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Living Wise 3
Living Wise 3
skills necessary to be a good archeologist are a rare find in combination. One has to have
a real fascination with discovering the hidden – a fascination so deep that it is not
mountain of success. To walk among the hallowed in the field of archeology, you have to
How many here have seen an archeological dig? A dig is a fairly precise
arduous process we will talk about in a moment – it is segmented into numbered plots for
record keeping purposes. Then with the finest tools possible to get the work done – often
using hand troughs and brushes – each numbered plot is sifted through with extreme care.
You go to a dig and you can find reasonable, rational adults on their bellies, playing
quietly in the dirt. Or at least that’s what it looks like – in reality, they are carefully
The world of archeology began fascinating me after watching Raiders of the Lost
Ark. Harrison Ford played the intrepid Indiana Jones, mild-mannered Professor of
excuse himself from the classroom and to go in search of great historical treasures
thought to be lost forever. In this movie, his target was the Ark of the Covenant.
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Now I don’t pretend for a moment that the adventurous life of Indiana Jones is the
life of an archeologist. The sort of cloak and dagger stuff that he found himself
enmeshed in most likely never occurs in the world of archeology. And I sincerely doubt
that many archeologist run about the ancient ruins with a bullwhip – with which they are
incredibly proficient – and a side-arm the size of a howitzer – again, with which they are
strangely proficient. But the process which Indiana Jones goes through to find the Ark
The investigative process used to determine where a likely place to dig is time-
intensive and just as exacting as the actual digging. There are ancient records and
histories to decode and harmonize to get a clear picture of location, size, what to look for
– you name it. There are traditions and myths to sift through to find the kernel of truth.
There might even be ancient keys, trap doors or other barriers to sacred spaces that have
to be deciphered and used properly to find real archeological treasure. If you are going to
be an archeologist, you must be persistent, you must be precise, and you must be patient.
If you are going to find the treasure, then you’re going to have to dig.
Proverbs 2 calls us to a treasure hunt. Like an archeologist, we are told if you are
going to find treasure, then you’re going to have to dig. This morning we are to take a
closer look at Proverbs 2 based upon the conditional statements found in our text – If this
… then this. To do this we want to ask ourselves a couple of questions. The first is what
is it we are looking for? What hidden treasure are we pursuing with dogged persistence?
The second is what means do we have to find this treasure? What are the procedures for
making sure that we don’t just dig right past the treasure we are seeking? Finally, our
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third question is what do we hope to gain by digging? How does what we find enrich us
Let me read for you Proverbs 2 vv.1-5 in the New American Standard Version,
After the last two weeks, I don’t think I am going to surprise anyone by saying that the
treasure we are looking for is wisdom. But what I love about this text is that it so closely
ties wisdom to the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 1:7 is once again echoed here. The
foundation for all true knowledge is the recognition that God is the Creator and we are
the creatures. If you want to enter into the realm of the wise – the truly wise – years of
philosophical training will not necessarily get you there. Not unless your training is cast
in the mold of Proverbs 1:7 – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. No
training or humanities training can make you truly wise unless the foundation is already
laid – the fear of the Lord; in other words, a real and vibrant relationship with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Remember the wise man builds his house upon the Rock.
John Calvin developed a model for true knowledge. I am sure I have mentioned it
before, but it is something that bears repeating. Boiled down to its essentials, Calvin said
that if you want to know yourself, you must first know God – the fear of the Lord. If you
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want to know God, you must know yourself – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge. When we know ourselves for who we are in relation to God – we begin to
discern the fear of the Lord. We begin to discover the knowledge of God and that
In the Book of Job, Job offers us a little insight into this treasure hunt we are
speaking of. In chapter 28 he begins speaking about how man mines the earth for
treasure. To make a long discourse short, Job essentially says of all of creation, only man
walks the deeps of the earth in search of treasure. He places himself at great risk and
goes where no other creature would to find these riches – baubles really. Man is willing
Then in v.12 of that chapter he asks, “Where can wisdom be found?” Again he
sets off on a journey of discourse, questioning all of creation. The deep places of the
earth, the ocean, even death and the grave cannot answer him. All the baubles and ore
that come from the earth cannot purchase it. In vv. 22-28, it is God who finally provides
the answer. The Lord answers “…Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to
People of God, the invaluable treasure that we seek is nothing short of our
relationship to God, through Christ the Son. The real treasure is the initiation of that
So what are our tools for digging? How do we know where to dig so that we don’t
miss the treasure? To answer I would like us to pay special attention to vv. 1-3 of our text
this morning.
In vv. 1 and 2 of our text, the father exhorts the son to “receive his words” and to
predispose his ear to attend to wisdom and his heart to attend to understanding. What the
instruction. But before we can get to the place where by spending the time we are able to
mine the riches of the Scriptures, there is something else. In truth, it goes back to
There are few things that hinder knowledge and insight like pride. Pride makes
the heart arrogant in its knowledge and fills the spirit with disdain for the instruction of
sermons and – hopefully – personal devotions, it is so easy to believe we have read it all,
heard it all, and memorized it all before. People of God, let me submit to you that this is
not so easily dismissed by the saying “Familiarity breeds contempt.” It is more than just
boredom. It is the heart, which the Scriptures say is deceitful above all things, saying that
we have nothing left to learn. If familiarity breeds contempt, it is only because we have
come to believe that we know God’s Word so well that it can no longer instruct us. In
other words our hearts have become arrogant, elevating itself to the place of the arbiter of
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all truth. Our hearts have placed themselves above the Scriptures – in a very real sense,
in our boredom we are saying that the pupil has become greater than the master.
