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Day 4: Wisdom and foolishness – part 4

Wisdom cannot be bought or sold, as it is more valuable than a precious jewel (Prov. 20:15) and we pray to acquire it.

God has made it such, that whilst the young have strength and vigour on their side, the old have experience (Prov. 20:29). Three things mark out wisdom in these verses;

1) Wisdom wins out over strength, so that it is better to be wise than strong (Prov. 21:22).

2) The wise carefully guard their lives, whereas the wicked cover their sin, putting on a bold face rather than admit that they were wrong (Prov. 21:29). They “glory in their shame (Phil. 3:19).” They have become unteachable, instead of humble before the Lord. 

3) The wise are awake to danger and flee from it, but the simple are oblivious to danger and suffer for it (Prov. 22:3).

May the Lord humble us to confess our sin before Him and others. May He give us a teachable spirit and a discerning mind to flee from all that would put us in spiritual danger.

There is gold and abundance of costly stones, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

– Prov. 20:15

The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendour of old men is their grey hair.

– Prov. 20:29

Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.

– Prov. 21:20

A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.

– Prov. 21:22

A wicked man puts on a bold face, but the upright gives thought to his ways.

– Prov. 21:29

The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

– Prov. 22:3

Father, make us awake to dangers around us, especially subtle dangers. Sin is crouching at our door and its desire is to rule over us. The simple suffer, but trusting in Christ, give us alert minds that flee from it. Please answer this prayer, in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Gracious God, we are wrong to ever put on a bold face towards You or others, refusing to admit we were wrong.

Please humble us so that we will confess our wrong words, motives and doings.

We pray to know the forgiveness that Jesus Christ gained for us at the cross.

May we never glory in anything that is shameful in Your eyes.

– Graham Barnes