Proverbs 4:5 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is a beautiful illustration which runs for quite a number of verses. It is the marriage illustration, and is quite a remarkable parable of salvation. What Solomon is going to be saying here is that the best thing you could do is to seek to find the perfect wife. Then once you have found her, and once you are married to her, even more important, or just as important, is to keep her, and to love her, and discover her attributes, and to appreciate her. If you do that, the difference that this tender wife, this perfect wife will make to you will be enormous. She will mould you, she will guard you, she will change you in character, in demeanour and deportment, she will be a blessing to you. She will enrich your life, she will make you successful in all manner of ways. What she will add to you is beyond words to describe. So seek her, find her, and then keep her, and appreciate her.This is going to be a parable of seeking the gospel, and seeking salvation. It is not apparent until verse 6 that it is the marriage picture, and then the whole thing becomes plain. In verse 5 – ‘Get wisdom’ – we are back to wisdom, the great word of these early chapters which we have seen means reality, salvation, Christ, light and understanding. Get Christ, get wisdom, get the reality that comes only from salvation and understanding the word of God, knowing what life is for, and having real purpose, and being a child of God. But then we find that in this illustration, wisdom is the name of this tender wife, this perfect bride. ‘Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth.’ It is so important to seek the Lord early, and to find the way of salvation. And then never to forget by turning to other things.