As we move from the Book of Psalms into the Book of Proverbs, our mind seems to shift into a different gear.  From the beauty and poetry of Psalms, we change to the directness and logic of Proverbs.  We need to remember that Proverbs is also a book of poetry.  In the Hebrew, we would be able to see its very structure as being that of a poem.  Things of beauty in our lives are not only the delicate and graceful, but sometimes the bold and sturdy.  We have delicate crystal pitchers and strong everyday serving pieces.  They are different from one another, but they both minister in our lives.  While Psalms often speaks strongly to our hearts, Proverbs most often speaks to our mind.  God requires us to use all that He has made us to be in service of Him and under His Holy Spirit control.  If we react just with our hearts, our response may be totally emotional, not tempered by wisdom.  If we react only using our mental ability, the response may be cold and calculated, with no compassion.  Wise decisions are made when we uniquely join together the workings of the mind and heart with the leading of the Holy Spirit and knowledge of God’s Word and Will.  Even in the designing of His Scriptures, God uniquely balances all the needs of our lives.  Let’s be whole individuals and strive to be all we can for God, beginning with studying His Word together.

The Book of Proverbs, written mostly by Solomon the wise, the son of the writer of most of the Book of Psalms, David the tenderhearted, starts with the declaration of verse two.  Solomon’s motivation for writing these proverbs is summed up in this verse: To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.  Solomon knew that in order to gain the wisdom to have a successful life personally, and as the king of Israel, he needed God’s wisdom and instruction.  He also had a keen desire to pass those things of value along to his sons, and we realize that much of the book reads like a letter to those sons.  God does not require us to pass along great financial wealth, much land or industry to our sons.  He does not demand that we leave them a position of great prominence in the world, but He does desire for us to train them in the ways of the Lord and to insure that they "know wisdom and instruction" and can have godly insights and understanding.  To leave our children thus equipped to face the world, is probably the most important assignment that we have in life.  With that wisdom and understanding, they will recognize their need to be saved and act properly upon it, they will make correct life choices, their homes and families will be established with godly principles and their life will be ordered by God’s wisdom and leading.  True success is not to be measured in things or money, but in pleasing God.  Today we need to realize our great responsibility to so train our children and grandchildren.  That may mean some rearranging of priorities.  If our careers demand so much of our time that we are never there for our children, then something must change.  If our own personal lives neglect them, we are not being what we should be.  To be poor in goods, but rich in fulfilling our responsibilities before God, can not be compared.  In our own lives, we also need wisdom, instruction and understanding.  Many interpersonal problems happen when one of the individuals involved comes to the place in their life when they say, "I no longer need instruction."  Sadly, too many adults, even adult Christians, fall into this trap of Satan.  One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that of instructing.  When someone feels they can not be taught anything new, they are denying the work of God in their life.  That is one of the ways we can grieve the Holy Spirit.  When someone reaches the place where they think they know it all and do not need instruction, even from God using other Christians, they have become fools.  Sadly even those around them, whom they may be trying to impress, most often realize that they lack true wisdom.  Someone who will not be instructed and lacks wisdom, can not be easily entreated about any needs and problems in their own life.  The important principle of perceiving the words of understanding should cause us to be like vigilant soldiers involved in a battle, in our case it is a battle for our minds.  Everyday the devil tries to deceive us and trick us with cunning words of false wisdom.  We need the Holy Spirit’s discernment enabling us to perceive, or tell the difference, between the true and the false, and then wisdom to make the right choice.  This one area is crucial in our own spiritual success.  To fail in perceiving the words of understanding is to follow the wrong advice and suffer spiritually.  Lord, help me to realize everyday that I have not "arrived" but need Your daily teaching, Your daily filling with Your wisdom, not my own.  Help me to perceive the words of understanding that can come only from You, whether it is from Your Word or Your servants.  Lord, I want to be one who knows wisdom and instruction and has spiritual understanding.  Keep me in Your Word and controlled by Your Holy Spirit so that I can have these precious things in my life.  Keep me ever vigilant to Satan’s deceitful ways that would try to mislead me in the areas of wisdom and understanding.  Allow my children to be taught of Thee.

