As we have seen throughout these studies, our ultimate expression of wisdom is when we bow before the Lord Jesus Christ, wisdom incarnate, and submit to his yoke. Ultimately, that is where this father is directing his son. “Pursue wisdom! Look to Christ! Pursue after him! Treasure him with all your heart! At all costs and above every other pursuit, seek and search after Christ. For only in him will you find a life and an eternity of satisfaction and joy. Anything else is foolish and will bring regret.” Pursue wisdom: Pursue Christ.

Editor’s note: This is part five in a brief series on the book of Proverbs that Fred Zaspel is writing (see part one, two, three, and four). In this series, he will be noting an overview, certain themes, and specific texts in the book of Proverbs.

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. ⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; ⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, ⁸ guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. ⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; ¹⁰ for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; ¹¹ discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, ¹² delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, ¹³ who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, ¹⁴ who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, ¹⁵ men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways. ¹⁶ So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, ¹⁷ who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; ¹⁸ for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; ¹⁹ none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life. ²⁰ So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. ²¹ For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, ²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. (Proverbs 2)

I have emphasized it in each of our studies together so far, and you will hear it again and again throughout Proverbs. Especially here in these opening admonitions of chapters 1-9 the father drills his son over and again with the reminder of the connection between wisdom and righteousness. To do what is right is to be wise; it is in your own best interests. There is a moral order in the universe, put there by the Creator himself, and if you live accordingly you both honor him and enjoy his favor. It is in your own best interests to pursue righteousness – it is the wise thing to do. To be righteous is to be wise, and to be wise is to be righteous. Proverbs reminds us over and again – we must get that into our minds.

To pursue sin, on the other hand – well, that’s just foolish and self-destructive.

At the beginning of the father’s first lecture he stressed this value of wisdom but only in broad terms. Pursuing wisdom will be “a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck” (1:8). Living according to wisdom will pay off – it will distinguish you, make you prosper, and you will be happy for it. It will be like a victor’s crown and a wealthy man’s attire.

That is the idea driving this next lecture here in chapter 2. In verses 1-5 he exhorts his son to pursue wisdom with everything he has. And then in verses 6-22 he explains why wisdom is worthy of such vigorous pursuit.

I have mentioned that these lectures all tend to begin in the same way: 1) a call to the son to pay attention, and 2) some kind of motivational clause – “this instruction is valuable; it will pay off!” In this case (chapter 2) that motivational clause runs through the chapter. It’s his whole theme – how wisdom pays off. He will take up this theme at length again in the middle section of his next lecture (chapter 3).

The Pursuit of Wisdom

This second admonition (chapter 2) differs in perspective from the first (chapter 1): in the earlier lecture wisdom was pleading, trying to be heard; now the exhortation is to the son to give every diligence to seek wisdom. Notice the “if .. if … if … then” structure of verses 1-5.

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.

So first off, he admonishes his son concerning his own responsibility toward wisdom. “You will gain wisdom and understand the fear of the Lord, but only as you pursue it diligently.” And notice just how wisdom is to be pursued – notice how he piles up the expressions:

¹ 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.

He is calling for his son to give his earnest attention, to devote himself to wisdom.

• Verse 1: “Receive my words”– that is, don’t let this go in one ear and out the other. This instruction is good for you, and you must accept it and make it yours – internalize it and own it.
• “Treasure up my commandments with you”goes a bit deeper. “Don’t just hear what I’m telling you. And don’t just memorize it. Treasure it – recognize its value. This is for your own good, and you must get that! I’m telling you how to live and how to get the most out of life and how avoid mistakes that you will regret – when I teach you, understand this is like treasure!
• Verse 2: “Make your ear attentive.”This has to do with his attitude and disposition with regard to the instruction. When you hear this instruction, listen up. Value it, and take it in.
• “Incline your heart to understanding.”Make whatever adjustments needed on the inside so that you are not indifferent. Don’t just take this for granted. From your heart, with all your affections, give yourself to know wisdom.
• Verse 3: “Call out”for it and “raise your voice” for it. It’s the imagery of someone looking for a lost pet or a lost loved one – “Wisdom, please come and teach me!” He’s directing not only his son’s ears and attention but his heart. It’s just like a young child to hear and not hear, to hear it and forget. So he implores his son, “Don’t be passive in this: call out for wisdom; pursue it with your whole heart.” He’s pressing the value of wisdom and urging his son to recognize that value and to pursue it accordingly.
• Verse 4: “Seek”it and “search” for it like you would for silver and hidden treasure. Again, he’s stressing the incomparable value of wisdom. “Adjust your priorities and your appetites; pursue wisdom above all else. Atop the list of all your interests, the pursuit of wisdom must be first. It is most important, and it is basic to all the rest. Your first pursuit must not be amusements. Your first pursuit must not be money, or fame, or good looks, or sex. Your first pursuit must be wisdom. Wisdom is more valuable than all of these.”

And ( v.5) if you seek wisdom like this, you will find it: “then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.” Don’t think that a wise and rewarding life will just happen. You cannot be passive in this. If you give yourself to this pursuit, then you will know how to live in a way that is both honoring to God and personally rewarding.

If there is anything that good parents wants for their children it is this – that from their hearts they pursue wisdom, that they see its value and pursue it above all else. That is what this father is pressing for his son.

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