Proverbs 1:28-30

February 23rd, 2019
by Pastor Kevin Kabel

Prov. 1:28-30 "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof."

Wisdom personified has made her plea. She has reached out to those in need of her companionship and virtue. Sadly, those in need of her in the scene denied her invitation. Because they denied her invitation, the simple, the scorner and the fool would proceed down the road of life without her companionship. Without her prudence, protection and guidance, certain trouble awaited them. Without wisdom - distress, anguish and fear are certain. In Solomon’s Script, wisdom would have no compassion on her rejecters in the day of their distress.

Verses 28-30 record another sentence of wisdom’s dialog. In this sentence however, she is not speaking to those she has invited to embrace her. She is speaking to a general audience who may hear her and consider her ways. She informs mankind that her rejecters will call upon her in the day of their distress. She informs us all that her rejecters will seek her early in their distress. They will not seek her because they like her, for the previous four verses tell us that she will mock and laugh at them in the day of their distress. They will not call upon her because they find her attractive for Solomon’s paints the picture of an unattractive scorned woman. No, they will call upon her because they will be desperate.

Wisdom informs us that she will be invisible and silent in the day of the fool’s demise. Solomon chose to personify wisdom as a woman to appeal to his son but also to teach his son that wisdom is to be treated as a woman is to be treated. By Divine Design, women have been created to be more socially sensitive than men. Because of this sensitivity, rejection is very difficult for a woman to absorb. When rejected, a woman will be hard to win over and she will be quick to move on. A man who does not understand this general truth will struggle retaining a life-long companion. Solomon wants his son to see wisdom in the same light. He wants his son to realize that rejecting wisdom would be a tragic mistake. When wisdom is rejected, she moves on. When wisdom is rejected, she flees. When wisdom is rejected, she goes silent. When wisdom is rejected, she will not pick up the phone and she will not answer the door. Wisdom is to be treated with delicacy and with respect.

Throughout the Book of Proverbs, wisdom is likened unto women in many ways. Wisdom offers the same kind of value to people as women offer to men. Just as God declared in Genesis, “it is not good for man to be alone,” Solomon declares throughout Proverbs, “it is not good for people to be without wisdom.” In chapters 3 and 8, Solomon declares wisdom’s worth to be more “precious than rubies.” In chapter 31, he declares a wife’s worth to be “far above rubies.” Proverbs 2:6 tells us that wisdom comes from God while Proverbs 19:14 tells us that a prudent wife comes from God. The words of wisdom in chapter 8 look incredibly similar to the words chosen to magnify marriage in chapter 18 -

Proverbs 8:35 “For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.”

Proverbs 18:22 “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.”

God has designed wisdom like He’s designed women. Women are designed to be loved, cherished and valued. If they are not, they will become unhappy and discontented. If rejected, women will find someone who will cherish them. The father who rejects his daughter will push her into the arms of a man who will love her. The bachelor who rejects an interested lady will push her into the arms of a man who will love her. The husband who rejects his wife will be in danger of pushing her into the arms of a man who will love her. Women will move on to find someone who sees her value as “far above rubies.” God has designed women to feel this way for the benefit of men. Men have a tendency to take things for granted and God didn’t want him to take for granted the companionship and value a wife brings to his life. A woman’s sensitivity to feeling loved and cherished helps a man stay engaged in his relationship with his wife.

Wisdom has been designed in the same manner. God didn’t want men and women to take wisdom for granted so He designed wisdom in such a way that if rejected, it would move on. Wisdom is not a fire extinguisher that we can ignore until there is a fire. It is not an emergency brake that we can ignore until the brakes fail. It is not a first aid kit or an AED unit that we can ignore until there is a medical emergency. It is not a parachute that we can ignore until the plane is falling from the sky. Wisdom is a virtue that deserves our constant attention and appreciation.

Too many people see wisdom as something they can just go get when they have need of it. When someone’s health is in jeopardy and they are in need of fresh vegetables, they can simply go to the grocery store and purchase fully grown, nutrient-full vegetables. It would be a mistake to view wisdom as accessible in such a time of need. Wisdom is something that needs to be entertained well before the day of one’s crisis. Wisdom is something that needs to be cultivated and appreciated well before the day of one’s trouble. Wisdom is less like the fully-grown vegetable in the grocery store and is more like the seed planted months earlier in the soil. If we don’t see the value in wisdom when it is a seed, then it won’t be available when we need its fruit. If we don’t appreciate wisdom when it first pokes through the ground, then it won’t be available when we need its fully-grown fruit.

Wisdom is sensitive and it is sensitive by Divine Design. If we don’t see its value when life is good, then it won’t see us when life is bad. If we don’t hear wisdom inviting when life is easy, then it won’t hear us begging when life is difficult. No one can afford to reject wisdom at any point in their life. Rejecting wisdom leads to wisdom ejecting. Wisdom will offer anyone a lifetime of love and loyalty if it is received early and often. In Proverbs 8:17, wisdom says, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”