In verse two, Solomon had asked that he might know wisdom and instruction, now he asks that he might receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity.  The word receive implies something that is learned and taken deep into our heart as our own.  So many of us sit in church Sunday after Sunday and listen to the preacher’s sermons.  We may learn a lot, we may even accept it as truth, but until we receive it and make it part of our personal lives, we will not have heeded that truth.  Four words are used in this verse to describe the instructors we need to receive.  By definition, wisdom means "the faculty to discern right and truth and to judge or act accordingly, sound judgment...discretion."  Justice means "unprejudiced [decisions]...on the basis of legal or moral principles...what is rightly [done]."  Judgment means "the faculty of judging truly, wisely or skillfully," having good sense, comparing ideas, ascertaining their relationships and making a wise determination between them.  Equity means "the quality of being fair or impartial, that which is just ...or right."  If we had all of these qualities and abilities in our life and exercised them continuously, what a blessing it would be!  Our decision making would always be in the will of God, because it would be consistent with His character.  Our reactions would always be full of grace and truth, because they would always be guided by His Holy Spirit.  Our interpersonal relationships would be constantly growing and becoming more and more enhanced by trust and love because we would never be problem makers, but instead problem solvers.  Every time our family had a need for counsel, it could be done in complete confidence.  Business matters would be seen as clear cut and in every other area we could have success.  Solomon knew what he needed to receive.  We also need the same in our lives.  It is not just enough to know about their availability, to agree that these qualities are necessary, but we must receive them into our lives and act upon them.  Sometime today you will be given the opportunity to put the use of these four qualities to the test.  A problem may arise, a decision will have to be made, a friend or family member will be in communication with you, and your response level will be tried.  Each one of us must make a response to the situations.  It is our responsibility as Christians and possessors of the Holy Spirit, to choose the right, fair, just and equitable response.  Too often we react in the ways of old habits, off the top of our head, or with a quick response to someone or something else.  Let us decide today to be growing Christians, developing the grace that God will so freely give to us, choosing the ways of wisdom, justice, judgment and equity.  It may make our response different from any we could have imagined before, but surely it will be the response of God working within.

The phrase, to give subtilty to the simple, means to give understanding to those who have none.  It also means to make the mind of those that are simple in the knowledge of God, refined and able to make wise decisions, to sharpen their minds and mental abilities.  When God, the complete intellect, comes into our lives, the New Testament admonishes us to put on the mind of Christ.  Only a Christian can have access to the mind of Christ and only a Spirit led Christian can use it in fullness and victory.  It is truly amazing what God can do for our minds.  He can give us understanding where we never had any before.  He can give us motivation to learn, and help us to discover new talents and abilities.  It is interesting that the unsaved world tries to picture the Christian as one of little intelligence.  They think that their own intellect is far superior, but in reality they are the ones who are fools.  When I got saved, I was a student at a large university.  One of my professors ridiculed me for being a Christian, but he could not think of an answer to my questions, or refute my logic.  So, instead, he refused to talk to me any more.  He had committed intellectual suicide so that he could remain dead in his sins.  I also have seen students of previously very poor ability, suddenly, and with great change, become interested and passing students when they gave their lives to Christ.  My own husband was a poor student in high school, but when he gave Christ control, he not only loved studying, but became a good student and went on to earn his doctorate and Ph.D.  There are many dramatic illustrations, but perhaps the most common happens daily when the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to understand life and make proper decisions that we could never make without Him.  After we are saved for a while, we may be tempted to take this ability for granted, but that is something we should never do.  We should praise God daily and always be aware that no matter how long we are saved, any working of our minds outside of the Holy Spirit’s control, will only be of little value and result in wrong decision making.  Our verse for today contains the prayer that the young man (probably Solomon’s son) would be given knowledge and discretion.  The most important knowledge that we can have is of the Lord and of His Word.  All other knowledge comes from Him and our ability to understand it must also be from God.  There is one important word in this verse I would like to highlight today.  Underline it in your mind: Discretion.  How disappointing it is when someone lacks discretion, the ability to make prudent and sound judgment decisions.  A woman without discretion is not a lady in the true sense, but the woman that exercises discretion is a constant source of pleasure to others.  She speaks wisely, knows when to take action, never enters into gossip, and does those things that build character and relationships.  The prayer of Solomon for his son was a wise one.  He knew that to be successful in life, that son would need discretion in judgment and character.  We need those things each day in our own lives.  How easy it is to think of the times when lack of discretion has hurt friendships, injured churches and caused us to lose respect.  Today as we have so many opportunities to make decisions, to speak, to act, let each one of us covet with God that we will seek to use discretion.  It might mean that some words will have to remain unsaid, some actions not taken, but they will be the ones that would have caused injury and hurt.  With godly discretion used throughout the day, we can go to bed in peace each night.  Lord, keep a watch on my lips and control in my life today so that I can respond in discretion to those things You bring into my life.  Help me to be that graceful, loving woman You want me to be as I follow Your leadership in this important area.

