12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.
14 “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.
15 “By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice.
16 “By me princes rule, and nobles, all who judge rightly.
17 “I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me.
18 “Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 “My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield better than choicest silver.
20 “I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice,
21 To endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.
13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.
14 “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.
15 “By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice.
16 “By me princes rule, and nobles, all who judge rightly.
17 “I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me.
18 “Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 “My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield better than choicest silver.
20 “I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice,
21 To endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.
Message: Fruit Better than Gold
Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.
What the Lord is Saying:
Nothing is more valuable than the wisdom that comes from the Lord. From Tabletalk - Those who seek to learn and apply God's principles of wisdom are in the best position to experience material prosperity. But, that doesn't mean prosperity necessarily on this side of glory.
Leadership is supposed to be wise as well as submit to Godly authority. The intent is for them to judge rightly and punish evildoers (Romans 13).
The perspective of this chapter is still from lady wisdom. As it says in verse 12: I, wisdom. Wisdom is speaking and wisdom is stating that we are to fear the Lord, hate evil, hate pride, hate arrogance, hate a perverted mouth. Counsel, sound wisdom and power belong to wisdom. And wisdom is how kings and rulers and princes and nobles should rule. They should love wisdom and love to carry it out.
Riches, honor, wealth, righteousness -- to have them all a person needs wisdom. Without wisdom those things are chaotic. There is tyranny, even a dictator. Its harder to have than have not.
The fruit of wisdom is better than riches. Its safer. With wisdom we walk in the way of righteousness, the path of justice.
Wisdom is key in life. I don't think we really call out and define that wisdom is what we all need. According to the definition, it is the quality of having experience, knowledge and good judgment. It doesn't mean that we must have experience, but this is what having wisdom looks like. The best source of wisdom is the eternal God.
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