Proverbs 2:1-16: a reflection

1My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you, 2so as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; 3yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; 4if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; 5then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. 6For the LORD gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. 7He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his saints. 9Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. 10For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you, 12to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things, 13who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness, 14who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil, 15who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths, 16to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,

Proverbs describes the pursuit of wisdom in vivid terms, and then makes a promise. If you receive my words, it says, and seek wisdom as you would seek silver, and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. And it grounds the promise in this: for the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Wisdom is both diligently sought and freely given.

Notice the two sides held together. On one hand, wisdom must be pursued with real effort: sought like silver, searched for like buried treasure, with the energy and determination we would bring to digging for something precious. It does not come to the passive or the half-hearted. And on the other hand, wisdom is ultimately God's gift: for the LORD gives wisdom. We do not manufacture it by our own cleverness; we seek it diligently, and God gives it. Our seeking and his giving meet.

That combination shapes how to pursue wisdom. On one side, do not be passive; seek wisdom with the diligence you would give to digging for treasure, through God's word, through prayer, through attentiveness, refusing to let it slip by. And on the other side, do not rely on your own cleverness, but ask God, who gives wisdom, to grant it. The one who seeks wisdom diligently, and asks God for it, is promised to find the knowledge of God himself. Seek wisdom as for hidden treasure, ask God who gives it, and you will find the fear of the LORD and the knowledge of God, more precious than any silver.

Lord, your word promises that if I seek wisdom as silver and search for it as hidden treasure, I will find the knowledge of God, for you are the one who gives wisdom. Keep me from being passive; help me seek wisdom with real diligence, through your word, through prayer, through attentiveness, refusing to let it slip by. And keep me from relying on my own cleverness; help me ask you, who give wisdom freely. Let my seeking and your giving meet, that I may find the fear of you and the knowledge of you, more precious than silver.