Every year when I have taught, I have had at least one child who slipped their hands up the side of their face and, thinking they had hidden their action, put their fingers in their ears.  For one reason or another, they had decided not to listen.  It is not surprising that this usually happened during Bible time!  As adults, we surely do not stick our fingers into our ears to prevent listening to God’s instructions, but there are many other ways that even an adult can refuse to listen.  Those ways are not always as obvious as verbally saying, "I will not listen to this," but they are equally effective.  Some just do not take the time to listen to God.  They start the day without pausing to pray or read their Bibles, and continue on all day, filling the empty time spaces with everything but God, until night falls.  On Sundays, they think of "better" things to do than go to church, but what they are really saying is, "I will not listen."  I have seen some adult Christians set their jaw and get a look in their eyes that says, "No matter what you say to me, I have already made up my mind."  Some may call it stubbornness, but it is no different than holding fingers over spiritual ears.  Each time that we decide to do something in our own way, even if it is contrary to the Word of God or spiritual counsel, we have said that we will not hear in the Biblical sense.  The word to hear in the Scripture, most often means to listen with the intent to obey.  I will never forget a sermon my husband preached where that principle was taught.  When we really grasp that meaning, we will realize that to listen to a sermon is not enough, our heart attitude must be, "Lord, teach me what you want me to learn today and then help me to act upon it."  Truly it is a wise man who will hear.  When we listen with the intent to obey, God will increase our learning.  The second part of our verse for today is of great importance in modern day life: a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel.  The person of deep spiritual character will reach out to the counsel that is truly wise.  He will avoid worldly counsel and false counsel, and seek that which is from the Lord.  He also will not be the type of person who thinks he does not need advice or shuns the counsel of loving friends.  He will not only reach out for the counsel, but he will be available in his mind to listen and to heed the advice.  Lord, help me to be a person of understanding.  Place within my heart the desire to listen to You with the intent to obey and be willing to attain unto wise counsel of Your Word and those that You send into my life to help me to develop into the person You want me to be.

In the picture gallery of your mind, call up a painting of the most handsome young prince you can imagine, dressed in his princely robes with a shining circle of wrought gold around his head and golden chains of royalty around his neck.  Now imagine the proud looks on the faces of his father and mother as they view the strong and wise young man before them.  This is the picture of our verse for today.  Solomon has just told his son to hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. (verse 8)  For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.  The ornaments and chains that denoted the young man’s princely bearing were his father’s instructions of wisdom and his mother’s law of love.  We know that the young person who heeds the instructions of his parents, abides by their laws and develops into a responsible person is certainly a source of pride and joy to those parents.  He will also have the confident bearing of a faithful prince in his own right.  As a child of God, we need to hear the instruction of our Heavenly Father in His Word.  We need to hear with the intent and desire to obey and incorporate God’s Word into our life.  He has called us to be joint heirs with His Son, the Lord Jesus, and as such we are princes in God’s kingdom.  When we do less than honor our Heavenly Father, we lose some of the stature that He desires to give to us.  If you could imagine the same painting with a rebellious, pouting young man.  It does not take much to picture the distaste of such a scene.  God gives us the Law of love in His Word.  It is a law that demands our total loyalty.  Love denotes purity and commitment, faithfulness and obedience to the Lord in all that we do.  We must never forsake it or we will become like orphan beggars dressed in rags, instead of the prince or princess we were meant to be, clothed in richness with shining ornaments.  The ornaments are those of grace and they give beauty to the wearer.  God desires to crown our heads with beauty and grace, to encircle our necks with His chains of love, hanging those chains close to our hearts.  We are His children, that nothing can change.  But whether or not we will be that child of pride and honor, clothed with all the riches of His grace, will depend upon our obedience and faithfulness.  Be clothed with those beautiful ornaments in your life.  Honor Your Heavenly Father.  Be able to stand strong and tall before Him as He blesses you with those ornaments of grace.

