The Benefits & Value of Wisdom
Proverbs 2:1-22
- What did it mean to the original reader or original audience?
#God
#People = The Seeker of Wisdom, The Wicked, Adulterous Woman
#Time =
#Place = Paths of justice, Way of evil, Land of the upright
#Obedient faith
#Sin
#Key Idea
The Value of Wisdom
2 My
son, if you receive my words
and
treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear
attentive to wisdom
and inclining your
heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for
insight
and raise your voice for
understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and
search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you
will understand the fear of the Lord
and
find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives
wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge
and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the
upright;
he is a shield to those
who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of
justice
and watching over the way
of his saints.
9 Then you will
understand righteousness and justice
and
equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your
heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to
your soul;
11 discretion will watch over
you,
understanding will guard
you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from
men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of
uprightness
to walk in the ways of
darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing evil
and delight
in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose paths are
crooked,
and who are devious in
their ways.
16 So you
will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
from the
adulteress with her smooth words,
17 who
forsakes the companion of her youth
and
forgets the covenant of her God;
18 for her house
sinks down to death,
and her paths to
the departed;
19 none who go to her come back,
nor
do they regain the paths of life.
20 So
you will walk in the way of the good
and
keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will
inhabit the land,
and those with
integrity will remain in it,
22 but the wicked will be cut
off from the land,
and the treacherous
will be rooted out of it.
Wisdom saves from evil and pays benefits.
2:1–22 This chapter contains a paternal call regarding wisdom. It begins with a series of “if” statements that describe the search for wisdom (vv. 1–4), and it continues with several “then” statements about the results of wisdom. Wisdom provides an understanding of the fear of Yahweh (v. 5) as well as righteousness and justice (v. 9). It also delivers from evil, as the wise person can withstand temptation (vv. 11–19). The person who seeks and finds wisdom walks in righteousness and avoids the judgment of the wicked (vv. 20–22).
I. It Will Sanctify You (2:1–6): We are to treasure wisdom’s instructions and learn to fear the Lord.
II. It Will Secure You (2:7–9): It serves as a shield and guard.
III. It Will Satisfy You (2:10–11): “Knowledge will fill you with joy.”
IV. It Will Save You (2:12–22)
A. From godless men (2:12–15, 20–22): “Follow the steps of good men … and stay on the paths of the righteous.”
B. From godless women (2:16–19): Wisdom saves you from immoral women.
(2) Wisdom provides many precious rewards (Proverbs 2:9-11).
(3) God’s man is delivered from evil (Proverbs 2:12-15).
(4) He is safe from harlotry (Proverbs 2:16-19).
(5) He will receive a special inheritance (Proverbs 2: Proverbs 2:20-22).
or
- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- If in Proverbs 1:20ff it was wisdom who was clamoring to be heard, who must clamor now? Why? If not "clamorous," what tone of voice do you now hear this father using?
- By what means and in what order does this wisdom come to us? (Note the verbs.) Why begin with God's words and commandments?
- What is the goal of this treasure hunt (vv. 5-6): Head knowledge? Moral knowledge? Behavior change? Conversion? Why do you think so?
- Is such a relationship with God discovered or given? Why?
- How does God help you in this (vv. 7-8)? What further benefits attend the awe and intimacy of knowing God (vv. 9-11)?
- Verses 12-19 are in couplets, each half mirroring the other, even in keywords: What other poetic parallelism do you see?
- What protection (vv. 12-19) and provision (vv. 20-22) can you expect from wisdom?
- How's your search for wisdom coming along: "I found it"? "I lost it"? Or "I give up, where is it"? What two clues from this passage can help you find the source and benefits of wisdom?
- What attracts you to the "ways of good men" (v. 20): Their looks? Their means? Results (vv. 21-22)? Why?
- Since pleasures of sin are compelling, what must righteousness and wisdom counter-offer for you to follow them instead?
- Is the path of your life taking you where you've always dreamed of going? Or are you off-course somewhere? How can knowing God better help get you back on track? Likewise, how can our group help?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
- Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
- Proverbs 3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
- Proverbs 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. 3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
- Proverbs 6:20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. 22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. 23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
- Proverbs 7:1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. 2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. 4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
- Proverbs 13:13 Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.
- Proverbs 13:14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
- Proverbs 19:16 He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.
- Proverbs 28:4 They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.
- Proverbs 28:7 Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.
- Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
- Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
