Wisdom Calls Aloud

Proverbs 1:11-22 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood. How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it! These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves! Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it. Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech: “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 8:23,30-31 – I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be…Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.

Application:

• ·         The author uses two major enticements that confront young men as examples of the way of folly: (1) to get rich by exploiting others and (2) to be drawn into pleasure by immoral women who fail to honor their marriage vows.
• ·         The book of Proverbs teaches that wisdom brings the greatest riches people could ever gain.
• ·         Wisdom was already there when God began to create the world.
• ·         Humans, made in the image of God, represented the climax of creation.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV