The Blessings of Wisdom

For Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Proverbs 2:9-15

9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,

For from being a burden, wisdom and its companions make great guests in your heart. Knowledge is pleasant to your soul. It enriches your life; it helps you to rise above the petty grievances and jealousies that make others miserable. It frees you from the anxiety that those who do not know God and his goodness cannot have. Discretion and understanding protect you from the evil purposes of the wicked. They keep you from steppping into danger that others blindly walk into. And the deliver you when you are in danger.

Again and again the proverbs show the fundamental fallacy of the foolish and wicked who forsake wisdom because they want to enjoy life. They look upon the wise and the righteous as choosing being good over having pleasure. But the wise and the righteous are able to have both, while the foolish and wicked lose whatever fleeting pleasure they grab after.

The good (righteous) path is the good (pleasurable) life, for it avoids the pitfalls of the wicked and finds deeper, lasting pleasure that the wicked cannot begin to know.