A Discourse on Wisdom

Proverbs 3:13-35 can be broken up into 4 main parts.

1. Value of Wisdom (vv. 13 - 18)
2. Power of Wisdom (vv. 19 - 20)
3. Wisdom's 'Do nots' (vv. 18 - 32)
4. Why We Should Obey Wisdom's Teachings (vv. 34 - 35)

1. Value of Wisdom

V13. If you look at Wisdom literature, the words 'wisdom', 'knowledge' and 'understanding' are often mentioned together, and it can be a struggle to understand the difference between them.

Without being too technical,...

• 'Knowledge' is basically the accumulation of information.
• 'Understanding' is knowing what the information means, and
• 'Wisdom' is experience that you gain from applying both overtime in different
  situations.

The finding of wisdom in v 13 indicates that there is a responsibility on our side.

The finding of wisdom in v 13 indicates that there is a responsibility on our side. This is being diligent in studying God’s word resulting in an accumulation of knowledge and understanding of his Word which makes us wiser overtime.
Many blessings are received from wisdom. We can take Solomon as an example. His wisdom brought him riches and peace during his reign. He was a very successful leader in business and government.

We can also apply this Godly wisdom in many areas of our lives and gain success in
those areas. True wisdom however is the wisdom that leads to saving faith in Christ Who grants us the ultimate blessing of eternal life.

In vv. 14 – 18, we see wisdom being personified as a woman again like in chapter 1 but this time it’s also being compared to precious items that normally symbolise wealth.
1 Kings 10:14-15 says “Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold. This was around 1.2 billion dollars and besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.” Gold was his main currency. 1 Kings 10:23 says the whole earth wanted the presence of Solomon, and they brought him silver.
So, while these material things are valuable to Solomon he himself ranks wisdom higher than those things because if he were to lose everything, with the wisdom that the Lord gave him he can get it all back.

We need to constantly check our hearts to see what’s more of a priority and if we treasure material things more, then we need to repent and ask the Lord to help us.

V 16 Long life here is mentioned as another benefit because when you have wisdom you can make decisions that can help you avoid things that can shorten your life. Wisdom can protect you and guide you into good decisions in life.
V 17 speaks about pleasantness and peace, and this is because making wise decision creates a sense of accomplishment and that is pleasant to us and brings some sort of contentment.
1 Kings 4:24 says that King Solomon had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him.
Because he ruled as a wise king peace was enjoyed in his time of reign. Proverbs 15:1 give another example.
V18 compares wisdom to a tree of life. The 'Tree of life' is normally symbolic of new life. This is ultimately pointing to eternal life (as mentioned in Genesis 3 and Revelation 22) so it is clear here that true wisdom leads us to Christ who grants us eternal life. 18b speaks of people who are wise/ have wisdom being called blessed. When we are wise people notice and testify of us being blessed because of the wisdom we exercise. We also have the ultimate blessing of peace with God.

2. Power of Wisdom 

In vv. 19 – 20, Solomon highlights the 3 buzz words that we spoke about in the beginning: wisdom, knowledge and understanding, but this time he specifies that creation came into existence because of God’s Wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
The creator of all is the ultimate source of our wisdom, knowledge and understanding and His wisdom knowledge and understanding is so powerful that it created the earth, and another realm called heaven.

That is far beyond our understanding, and shows the absolute power and authority of God, and causes us simply to marvel.

3. Wisdom's 'Do nots' 

Do not lose sight of these and keep wisdom and discretion. Why? Because all of these come from the Creator of all.
Verses 22 to 24 explains what happens when we keep this wisdom and discretion.
V25 – 26 Speaks of not being afraid of sudden terror. We should not be afraid because it specifies that this is for the wicked or unbelievers. They should be afraid of sudden terror because if they die in unbelief, it’s hell for them, but we’re not afraid because we are in Christ.
V27 – 29 Talks about matters of fairness with others. This echoes some of the principles in the 10 commandments on how we should relate to our neighbour
V30 – 31 Talks about being peaceable and not starting fights unprovoked.

4. Why We Should Obey Wisdom's Teachings

Vv. 32 – 35 summarises why we should obey these teachings. When you don’t heed them, you become an enemy of God, but if you do, He is pleased with you. V33 mentions that the curse is on their house. 

Thus what lies before us is portrayed as choosing wisdom, but ultimately, it is choosing the gift of eternal blessedness, and escaping the eternal curse that abides on all men who reject wisdom.

Conclusion

We learned that wisdom could get you success in this life in many ways and is of more value than material things. Solomon had wisdom and success in abundance but he turned from the Lord (1 Kings 11) by letting his lust lead him to 700 Wives and 300 concubines which then turned him to other gods.
He was trying to exercise the wisdom that God gave him without God. The wisdom that God gave Solomon was not just for him to be a successful king and businessman, but it was ultimately for him to realise that all his success was vanity outside of God.

This is the lesson we must heed from Solomon's discourse on Wisdom.