Proverbs 2: The Development of Character
For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
-Proverbs 2:6
I wonder what you’d do if I told you that there was a way for you to be a godly man, husband, woman, wife, parent, child, boss, or employee, in whatever season and condition you’d find yourself in. Would you jump at the opportunity to know the way? Would you take the course? Would you listen to the podcast? Would you read the book? Would you set aside anything to get this wisdom and understanding? A person’s character is foundational for all his or her living and interacting before the face of God, in every relationship, and in any season or situation. One would think, therefore, that developing this character would be a top priority. The Lord certainly thinks so, and has revealed so. Will we listen? Will we grow?
The Search (vv. 1-5)
After laying the foundation for character and calling everyone to walk along the paths of wisdom (Proverbs 1), Solomon paves the way for wisdom by urging his sons, and all spiritual sons and daughters, to notice the value of wisdom. In the opening verses of Proverbs 2, Solomon puts before his son divine wisdom. He holds it up as a diamond to behold and to hold! He issues a promise: If we receive wisdom (v. 1), then we will understand the fear of the LORD and find knowledge of God (v. 5). The fear of the LORD, he introduced, is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (1:7). Fools hate it, but the wise cherish it.
The wisdom, however, doesn’t, as it were, fall from the sky onto the lad’s lap. The son must attend to wisdom (v. 2). He must incline his heart to divinely revealed understanding (v. 2). He must call out for insight (v. 3). He must seek it and search for it (v. 4). Wisdom, if it is to be found, must be chased down. Jesus, who is Wisdom Personified (Proverbs 8), would later call his would-be wise men and women to A.S.K.: to ask, to seek, and to knock (Matthew 7:7). Our Lord invites us to come to him for all of life and godliness. Do we desire to develop character in conformity to Christ? Does the earthly father wish to be more like his Eternal Father? Does the child yearn to grow like the Son of God? There’s only one way, Solomon says: it’s through the diligent, daily pursuit of treasuring wisdom from above.
The Greater Solomon gives us a parable to incline our hearts to understanding, to make our ears attentive to wisdom. His Kingdom can be compared to a merchant in search of fine pearls. He searched and searched until he found one of immense value. He left to sell everything he had to buy the field containing the pearl (Matthew 13:45-46). It is only in God’s Kingdom where the storehouse of salvation and riches of wisdom can be found.
We believe this in principle, but has belief in principle become belief in practice? As a son hears his father’s wise words, do these words go in one ear and out the other? Or worse, is the child plugging both ears, refusing wisdom from banging his eardrums? For us who desire to conform our lives to the character of Christ, how are we searching? Are we searching? Are we seeking wisdom in his Word? Are we asking our Father in heaven for it? Are we giving due attention to it in private, family, and corporate worship? We will pursue this character-forming wisdom only if we are convinced of its inestimable value, and only if we believe it can be found.
The Discovery (vv. 6-9)
We search in vain unless we are assured that we will find. Imagine a student who enters the university and is told that she will receive the degree if she follows the coursework, only to be told upon completion of all the requirements that the diploma is withheld from her hands. A true injustice. A promise unfulfilled deflates the soul. However, Solomon assures us that man finds. What is the ground of this assurance? It is not man’s pursuit but God’s gift. The person who seeks for wisdom to be more like Christ finds, because God gives it to him (v. 6), because God collects divine wisdom in abundance for him (v. 7), and because God protects the wise and keeps him on the paths of righteousness (vv. 7-8).
Notice the parallel in verses 5 and 9:
If you seek, “then you will understand the fear of the LORD…” (v. 5)
If you seek, “then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path” (v. 9).
What a promise! And what a promise that only God can fulfill and deliver on! Solomon assures us that this pursuit is, quite literally, not a fool’s errand. It is the pursuit of the wise, and the wise will discover what they seek. Ask, and it will be given; seek, and it will be found; knock, and it will be opened. The Greater Solomon assures us that as we come to him for wisdom to be more like him, he will give us what we request. He is eternally investing in shaping us in his image.
The Reward (vv. 10-11)
Finally, as Solomon urges us to seek wisdom, assures us that we’ll find it, he also shows us how pleasant wisdom is, how richly rewarding this diligence chase is. Wisdom will enter your heart, and your soul will be pleasant (v. 10). How could the soul not be pleasant if wisdom indwells it? Wise saints aren’t pirates looking for lost gold, being guided by map fragments and measly clues. We’re sons in the Father’s Kingdom looking to be more like his Son, being guided by inspired, infallible revelation, and with the Son’s Spirit fueling our feet.
Jesus assures us that when we ask, we receive, because we ask the Father who loves us. For who of us when asked by our children for food will give them a stone or serpent? Our Father in heaven knows how to give good gifts much better than we do (Matthew 7:8-10). Has he not shown us his love? He loves to lavish his Kingdom on us. First comes the King, then comes his Kingdom. The Father loved us by gifting us his Only-begotten Son and our King into whose image we’re being transformed from one degree of glory to the next. We’re richly rewarded, because we get to become more like Christ, his Son and our Savior! What could be better than that?! Seek the Savior and you will find him.
Rev. Dr. Michael Mock is the Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Fresno, CA and an ACBC-certified Biblical Counselor. He’s the author of Hey, Dad, Why Do We…?: Kids Ask the Greatest Questions, Old Testament Introduction and Workbook, New Testament Introduction and Workbook, Comfort from Corinthians: A Devotional Walkthrough of 2nd Corinthians for Sinful and Struggling Saints, and A Confessional Marriage: Marriage Based on the Firm Foundation and a Faithful Confession. You can find his books here: Amazon.com: Dr. Michael D. Mock: books, biography, latest update.
