolves, Christians must be wise in order to keep the purity of our faith. And to become wise, we must listen to the counsel of wisdom, again and again. We must listen, but we must also wait humbly each day before the Lord to hear His voice. And when we hear the Lord's voice, we must obey it. Then, we will obtain wisdom. When we do so, God will give us right knowledge (truth) and right values, guiding us to walk the right path (righteousness) and live the right life (good deeds).

May God's grace be upon you and me.