Proverbs 2:1-5

Proverbs 2:1-5

    1My son, if you will receive my words
         And treasure my commandments within you,
    2Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
         Incline your heart to understanding;
    3For if you cry for discernment,
         Lift your voice for understanding;
    4If you seek her as silver
         And search for her as for hidden treasures;
    5Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
         And discover the knowledge of God.

Here's verses 1 and 2:

"My son, if you will receive my words
 And treasure my commandments within you,
 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
 Incline your heart to understanding;"

Verses 1 and 2 tell us what to do when it comes to learning from God's word. Now since Proverbs is God's word, we can take the first two words of verse 1 to be God's appeal to His children. "My son, IF you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding." The "If" in verse 1 is establishing that verse 2 must be the next action after what follows the "If" in verse 1. So if we will receive the words of God and treasure His commandments within us, what must follow next is "Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding." If you receive God's word and commandments, then search for wisdom and understanding. Wisdom and understanding concerning what? God's word of course!! God doesn't want you to simply accept His word, He wants you to also have wisdom and understanding about what His word is teaching. So first we must receive God's word and treasure His commands, meaning we accept it as the true word of God (which is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness-2nd Timothy 3:16), and then we start seeking the wisdom of God's word and understanding of God's word.

Now verse 5 tell us what the result will be once we make our ears attentive to wisdom and incline our hearts to understanding, but we will get to that later. First we must examine verses 3 and 4, for they show that this seeking after wisdom and understanding isn't regular run-of-the-mill seeking, rather it's a deep yearning for the teachings of God and His word.

Now Verse 3:

For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding; 

There's that "If" again. If you cry for discernment, then you must also lift your voice for understanding. Make an appeal to God to teach you what His word says, and cry for discernment. Discern means to see, recognize, or apprehend; in this case what were trying to see, recognize, and apprehend, is God's word and everything that it teaches about our great and awesome God. We as Christians need to be chasing after the things of God, and the priorities of God, and the heart of God so much so, that every fiber of our being cries out to God, asking him for wisdom, understanding, and discernment concerning His precious word.

Now Verse 4:

"If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;"

Who is "Her"? That's simply referring to God's word and everything it has to teach. What does it mean to seek after the teachings of God's word "as silver"? Why silver? Well the best I can think of is that silver has a lot of practical purposes, meaning you use it to do things. That's where we get the term "silverware", silver was used for utensils. Silver is also used in electrical conductors, mirrors, and other array of things. So seeking God's word as silver simply means we hold it in very high value and treat it as a useful tool. 2nd Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." and also Ephesians 6: 17 "...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." God's word is profitable for many things and it's also referred to as the sword of the Spirit. So God's word must be sought after as useful tool and never taken for granted. What then does it mean, to search after the teachings of God's word "as for hidden treasures"? I think the answer can be found in Matthew 13:44, which is a Parable of the Kingdom: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Now I do realize that this verse is talking about the Kingdom of God, and not necessarily His word, but the same principle does apply here. God's word is like a treasure, and should be valued so highly that we would give all that we had in order to have it. So seeking after God's word as though it were hidden treasures means we should be viewing God's word as the one and only thing we need in this life in order to know God and delight in Him. Now...do not, and I repeat do not, value God's word so highly that you prize it above God himself. There is nothing greater than God himself, but it's through Scripture, and Scripture alone, that we know God, and then are able to delight in Him and prize Him above everything else.

This brings me to Verse 5:

"Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
And discover the knowledge of God"

Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." The same thing applies in these 5 verses: IF you receive His word and treasure His commands, and then make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding, cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding, and seek it as though it were silver and hidden treasures, you WILL discern the fear of the Lord, and discover the knowledge of God. Discerning the fear of the Lord means you will see, recognize, and apprehend what it means to have reverence and respect for God. Discovering the knowledge of God means you will find and understand all the wonderful things that God's word has to teach us about our great God Almighty. That's what God's word does for us. It teaches us everything we need to know about Him, so that we can know Him, delight in Him, and glorify Him. Church, receive His words and treasure His commands! Seek after it as though it were silver and hidden treasures! Cry for discernment! Lift your voice for understanding and incline your heart for understanding! Make your ear attentive to wisdom! Do these things fellow believers, and I promise you, you won't regret it.

Inquire of the Lord...

2nd Kings 22: 8-13

8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

What I learned from these verses:
Before you draw any conclusions about God's Word, you must pray to and seek Him, and see what He teaches you about His Word, and do not take it for granted or lightly just like the forefathers of Israel and Judah did, because neglecting God's Word has grave consequences.