Proverbs 2:1–5: “My son, if you receive my words, / And treasure my commands within you, / So that you incline your ear to wisdom, / And apply your heart to understanding; / Yes, if you cry out for discernment, / And lift up your voice for understanding, / If you seek her as silver, / And search for her as for hidden treasures; / Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, / And find the knowledge of God.”

June 6th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

In the book of Proverbs, wisdom has been personified as a female, making the concept more relational and relatable and less abstract and intangible. In English wisdom is also sometimes referred to as “lady wisdom.” Solomon tells his son, and us that there are hidden treasures to be discovered by burrowing into Scripture, just as old-time miners burrowed into mines looking for veins of gold. If we will spend time digging for the veins of gold found only in God’s Word, they will slowly but surely change our lives, filling us with wisdom, understanding, and discernment. The poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) said, “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”

We are told to “treasure” Scripture, and that means something more than casually examining it. These sayings from the Holy Spirit must be taken in, stored, and carefully meditated on in our hearts and minds, over and over again. Since God does not change, we who live 3000 years later, find that God is still infinitely more accessible to earnest seekers than to indifferent, casual inquirers. The diligent and honest hunter, searching carefully through God’s Word, is rewarded with more and more insight into the nature, attributes, and power of God.

If we are only looking casually, we will become like the family of blind mice that lived in a grand piano. Of course they did not know they were blind. From their perspective in their piano world, the music of the instrument filled all their dark lives with sound and harmony. For generations the mice were impressed by it, drawing comfort and wonder from the thought that there was Someone making the music, even though that Being was invisible to them. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see. Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very concerned. He had carefully felt around and discovered how the music was made. Wires were the secret, tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths that trembled and vibrated. Based on this new knowledge they had to revise all their old belief system. Now only the simple believed in the Invisible Player. Eventually, another blind explorer discovered that hammers were the secret, countless numbers of hammers dancing and jumping on the wires. This was a much more complicated theory and convinced them all the more that they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. The idea of the Invisible Musician came to be thought of as a myth. But the pianist continued to play. Many in our modern world think themselves wise because of the increasing accumulation of facts about the mechanics of physics, chemistry, and biology. Instead of seeking all the more for the Creator, they become smug, self-satisfied, blind mice.

“LORD, save us from self-satisfied conceit and keep us humbly bowed before You, serving You this day.”