Scripture Daily

Context No. 1293 of 4322 · Proverbs

Context · Reflection

Proverbs 1:17-33: in context

17For the net is spread in vain in the sight of any bird; 18but these lay in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. 19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners. 20Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares. 21She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words: 22“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge? 23Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you. 24Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention; 25but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof; 26I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you, 27when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you. 28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me, 29because they hated knowledge, and didn’t choose the fear of the LORD. 30They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. 31Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes. 32For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them. 33But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Wisdom is personified, crying aloud in the streets, at the busiest corners, at the city gates, calling to anyone who will listen. How long, she cries, will the simple love their simplicity, the mockers their mockery, the fools their hatred of knowledge? Turn at my reproof, and I will pour out my spirit on you. But she warns those who refuse: because I called and you would not answer, because you ignored my counsel, I will laugh when calamity strikes; then you will call and I will not answer, because you hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD. But whoever listens to me will dwell secure, at ease, without dread of disaster.

Two things stand out. First, wisdom is not hidden; she calls aloud, in the open, at the busiest places, to everyone. God's wisdom is not reserved for an elite or buried where only experts can find it; it cries out in the street, freely available to anyone who will stop and listen. The problem is never that wisdom is inaccessible; it is that the simple love their simplicity, the fools prefer their folly, and they will not turn. Second, and sobering, is the warning about a window that closes. Wisdom calls and calls, and there comes a point, after long refusal, when those who spurned her will call for her in their calamity and not find her. This is not vindictive on wisdom's part; it is the natural consequence of a life spent refusing to listen, that eventually the capacity to hear and be helped is gone. The invitation is urgent precisely because it will not stay open forever; a heart that repeatedly ignores wisdom's cry can reach a place where it seeks and cannot find. The good news is the last line: whoever listens now dwells secure. The door is open, wisdom is crying in the street today; the wisdom is to turn and listen while she still calls.

Wisdom is crying aloud in the open today; am I one of the simple who loves simplicity and ignores her call, or will I turn and listen now, while the invitation is still open?

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