In Proverbs chapter one, "wisdom" is given a personality and calls out to the people around her.  Wisdom promises those that will turn to her: I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.  It is a meaningful illustration of the Lord calling to us in our sin.  When we turn [to Him] at [His] reproof, (verse 23), then He will pour out His Holy Spirit upon us and make His Word known to us.  From verses 24 through 32, Wisdom tells of all the calamities that will come upon those that refused her call.  They will have fear, desolation, destruction and distress.  They will hate God’s knowledge and despise His counsel.  They will eat the fruit of their ways and not be able to find God when they would want His help.  The list is long and dismal.  But then we find the conclusion of the chapter in just one verse describing those that obeyed Wisdom, verse 33.  They will dwell safely and be quiet from the fear of evil.  Simple and direct, but rich in completeness, the few words of verse 33 assure us that those who come to God are completely different from those that refuse Him, not only in their eternal destiny but in their path of earthly life.  As opposed to the whirlwinds of destruction, and the storms of fear and anguish, we will dwell safely.  Instead of the noise of distress and trouble, we shall be quiet from the fear of evil.   What a marvelous heritage is ours!   Sometimes we look around us at the world and wonder if there really is a difference in this life for us as Christians.  This wonderful assurance verse tells us that there is all the difference in the world!  Years ago in the heart of Africa there was a rebellion.  Very evil men gained a following of young men who pledged themselves to worship the old satanic ways and to destroy those who would not, especially the Christians.  In the night, they came to attack the mission station where two single women missionaries lived.  One was killed within minutes, and the other, Ruth, left for dead.  There in the terror of that attack and the danger that was very real, she found herself completely sheltered by God Himself.  For days, as she was wounded, often hidden, sometimes in the presence of her captors, she knew that God was miraculously protecting and guiding her.  He was allowing her to dwell in safety and in her heart gave a quietness from the fear of a very present evil.  Only the God who is Real could do that!  Ruth had trusted Christ, turned to Him for salvation and God had poured out His Spirit upon her.  There is no other explanation.  In our lives, we do not have to be in the midst of Africa to be surrounded by danger from Satan and his forces.  We need not fear, whatever befalls us, God is our refuge and strength.  In Him we will be able to dwell safely and have quietness from fear.  That quietness is the unique peace and confidence to know that we are His and He is ours.  That peace should so work in our hearts that we will not be crying in fear or anger within, but be calm and trusting, knowing that God is working for us.  After days in the midst of trial, Ruth Hege, was able to escape to the point of rescue.  No matter how long our trials may last, God has promised to bring us out on the other side if we will trust in Him.  He is faithful and He desires faithfulness from us.  As we hearken to Him, He will give us safety and quietness, confidence and rest.  What a blessed peace is ours in Christ Jesus, a peace the world does not know!

It is interesting that the Bible and secular history record for us that Solomon had vast mines where his laborers dug precious metals, silver among them.  I do not know if he purchased these mines already in operation or if he had teams that went to search for possible locations, but his advance men must have been those he trusted very much.  The wealth from these mines helped make Solomon the richest monarch of his day.  His palace and the temple were adorned with silver and gold, fine metals and precious jewels.  I am certain his wives and daughters wore silver and golden chains and rings.  His findings at the mines were put to use in his life and in the life of Israel.  They make him a wealthy man and the evidence was seen by others.  God, through the writing of Solomon, encourages us to seek for wisdom, knowledge and understanding as we would seek after silver and search for hid treasures.  The "Mother lode" of silver runs through the Bible, like a shining vein of silver runs through the rocks of a mine.  We can mine it and dig it as long as we live, and it will never run out!  Throughout Nevada there are "ghost towns" where the prospectors came at one time, found silver, mined it, until finally the vein ran out and all connected with the "boom town" had to move on.  These former towns are deserted, wind swept places.  God’s silver of wisdom is not like that.  But the wisdom of the world is.  If we choose to go into the world and look solely in it for our knowledge and understanding, we will finally run dry.  Oh, we may learn many things but they will not have the lasting worth of eternal values.  Sooner or later their vein will run out and leave us destitute and tired, our souls wind swept and desolate.  God’s vein will run on and on, never ending, always enriching us, adding blessing and pleasure.  His hid treasures can only be found as we search deeply in the Word of God and live consistently in tune with the Holy Spirit.  Surface Christianity will not reveal hid treasures.  There are too many people who only live a nominal Christian life, just barely scratching the surface of what could be theirs.  How very disappointed they will be at the end of life when God will reveal to them the immense treasures of joy and happiness that were lying just below the surface of their life, if only they had dug deeper and had searched for the riches of God, like diligently searching for hid treasures.  The next verse in Proverbs tells us that if we have sought wisdom as silver and searched as for hid treasure, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. (verse 5)  Our searching for the things of God will never be like the stories of the prospectors of old who searched all their lives but came up empty in the end.  No, God’s riches are there to be found.  His treasures are all in unlocked boxes, because He has the keys and has opened them for all His children to freely partake.  I want to understand the things of God.  I want to know how to respect and reverence God in my life everyday and bring honor to His name.  I want to have the knowledge of God I need to live a successful Christian life for Him.  Now I know that I must be a treasure seeker, and a silver miner in His Word.  What an exciting adventure each one of us has who will become prospectors in God’s silver mines full of treasure!  How rich we all will be, with wealth that will not tarnish or rust or ever run out!  God has entrusted us with the important job of being His treasure seekers, finding wealth not only for ourselves, but also for our families and church and for those we witness to, as we share God’s riches with others.  The silver is glittering.  The treasure chests are all open.  Dig a little deeper today!