My son, if you receive my words

    and treasure up my commandments with you,

² making your ear attentive to wisdom

    and inclining your heart to understanding;

³ yes, if you call out for insight

    and raise your voice for understanding,

⁴ if you seek it like silver

    and search for it as for hidden treasures,

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord

    and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV

NOTE: We are working through these five verses section by section. We covered the first point here, the second point here, and the third point here.

The fourth condition: If we want to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (vs. 5), the fourth thing we must do is seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures. The imagery here is so obvious that it seems unnecessary to say anything more.

What is the spirit with which you read God’s Word, our primary source of wisdom? Do you have a “ho hum, here we go” attitude? Or do you have a measure of excitement and anticipation for what you will find? Perhaps you simply read God’s Word because you are supposed to read it? If you have a poor spirit about the Word, ask God to help you change your thinking, so that you can approach it as you might approach a silver mine or the way you would search your house, trying to find that $100 bill that isn’t where you thought you put it yesterday.

My son, if you receive my words

    and treasure up my commandments with you,

² making your ear attentive to wisdom

    and inclining your heart to understanding;

³ yes, if you call out for insight

    and raise your voice for understanding,

⁴ if you seek it like silver

    and search for it as for hidden treasures,

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord

    and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV

NOTE: We are working through these five verses section by section. We covered the first point here and the second point here.

The third condition: If we want to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (vs. 5), the third thing we must do is call out for insight and raise our voices for understanding. Like the previous two conditions, this requires action on our part.

Perhaps we should begin by identifying the source of wisdom. While scripture is filled with references that indicate that God is the source of wisdom, perhaps none are more clear than Proverbs 2:6, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” The Lord is the source of wisdom, thus it is from Him we are to request wisdom. Interestingly, while the Old Testament is replete with verses that say God gives wisdom, this is the only verse in the OT that I have found (to date) that suggests we need to call out, or ask for it.

The New Testament has a couple verses about asking for wisdom. The most direct verse is James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Indirectly Paul indicates that we can (or should) ask for wisdom in Colossians 1:9, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”

If the Scripture is clear that God is the source of wisdom and that we can (and should) ask Him for it, what prevents us from doing so? Is it pride? Ignorance? Here, Solomon conditions understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God upon calling out for it. So it seems pretty important to ask.

Will you join me in asking God for wisdom today? Now?

“My son, if you receive my words

    and treasure up my commandments with you,

² making your ear attentive to wisdom

    and inclining your heart to understanding;

³ yes, if you call out for insight

    and raise your voice for understanding,

⁴ if you seek it like silver

    and search for it as for hidden treasures,

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord

    and find the knowledge of God.”

Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV

NOTE: We are working through these five verses section by section. We covered the first point here.

The second condition: If we want to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (vs. 5), the second thing we must do is make our ears attentive to wisdom and incline our hearts to understanding. This is a matter of intentionality.

We need to actively pursue wisdom and understanding by intentionally listening for wisdom. But, this is unlikely to happen if we don’t, first, shape our hearts. In this context, Solomon isn’t suggesting we stand at the bus stop and listen in to the conversations of random people. While there can certainly be a circumstance or occasion in which we could gain wisdom this way, I think Solomon has something different in mind. His point is not to look for random opportunities to gain wisdom. Rather, he’s suggesting we intentionally shape our hearts toward receiving wisdom, then actively listening for wisdom.

Making our ears attentive to wisdom is a heart matter and a personal discipline. The personal discipline element is built upon a heart commitment to listen, to receive instruction and correction. Later (13:1), he describes this heart/ear connection like this: “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”

How can you shape your heart to be receptive to wisdom? How can you train your ear to listen to wisdom?

“My son, if you receive my words

    and treasure up my commandments with you,

² making your ear attentive to wisdom

    and inclining your heart to understanding;

³ yes, if you call out for insight

    and raise your voice for understanding,

⁴ if you seek it like silver

    and search for it as for hidden treasures,

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord

    and find the knowledge of God.”

Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV

This is a beautifully constructed “if … then” proverb. In other words, if you do this, then this will happen. When I notice an if/then statement, I often jump to the “then” clause to see the payoff. Sometimes I disregard the conditions altogether, focusing only on the benefit I expect to receive. Of course that approach is silly. How can I expect the benefit(s) of an if/then statement if I give no attention to the conditions of that statement?

In this proverb the payoff is huge: “then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” This should be the active goal of every person. But what are the conditions? We will work through them one at a time.

The first condition: If you want to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God, the first thing you need to do, the writer says, is “receive my word and treasure up my commandments with you.” These are heart matters. We need hearts that are receptive to wisdom, seeking wisdom. Then, we need to recognize the value of wisdom (i.e., treasure). Do you think of wisdom simply as something that would be good to have or is it an essential thing. This proverb suggests that we need to see wisdom as essential. The writer reiterates this thought in 7:1. “My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you.”

How is your heart condition as it relates to wisdom? Are you ready to receive it and treasure it?

“For the Lord gives wisdom;

    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;”

Proverbs 2:6 ESV

In this modern age it is easy to forget the simplicity of this proverb. The first source of knowledge is God. If we forget that, nothing else really matters.