In
the book of Proverbs, wisdom is portrayed as a person, often trying to convey
an important message. We see this in verses 20-33. The first half is the
picture that captures the imagination, and then the application of the wisdom
presented. Let’s take a look at the picture.
If you have ever been to downtown Nashville,
Tennessee in the evening you can remember walking down the street and hearing
muffled music. Side by side would be small clubs with live music. As you walked
past the music from that particular club would over-take your hearing. This was
especially true when the door would swing open right as you pass. Sometimes the
performers were right on the other side of the glass that overlooked the
street. You could see the mic stands and electric cords strewn about as they
had hastily set up to perform. And the sound…. And as you walked, you would get
the next slice of an artist trying to catch someone’s ear, trying to make it
big.
Wisdom is pictured as calling out to us in
the public square. There are other voices, but she wants us to listen to her.
She raises her volume and opens up a second venue, the city gate, the place
where all the important people would meet and make decisions.
Wisdom wants everyone to listen to what she
has to say. The general public and the ruling classes both are invited to pay
attention. Wisdom doesn’t force itself on anyone, it only invites us to listen
and heed. If we listen, there will be more wisdom available (v23). But if we
don’t listen, wisdom will mock us. The obvious mistake we have made will hit us
in the face. Wisdom will dope slap us! Wisdom is often so obvious, that when we
ignore it, we feel like a fool when the inevitable disaster hits us.
The housing crash of the last years is an
example. How could anyone think that lending to people who didn’t have the
ability to repay the loan was a good idea? And yet that is exactly what
congress pushed through some years ago. They opened the door to this crisis by
ignoring wisdom. A few people got very rich off the scheme because they figured
out how to profit off of other’s loss. They listened to wisdom. And congress
again ignored wisdom and sent hundreds of billions of dollars into thin air
calling it a “Stimulus”.
Instead of stimulus, we should have listened
to wisdom and allowed the natural consequences to feed our society (vv29-30).
It would have been painful for some. We would have had to reach out and help in
new ways, but perhaps we would have learned a valuable lesson.