I realize these are hard words and I am by no means guiltless. This is the constant
temptation of those given the exceptional blessing of being afforded the opportunity to be
theologically trained. But I walked with Christ before I was theologically trained and I
know that this temptation is not exclusive to my ilk, it pervades the church. It is only
aware of who and what we are dealing with. There is no place for pride, yet somehow it
slips in. Never forget that as you approach the Scriptures, you are coming to the Words
of life given to us by the Creator of the universe. This is not just a cool story book
redemption for his creation. And never forget that the mysteries buried between the
covers would remain locked away from you if it were not for the illuminating power and
presence of the Holy Spirit. The fact that you can read the Scriptures and understand its
message and know with certainty its truth is the result of divine grace, not superior
intellect. When we keep these things in mind – when we remind ourselves that we are
creatures who have received exceptional grace from the Omnipotent, Awesome God of all
That is what the father is calling the son to in these first two verses – humbleness
of heart, a teachable spirit. He wants the son to realize that truth does not begin with him.
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The wise man remains open to instruction. Then in v.3 he says there is one other thing
necessary before the digging begins – to call out for insight and to cry aloud for
understanding.
Okay, this point is what you think it is. James 1:5 says that “…if any man lacks
wisdom let him ask God, who gives generously and without reproach, and it will be
freely given.” Remember the picture of wisdom calling out in all the places of public
interaction and raising her voice above the crowd? Well, here the son – and we – are
called upon to cry out as well. Let me tell you the picture that came to mind when I read
There was a story in a Readers Digest feature called “All in a Day’s Work.” It was
about one of these contemporary office settings – a maze of cubicles that you have to
jump to see over. One person was looking for a coworker among the cubicles. The
continual hubbub of business was going; the free enterprise machine was at full hum.
When the one person got to the cubicle of the person they were looking for he found that
the person was out looking for him. Suddenly, his name was called. He tried to jump up
and see, but unless the other person jumped at the same time, one would never see the
other. So what did he do? MARCO! POLO! The two played Marco Polo until they
People of God, wisdom stands in the street, in all the places of public discourse
calling us away from the path of wickedness and onto the path of righteousness. Let’s
answer POLO! Prayer is an incredibly effective tool as we begin to dig into the
Scriptures. Call out for wisdom. God gives generously and without reproach. With a
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humble heart and a word of prayer, you will be amazed at how profitable your digging
So if you maintain humbleness of heart and a teachable spirit and if you call out
for wisdom, then what? If you go seeking treasure with the right tools and you find gold,
The first gain is found in v.5. We seek wisdom – the fear of the Lord – and our
first gain is that we find it spades. For God is the giver of wisdom, from his mouth
comes knowledge and understanding. When we go digging for wisdom, remember that
the ground we are digging in is holy ground. As we seek wisdom, because where we
seek it is in God’s Word and God is the giver of wisdom, the natural outcome is a
deepened, unshakable, vibrant faith. Our knowledge of God grows and so does our trust
of him. As we walk the path of righteousness, his Word guards our way. He preserves us
What this means practically then is that as we grow in the knowledge of God, we
also grow in our knowledge of what pleases him. What is according to his good and
perfect will for us. As we grow in this understanding, it shapes our decisions – our
choices. We make fewer of the decisions that are morally stupid. We begin to walk the
The second gain is that because the wisdom we gain has such a profound impact
on our choices, we will begin to discern what is right and just and fair – every good
course. You know what the best part of that is? Look at v.11. Discretion will protect
Let me offer you just one of the practical benefits of discretion. By wisdom, you
will learn when and where to keep your mouth shut. Maybe that’s not a problem for you.
For me, it’s a problem. Maybe you want another benefit of discretion. Okay, how about
The wisdom gained in earnestly, doggedly searching for it – by calling out POLO!
to wisdom’s MARCO! will guard you from the ways of the wicked man – the path of the
wicked. That steady gait that you have picked up on the path of righteousness will be
protected from turning to stumbling. Because understanding is departing from evil, you
will not walk the paths of darkness or delight in doing evil or rejoice in perversity.
rejoice in perversity and to delight in evil. The juicy tidbit of gossip, the television show
that shows more skin than sense – and I have to mention this because it is just such a
blatant example of it, shows like Playmate Fear Factor. How about the quasi-legal tax
deduction or the flirtatious relationship with someone other than your spouse. Wisdom
can keep us from going after the one who has abandoned his or her covenant with his or
her spouse and God – keeps us from going after the way that leads to death. The list of
opportunities to walk along the edge of the path of darkness, where the risk of stumbling
is the greatest, appears limitless. But wisdom…wisdom can guard us from even toeing
diligently seeking out wisdom with all the right tools lead us to walk as God has called us
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to walk. He has showed, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
So let us pursue wisdom with the same fervor that Indiana Jones pursued the Ark
of the Covenant. We know what the right tools are – a humble heart and a teachable
spirit; a willingness to cry out POLO! to wisdom’s MARCO! Let’s use them to do some
treasure-seeking in the Scriptures. It may not lead to swashbuckling adventure, but the
wisdom we gain will deepen our love and trust of God. It will teach us to walk in his