Proverbs 3:13 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Proverbs 3:13

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Wisdom we have seen means skill to live spiritually, to pray, to seek and find the Lord, to know him, to walk with him. It means also the salvation of God, that is, the wisdom of God and ultimately it means Christ himself he is the wisdom of God. It is seeing him and knowing him and having his blessing and his life - all these things are included in this simple word wisdom used time and again by Solomon. It is the salvation of God and the light and the understanding and the discernment that goes with it and the skill to live and to walk in connection with God, interacting with him.Well, then, what does Solomon say here about this wisdom? ‘Happy is the man that findeth wisdom.’ Let's just note from these words that not all find this wisdom. Obviously, it reminds us that it can be missed, that not all do find it. Then again, the word ‘findeth’ tells us something about this – it involves a search. Now the picture that is going to open up in these verses is largely of a trader. It is a picture that Solomon uses repeatedly in these chapters. He has used it before. Here is a trader again and this trader is looking for various things. He is looking for objects of art or items of craftsmanship maybe. This trader goes to where these things are crafted and he picks them up for a certain price. But of course, he gets a great gain, an enormous profit and that profit is a picture of grace. Whoever finds wisdom gets a tremendous profit. Why, what we have to put in to seeking and finding the Lord is nothing. All we do is repent. All we do – and this is the result of the work of the Spirit of God – is see our sin and our need and cry out for forgiveness. All we do is seek the Lord, praying to him, asking, drinking in all that he tells us in his word.

Application

Conversion is a very substantial thing, it is like the enormous gain of a trader who pays a small amount for something he can sell for a fortune. Some people regard conversion as a little thing. They almost speak this way, Ask Jesus to come into your life; just say the word and for the saying of it, you will be converted. No, what we want is Holy Ghost conversions, people who are under the touch of God and cry out for the forgiveness of their sins and by the work of the Spirit they turn from this world altogether. What they find is so substantial, a completely new life and the knowledge that God is with them. All things are made new in real conversion.

Happy is a key word here. We ourselves are weak and because of our sinfulness and weakness we make heavy weather of the Christian life and the world is a fallen world, full of sin and suffering and that afflicts us and the devil is against us. But as far as the Scriptures are concerned, as far as the Lord is concerned, as far as the way of salvation is concerned, our testimony is this: the spiritual way is perfect and unblemished. The Christian life is not hard in the sense that the way of grace is hard. The blessings of God are not hard. They are without any disappointment at all. No Christian has been for one moment disappointed in the Lord, disappointed in the Scriptures. Even the chastening of the Lord is perfect. It will end with our blessing. Well, you say, there is trouble in my Christian life. There are difficulties. Yes, but they don't come from grace they don't come from the Lord. They come because of our weaknesses. They come because of this sinful, fallen world, because of the activity of the devil against us.

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Proverbs 3:13 Commentary and Bible Study