Scripture Daily

Context No. 1310 of 4322 · Sirach

Context · Reflection

Sirach 39:1-16: in context

1Not so he who has applied his soul and meditates in the law of the Most High. He will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients and will be occupied with prophecies. 2He will keep the sayings of the men of renown and will enter in amidst the subtleties of parables. 3He will seek out the hidden meaning of proverbs and be conversant in the dark sayings of parables. 4He will serve among great men and appear before him who rules. He will travel through the land of foreign nations, for he has learned what is good and evil among men. 5He will apply his heart to return early to the Lord who made him, and will make supplication before the Most High, and will open his mouth in prayer, and will ask for pardon for his sins. 6If the great Lord wills, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding; he will pour forth the words of his wisdom and in prayer give thanks to the Lord. 7He will direct his counsel and knowledge, and he will meditate in his secrets. 8He will show the instruction which he has been taught and will glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord. 9Many will commend his understanding. So long as the world endures, it won’t be blotted out. His memory won’t depart. His name will live from generation to generation. 10Nations will declare his wisdom. The congregation will proclaim his praise. 11If he continues, he will leave a greater name than a thousand. If he finally rests, it is enough for him. 12Yet more I will utter, which I have thought about. I am filled like the full moon. 13Listen to me, you holy children, and bud forth like a rose growing by a brook of water. 14Give a sweet fragrance like frankincense. Put forth flowers like a lily. Scatter a sweet smell and sing a song of praise. Bless the Lord for all his works! 15Magnify his name and give utterance to his praise with the songs on your lips and with harps! Say this when you utter his praise: 16All the works of the Lord are exceedingly good, and every command will be done in its time.

Ben Sira paints a portrait of the person devoted to the wisdom of God. Such a one applies his soul to the law of the Most High, searches out the wisdom of the ancients, occupies himself with prophecies, and probes the hidden meaning of proverbs and parables. He serves among the great and travels among the nations, learning good and evil among men. But at the center of the portrait is his devotion to God: he sets his heart to rise early to seek the Lord who made him, opens his mouth in prayer, and asks pardon for his sins. If God wills, he is filled with the spirit of understanding and pours out words of wisdom, giving thanks to the Lord. His name and his understanding endure from generation to generation.

The heart of this ideal is a single habit: he sets his heart to rise early to seek the Lord who made him. For all the scribe's learning, all his study of proverbs and prophecies and the wisdom of the ancients, the thing that anchors him is that he rises early to pray, to seek God, to ask pardon for his sins before the day begins. His scholarship does not replace his prayer; it flows out of it. He seeks the Lord first, and only then does the understanding come, poured out as a gift from the God he sought. There is a pattern here worth noticing for anyone who wants to grow in wisdom. Real understanding is not first a matter of cleverness or wide reading; it begins on the knees, with the deliberate choice to seek God early, before the day and its demands crowd him out. The scribe orders his life so that God comes first, in the morning, in prayer, and the wisdom he becomes known for is the overflow of that daily seeking. What we put first shapes everything after it; the one who sets his heart to seek God early finds that the understanding he longs for is given as a gift, in its time.

Do I set my heart to seek God early, before the day's demands crowd him out, letting my seeking of him come first, or do I chase understanding by every means except the one this portrait puts at the center, rising early to seek the Lord who made me?

Sources