God-Giver And Guard Series

More than once has the story been told by missionaries of how quickly

some pagans have responded to the Gospel. An old man in India once

responded to the first sermon he ever heard and confessed Christ as

Savior. When the missionary asked him why he said that it was really not

a quick reception, but a product of years. He gave this account: “Years

ago I gave myself to the task of searching my life. I found it full of

imperfection and sin. My sense of guilt was overwhelming. For days and

nights I wept bitter tears. At last in an agony of despair I cast myself upon

the ground and cried to the Power who brought me into existence to send

someone to save me. I cried for mercy and acknowledged my sin. I left,

there and then, everything with that Power. I have pictured to myself the

one whom that Power would send. When you preach Christ I recognized

Him at once. I have been trusting in Jesus Christ for years, but I did not

know what to call Him.”

Like the ancient Athenians to whom Paul preached, he worshipped the

unknown God, but God did not leave him in ignorance, but gave him light

and revelation through the Gospel. This illustrates in a concrete way all

that Solomon has said in the first 5 verses of Prov. 2. We have been

stressing the importance and necessity of man’s part in attaining God’s

best for life. Those who fulfill these conditions will certainly find God’s

wisdom. Now that we have considered the conditions, we need to move on

with Solomon to consider the consequences and the basis for them. The

basis, of course, for all our blessings lies in the very nature of God, so

Solomon describes just what God is like and what His attitude is toward

those who fulfill the conditions He has laid down.

In verse 6 he says, “For the Lord gives wisdom.” Now let’s put

Solomon’s argument into a statement that will clarify all he has been

saying. Do your best in seeking wisdom, and God will see to it that you

find it, for He is the source of all wisdom and delights to grant it to those

who really want it. This means that the wisest people in the world ought to

be believers who are children of light, for they have the greatest contact

with the source of all wisdom. James says in 1:5, “If any of you lack

wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraids

not, and it shall be given him.” All that is required is that we have the

desire for wisdom and ask for it. Since, however, God gives to all men

liberally, just as He sends rain to all, and not just to His own children, it

remains true what Jesus said, that the children of darkness are wiser in

their generation than the children of light. It does not follow that because

a person is a Christian that he will automatically be wiser than an

unbeliever.

The Lord gives wisdom, but we must never take that statement out of

the context where the picture is so clear that it is given only to those who

seek it as for hid treasure. If the conditions are not filled a believer may go

all through life ignorant and unwise, and very foolish in many areas. He is

not lost thereby, but his life is lost as a ideal instrument for God’s glory. It

may even be that they will be a hindrance to the work of God by the lack of

wisdom. The Lord gives wisdom because it is needed to accomplish His

will. The Christian is not to be concerned about eternity only, but he is to

also be concerned about time. He has an obligation to be the best possible

servant for God in this world, and this he can never be without godly

wisdom. The ultimate folly is to refuse God’s gift of salvation, but it is also

foolish to refuse any of God’s lesser gifts such as wisdom, knowledge and

understanding. Our prayer ought to be that of Boethius,

Give me unveiled the source of good to see!

Give me thy light, and fix my eyes on thee!

The second part of the verse says, “An from his mouth come

knowledge and understanding.” All that is true has its origin in God, and

through His mouth it is communicated to man. This, of course, means that

it is through His Word. We are to live not by bread alone but by every

word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That means all of Scripture

is valuable, and it is to be a part of our spiritual diet. It I mover slow in