Wisdom 10:1-16: a reflection

1Wisdom guarded to the end the first formed father of the world, who was created alone, and delivered him out of his own transgression, 2and gave him strength to rule over all things. 3But when an unrighteous man fell away from her in his anger, he perished himself in the rage with which he killed his brother. 4When for his cause the earth was drowning with a flood, wisdom again saved it, guiding the righteous man’s course by a paltry piece of wood. 5Moreover, when nations consenting together in wickedness had been confounded, wisdom knew the righteous man, and preserved him blameless to God, and kept him strong when his heart yearned toward his child. 6While the ungodly were perishing, wisdom delivered a righteous man, when he fled from the fire that descended out of heaven on the five cities. 7To whose wickedness a smoking waste still witnesses, and plants bearing fair fruit that doesn’t ripen, a disbelieving soul has a memorial: a standing pillar of salt. 8For having passed wisdom by, not only were they disabled from recognising the things which are good, but they also left behind them for their life a monument of their folly, to the end that where they stumbled, they might fail even to be unseen; 9but wisdom delivered those who waited on her out of troubles. 10When a righteous man was a fugitive from a brother’s wrath, wisdom guided him in straight paths. She showed him God’s kingdom, and gave him knowledge of holy things. She prospered him in his toils, and multiplied the fruits of his labor. 11When in their covetousness men dealt harshly with him, she stood by him and made him rich. 12She guarded him from enemies, and she kept him safe from those who lay in wait. Over his severe conflict, she watched as judge, that he might know that godliness is more powerful than every one. 13When a righteous man was sold, wisdom didn’t forsake him, but she delivered him from sin. She went down with him into a dungeon, 14and in bonds she didn’t depart from him, until she brought him the sceptre of a kingdom, and authority over those that dealt like a tyrant with him. She also showed those who had mockingly accused him to be false, and gave him eternal glory. 15Wisdom delivered a holy people and a blameless seed from a nation of oppressors. 16She entered into the soul of a servant of the Lord, and withstood terrible kings in wonders and signs.

This passage sweeps through the early history of God's people and sees one thread running through it all: the wisdom of God guarding and delivering the righteous at every turn. Wisdom protected the first man, preserved Noah through the flood, guided Abraham, kept Jacob, and stood by Joseph, going down with him, the writer says, even into the dungeon and refusing to abandon him until it brought him honor. Age after age, God's wisdom watched over those who trusted him.

The picture is of a faithful, active presence accompanying the righteous through their trials. Wisdom did not spare them every hardship, Joseph still went to the pit and the prison, Noah still faced the flood, but it never left them, working through their sufferings toward deliverance and even glory. And this same wisdom, the passage says, entered the soul of God's servant and stood against tyrants with signs and wonders, delivering a whole people from oppression. Wherever God's people were, his wisdom was with them.

This is a hopeful way to read your own story and the story of God's people: to trace the thread of God's faithful presence accompanying you through every season, even the dungeons and the floods. God's wisdom does not always spare his people hardship, but it goes down with them into it and works toward their deliverance. Whatever trial you are in, you are not abandoned. The same faithful wisdom that stayed with Joseph in the prison stays with you, working, even now, toward good.

Lord, your wisdom guarded and delivered your people age after age, going down even into the dungeon with Joseph and never abandoning him. Thank you that you do not always spare me hardship but never leave me in it, working through every trial toward deliverance. Whatever season I am in, remind me that I am not abandoned, and that your faithful presence is with me, working toward good. Amen.