Last time we covered the importance of developing wise discernment between good and evil. In that, we saw the importance of hating evil in the pursuit of God’s wisdom. Today’s passage (Prov. 8:14-21) will focus on loving good and the divine blessings that come with it.
We will start with the last verse of the passage we looked at last time, since that passage is connected with this one. Wisdom continues, “14 I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength 15 By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; 16 by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.” Wisdom is everything that a good king could desire both for himself and for his kingdom. The Bible gives the best possible counsel: the counsel of God. It is the only source of true wisdom, and this comes from God alone. It gives perfect insight into all matters, giving its possessor much strength, even despite weakness inherent in one’s circumstances or person. Solomon continues,
17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. 18 Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. 19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. 20 I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, 21 granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
Those who earnestly seek out God’s wisdom through growing in the fear of the Lord find only good and wonderful things. This is not to say that there is no suffering or hardship, but that God blesses those who pursue Him even amidst the difficulty. True riches are in Christ alone, and we will be honoured by God for our growing obedience to Him. Proverbs 22:1 says this about honour, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” Notice that everything pertaining to wisdom is higher than worldly wealth. Notice also that the riches that come from pursuing wisdom are not earthly riches, but “enduring wealth,” the kind that cannot erode or be stolen; riches that we will have both in this life and in the next. This is why wisdom’s “fruit is better than gold, even fine gold” since, at best, gold of itself can only point to true riches. Gold is only a cheap and limited image of true wealth. The irony is that many approach gold as if it is of itself true riches, and able to give one all that one can desire. However, these worldly riches, when pursued of themselves, can only lead to deeper and deeper corruption of one’s heart. This contrasts the pursuit of true wisdom, which leads to deeper and deeper love for God, and true enduring riches in Christ. Proverbs teaches on this elsewhere as well, “One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth” (13:7). Those “rich” only in worldly wealth are mere pretenders, acting as though they have something of high value. By contrast, the poor in worldly wealth only pretend to be so, when they possess God’s wisdom. By possessing God’s wisdom, they possess true and enduring wealth: wealth that is rooted in what it means to fear the Lord in all things, resting in His favour. As Proverbs 22:4 says, “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life,” and this being the true substance of these things.
How much better is this wisdom than pursuing mere material gain? The words, “I walk in the way of righteousness” (verse 20), stand as a statement of true wealth, far more than any man rich in this world’s possessions can say “I am rich.” I get the image in my head of a little child who thinks that he is wise. The foolish child finds a sickly and meager loaf of bread and boasts of what he has, believing that it will satisfy his hunger. Meanwhile, a wise man has a true loaf of bread that will never run out, and that perfectly satisfies his hunger. When he offers some to the foolish child, the child sees no value in it, believing instead that what he has is far better. The child has never tasted to see that the Lord is good, so he treats the true bread with contempt. So the child fights and strives for what will never satisfy, not realizing the wretched state that he is in, nor the riches of the wise man. All that would be left for the child is death, since pursuing these sickly loaves can only lead to death. How long until such a one will cease from drinking from his own disease-ridden and broken cistern, and instead drink from true, flowing, and living water? Such is the contrast between the pursuit of worldly gain and the pursuit of wisdom. Such is the contrast between all that we can ever hope to gain from the world—so-called riches that can lead only to death and despair—and true riches in Christ, where we come to be possessors of God Himself in all wisdom and honour. There really cannot be any comparison between the two.
God gives us new hearts to love Him and to seek His wisdom. In fact, both entail the same pursuit, with God “granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.” Yet, these are not riches that can ever be used idolatrously against God, but are riches that accentuate and grow the worship of God in us. This is true of all who are in Christ, for the idolatrous use of any worldly thing can only lead to the diminishing of heavenly reward—not that such heavenly riches fade or diminish, but that God, who bestows every good thing, chooses also how to reward those who serve Him. 1 Corinthians 3:8 says, “He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.” Therefore, a couple verses down, Paul said,
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire (1 Cor. 3:10-15).
The same is true with regard to wisdom’s reward. Both are the same pursuit, both require being a new creation in Christ, and both keep God as their true and desired end. As Paul said in the preceding chapter, what God rewards with is beyond human imagining: “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, [that is] what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
Next time we will be looking at Proverbs 8:22-31.