Proverbs study: seeking knowledge

We all want to have wisdom, but how do we tangibly seek it? Since God is the author of wisdom, to know Him is to know wisdom. If we seek wisdom apart from Him, we’ll find something else entirely. The Proverbs describe anything other than Godly wisdom as foolishness or evil. Solomon packs an insane amount of gold nuggets into Proverbs to help seek wisdom:

• Fear God first and foremost

• Value knowing Him above all

• Don’t pursue evil

Let’s break it down one by one. 

Fear God first and foremost

It all starts with fearing God. Knowing and fearing Him go hand in hand. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” 

For some, when you hear “fear God”, it elicits a negative feeling. Before you run off, there’s two types of fears: 1) terror or 2) reverent or awe sense. If you believe God to be a powerful God but not a loving God, you’ll likely have a fear of Him in the terror sense. You probably won’t want to get to know Him - or His wisdom for that matter.

It’s only when we’re able to know God for who He is, both all-loving and all-powerful God, that we are able to fear Him in the awe sense. He pursued us first. When we love Him back, we are returning His first call to us. We did nothing to be worthy of His love. All the wooing moves were on Him. 

And since God is the Creator of everything, He is also the Creator of knowledge and wisdom. And the deeper our relationship grows with Him, the greater we’ll subsequently grow in His wisdom. 

Fearing Him means you fear Him above anything else in your life. He can’t be second place. Think about it, every human fears one thing the most in their life. And it drives everything in our lives. It impacts how we view ourselves, others and how we interact with the world.

If we fear money, success or the opinion of others - to name a few - more than God, then we won’t be fearing Him. We’ll just be appreciating Him from the side with our façade view of Him. 

Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden fear nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. - Proverbs 3:23-26

I have a whole blog where I talk on what the fear of God means (linked here) if you want to dive deeper into this subject. 

Value knowing Him above all

We don’t always prioritize God above everything in our lives, even if we fear Him. We’re often tugged away looking at other things that we find value in. We find value in other very good things, like being a great parent or friend, making a difference in the world or excelling at our career. But the moment we start to value it more than God, our fears shift along with it towards those other things. As Christians, God has to be more important to us than anything else in our life. 

This is, of course, easier said than done. 

Proverbs put it like this in 3:13-15: “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.” 

In the times when this was written, gold and precious jewels were equated with great wealth and a sign of success in life. It was the equivalent to having a great life, perfect job, family and community. That’s what we all want in life, right? We want a comfortable life where we can be happy and successful in whatever way that means to each of us.

This is what the Proverbs is getting at. We need to value knowing God greater than our other (often good) desires. That’s a hard pill to swallow. And if we’re really honest with ourselves, I’m not sure how many of us could honestly say that we desire knowing God more than anything else.

God doesn’t ask us to be the most important thing in our life in order to punish us or make us turn down a better life. God knows that He is what your soul is designed to love, where you’ll receive true satisfaction and contentment. He designed you to love Him, so of course He wants you to love Him. He wants the very best for you, so why wouldn’t He want you to choose the best option? Anything else aside from Him doesn’t compare to the riches of His glory, “nothing you desire compares with her (wisdom)” (Proverbs 3:15). 

Verse 16 goes on to say, “Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.” Riches and honor don’t refer to earthly riches but eternal ones. Our time on earth is spent investing in heavenly riches only found in God, to be one day called to beautiful fruition and produce unfathomable dividends. Nothing to compare to any good, temperamental joys this world could muster.

Don’t pursue evil

We’ll draw this point out in other blogs, but the Proverbs is brim-filled with verses warning against the pursuit of evil. To name a few:

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. - Proverbs 3:7

Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil. - Proverbs 4:27

A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is arrogant and careless. - Proverbs 14:16 

The translation for “turn away” in all three verses uses the same Hebrew word: sur. Which means to turn away, turn from or leave. It’s traditionally used in the context of leaving a path of life. These verses are calling us to physically turn away from evil and to walk away from it. 

In order to pursue wisdom, we can’t also pursue evil - that is, anything apart from God. We deceive ourselves if we believe that we can both seek a life for ourselves and a life for God. You either choose God or you don’t there is no in-between. 

What ways do we find ourselves living a double-life, one for ourselves and one for God? If you truly want to seek Him, He wants all of you. Not part of you. I would encourage you to reflect on what areas you’re afraid to give Him.