Proverbs 8:34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
Recently while I was in Florida, I met a new children’s author. He has one book published and is working on a second. Maybe you remember some of the books you read as a child or the books you are reading to your child right now. Oftentimes they employ personification, that is, they take what is not human and give it human characteristics. For instance, take “The Little Engine That Could.” No one has ever met a steam engine that talks and has emotions, but in the children’s story, the steam engine has feelings and it talks.
In Proverbs 8 we have the personification of wisdom, which is ultimately abstract; it is notional, not concrete. Yet, Proverbs 8 shows wisdom as a lady. Wisdom is in competition with folly, and wisdom is trying to get attention. It is a personification of wisdom.
Now, how much does a know-it-all know? They don’t know a lot. The reason they don’t know a lot is because they think they already know what they need to know. In Proverbs 8:34, wisdom is heard to say, “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.” There is an attitude here. Wisdom is better than money and honor, and it oftentimes leads to those things. Wisdom is a decision. You seek it, search for it, hear it, hearken to it, watch for it, and wait for it. That is what you find in Proverbs 8. “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily…”
Plato once said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” All of us have been in instances where we felt like we had to say something. “Don’t just stand there; say something, do something!” That is not always wise counsel. I’ve known people, myself at times, who are asked a question for which they do not know the answer. Instead of admitting, “That is a good question. I don’t know,” they seem frantic to give an answer whether they have one or not.
Something that Proverbs 8:34 shows us is that a wise person is a teachable person. That is, wisdom is not always shown by what you say; it is shown by how you listen. In short, wisdom asks, and wisdom asks God. Wisdom is not natural for anyone except for God. Wisdom says in verse 30, “Then I was by him, as one brought up with him.” God wasn’t born or raised and has no beginning, but wisdom says that she was there before Creation. She was there before the earth or the water. She was with God as one brought up with God. So, a wise person is teachable. A wise person hears, a wise person watches daily for wisdom.
Recently I was privileged to have dinner with a retired pastor. He had gone to university, seminary, and later had gotten his doctorate. He planted a church in south Florida and won many people to Christ, some of whom are in ministry now themselves. He is capable, loves the Lord, and is a smart man. I learned something when I had dinner at his home that I really had not thought about before.
At dinner, this pastor asked me a question about something I had thought more than a little about, was passionate about, and for which I had a ready answer. About a minute after I had answered him, I thought, “Rice, you talk too much!” If it had been a twenty-year-old instead of this wise, retired pastor with a doctorate that had asked me this question, it would have gratified me. I would have felt like I was really informing someone. But, indeed, this was not faux humility that brought the pastor to ask the question he asked. He wasn’t just asking to ask. He was curious and I think he really did want to learn. I realized that I’m not smart because I had an answer in my mind. He is smart because he knew what he needed to learn and know. He asked and had the humility to ask. That is why he is as wise as he is.
The older I get, the less inclined I am to listen, but the more I really do need to hear, to watch, and to wait for the wisdom God gives. “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.” Watch, wait, and hear because a wise person is a teachable person.