 » How can I know the fear of the LORD? ( 2:1-9)
If I value wisdom ... if I ask for understanding ... if I seek her ... if I listen to wisdom ... if I obey the parent's / teacher's (the LORD's??) words and commands ... then I will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God (2:5).
The LORD is the source of wisdom ... for from His mouth come knowledge and understanding (2:7a).
Wisdom is for the upright.
When you have wisdom then you will discern what is right, just, fair and every good path (2:9)
So, do I really want wisdom? Am I prepared to go to the LORD for wisdom? Am I willing to let the LORD change my life?
» Wisdom protects (2:11-20) 
(1) the man who speaks perverse things (2:12)
(2) those who leave the path of uprightness (2:13-15)
(3) the adulteress who flatters with her words (2:16-19)
so that we will walk in the way of good men which is the paths of righteousness (2:20).
On the one hand, wisdom guards us from the immoral so that we can be with good men.
With whom (the kind of people) am I spending the most time?
How does wisdom protect us? Wisdom helps us to see the foolishness of the ways of the perverse, the evil and the adulteress ... hopefully, we will choose to keep our distance!
God had promised to give the land of Canaan to Israel; here God warned that if the people refused to obey Him then they would be uprooted from the land (2:21-22).
 » So what is wisdom?
(1) Wisdom is found in the LORD (2:7a).
(2) Wisdom in man has its root in the fear of God (1:7) ... to flee sin and escape punishment
(3) Wisdom results in righteous behaviour ... what's right, just and fair.
Conclusion: Wisdom is the submission to the all-wise God and the application of God's sayings to one's life resulting in righteous behaviour.
|