Chapter 8

by

Proverbs 8: A Prayer for Guidance

Heavenly father, your love and guidance amaze me. Thank you for the wonders of your Wisdom which is ever present, ever patient, waiting in plain sight for us to simply take note. Bless my eyes, dear God that I may see; see your hand in everything, no matter how great or small, and no matter how joyous or painful. Bless my ears, oh Lord that I may hear; hear your loving voice in every situation, no matter how difficult or harmonious, and when I have lost my way, fill my heart with your gracious Wisdom that through Wisdom’s presence, I may truly live.

Amen.

~SLM

by

Proverbs 8:22-36 Let Those Who Have Eyes See

Wisdom’s words in Proverbs 8:22-31 are strikingly similar to the language the gospel of John uses to describe Christ. John 1:1-4 states that the Word was with God from the beginning, and that nothing came into being apart from him. Similarly, this section of Proverbs describes how Wisdom was with God before the earth began. The Lord possessed Wisdom at the beginning of his work, as in acquired or held; creation requires wisdom in the first place in order that it (creation) may be generated, formed, constructed. Wrap your head around that conundrum!

But wait, there’s more…Consider this:

The word was formed before all creation, and the word was with God. Wisdom was also with God. The word is wisdom and Christ is the word, hence wisdom is Christ. Wisdom is also the spirit, so Christ is the manifestation of wisdom – wisdom incarnate – and wisdom is God’s delight and rejoices before Him, praising His creation.

It’s interesting how themes are repeated and expounded upon in scripture, like puzzle pieces that fit together in only the proper sequence, exposing ever more profound turns of how wisdom works.

When God opens your eyes to his truth, He shows it to you wherever you look: His wisdom awaits your notice, and once we have eyes to see, we always see.

~SLM

A note on connecting the dots…

Normally, I use a New Inductive Study Bible that my mom got me at a garage sale, complete with lots of hand written notes in the margins, or my New International Version, which is easy to read, and I also use biblos.com and biblegateway.com, as well as aish.com, when studying for my posts, but when It’s time to write a prayer, I go to the Lutheran Study Bible my sister got me. This bible is humongous, it’s part scripture and part foot note, there are lots of footnotes, and not including the concordance, it sports 2244 pages.  So this morning, I pulled out the big book, and as is my habit, started reading the footnotes for chapter 8. At nearly the end of the chapter was a commentary entitled “Christ as Wisdom” that discussed the very ideas that I had expressed in this posting. I was amazed to see that others have also connected the same dots that I had…talk about once we see, we always see!  Synchronicity.

SLM 5/23/13

by

Proverbs 8:1-22 Seek and You Will Find

Wisdom is right in front of us. Everywhere we go and in every situation we find ourselves, she calls out for us to see her, standing in plain sight on a crowded street corner, behind a cart at the grocery store, waiting in line at Starbucks. She cries out for us to take notice, to hear her message, not in the brash, loud voice of the temptress, but in the quiet, confident tone of a knowing mother. She waits patiently for us to seek her out, to willingly stop and listen, to still ourselves in the midst of controversy and mayhem, to focus on her steady voice, ringing clear and true, like temple bells tolling for the faithful. If we hope to heed her sage advice, and to keep her company, then we must recognize her in our daily lives, and in order to do that, we have to know what she looks like.

It’s interesting to me how the simple act of seeking can point us in directions that we never imagined existed. Like Paul’s model of what constitutes Love in 1 Corinthians 13, the first half of Proverbs 8 offers a model by which we can identify wisdom. Wisdom is discrete and prudent, not arrogant or prideful, knows the fear of the Lord, and speaks to truth and understanding. It’s a portrayal that is not altogether dissimilar to Paul’s description of love, and as Christ promises us in Matthew 7:7 that if we “ask, it will be given; if we seek, we will find; if we knock, the door will be opened,” likewise, we are assured that if we seek wisdom diligently, we will find it.

~SLM