The Voice Of Wisdom Series

"Integrity and wisdom are essential to success in this business," said the

boss to the new employee. He said, "Integrity means that when you

promise a customer something, you keep that promise, even if we loose

money." "And what is wisdom," asked the employee? "That," replied the

boss, "Consists in not making such foolish promises." Even the voice of

worldly wisdom must sometimes be silent. There is a time to speak and a

time to refrain from speaking. In our text we see the wisdom of God varies

from shouting from the housetops to being stone silent depending on the

response of the listeners. We see the voice of wisdom as a shouting voice,

then as a shunned voice, and finally as a silent voice.

I. THE SHOUTING VOICE.

Verse 20 says, "Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in

the public square." The call here means to vibrate the voice in loud clear

ringing tones. Wisdom is pictured as a public voice available to every ear

that will listen. She is in the streets and markets where the people are not

in some secluded ivory tower where the voice is available to just a few

hermits and introverted scholars.. There is nothing secret or private about

wisdom. It does not fear the light as does sin and folly. Like Jesus, it goes

in search of the lost and ignorant. The common people heard Jesus gladly,

for he came to them and sent his disciples into their villages to reach them

where they were. This is God's method. He makes the truth that people

need to know available to all the people, and not just to the great and

mighty. The voice of wisdom is shouting for all to hear. Whatever is wise

is the voice of God.

Notice that wisdom is personified. It is pictured as a person and not a

mere abstract idea. Personhood is of the very essence of God, and so

whatever represents God is personified. It is interesting that wisdom is

pictured as a woman rather than a man. Women would like to believe that

the reason Solomon was so wise was because he had so many wives to

consult. It is true that in Judaism there is no thought of women being

unwise. The Jewish scholar Plaut wrote, "Unlike many other cultures,

Judaism never considered women mentally inferior." Christians inherited

the concept of the equality of women, and so it is no surprise that wisdom

should be pictured as feminine.

Verse 21 just adds to the emphasis of her availability. The Amplified

Version has it, "She cries at the head of the noisy intersections-the chief

gathering places, at the entrance of the city she speaks." Even at this point

where the competition is greatest, and where the voices of the world seek

to drown out anything else, there is the voice of wisdom shouting to be

heard amidst all the racket. Anyone who truly wants to know what is wise,

and what is the godly path and pattern for life, can find out. This was true

in Solomon's day, and in our day as well. The truth is available to all who

will listen. The problem has never been that God has not spoken. The

problem has always been that men choose to be deaf and refuse to listen to

the shouting voice of wisdom.

All of history and every daily paper shouts out the truth with

contemporary evidence to prove it that the wages of sin is death, but the

vast majority ignore the voice and continue on the path to destruction.

That is why we hear the voice of wisdom shouting in verse 22, "How long

will you simple ones love your simple ways?" Ignorance is bliss is the

attitude of the simple. They enjoy not knowing wisdom, for it calls for

commitment, and this leads to sacrifice and inconvenience. The simple

want to follow the path of least resistance in which they only have to

decide what is for their best interest. They choose to be indifferent and

thoughtless about others.

There have been periods when even believers thought that being

ignorant and uninvolved was an important part of piety. It was this way

for the early Baptists of America. Many of the old preachers were not only

indifferent to education, but they fought every attempt to improve the

training of young ministers. Men can be just as proud of their ignorance

as they are of their brilliance. Solomon is not likely to referring to the

believer here, however, but to the sinner who refuses to believe. Arnot

wrote, "The simple are those who are characterized more by the absence

of any good rather than positive evil." The world is full of people who do

not live outright wicked lives, but who likewise do not live lives of positive