Fruit & Verse

Proverbs Chapter 2

1 “My son if you accept my words and store up (treasure/hide) my commands within you 2 listen closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; 3 furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.”

In the commentary/study guide, I read that store up was defined as the action verb treasure and hide. Here it’s talking about taking in God’s words and holding them dear to your heart like a prized possession. I think about the things I have of my Nana’s that I love so much. But this is even better. So when I get to verse 4 where it says “hidden treasure” and 5 says discover.

When I read this I was like “danggg Solomon, the word choice here is too good!” Picture someone digging at the beach and coming up on something buried. They will probably scream with excitement “I found something” or maybe if it’s a kid “I found buried treasure!” A wonder. A sight to be seen. How excited should we be when we discover God’s wisdom? It’s not a human character trait though, it’s a supernatural gift. We get to use God’s wisdom as a perspective. It’s so worthy!

6 “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. 7 He stores up (here it is again) success for the upright;”

The upright are those who stand in alignment with God, who put their hope and trust in Him and the instruction He provides. For those who are willing to align with God, there is “sound wisdom”. The Hebrew word for sound wisdom is “tuwshiyah” which is often translated as success.

We should want to follow God, seek Him out first, and expect NOTHING in return but also how good is it that he rewards our obedience with success?! 😭

Second part of verse 7 “He is a shield for those who live with integrity.” In the KJV translation, it says “He is a buckler for those that stand upright”. I had never heard this before so I looked it up and it means a suit of armor. In the earlier times it was leather but then became metal. God is not a physical suit of armor for us but an armor in the spirit that acts the same way. 🛡️

8 “so that He may guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His loyal (not luke-warm) followers. Meaning that He is the only one who can judge and He preserves (like canned goods, for a long life) the way of His saints.

9 “then you will understand righteousness, justice, and integrity—every good path.” Other words for path are course, trench, and track. Until I read this, I had never thought about how specific and narrow a path was. And people talk about being “in the trenches” negatively. Guilty. But if you are on God’s track or in God’s trench, it’s a straight shot to success. It doesn’t always seem straight because gaining God’s wisdom and waiting on prayers to be answered can be a slow process. And we know that the straight way is faster than taking detours. 🎉

The smaller paths only make sense in context to the broader ones 😭 thank you Jesus! Seeing God’s ways with our eyes through wisdom, we become wise and fulfill our purpose. Press into trusting God or we steer off the path with the illusion we have control. Those who leave “asab” meaning forsake, the path of righteousness to walk in darkness have to abandon the path they created. Walking in darkness is hard, slow, frustrating, and crooked. Which makes me think of the song Amazing Grace… I was blind but now I see.

Thank you Jesus for allowing us your wisdom, for being a shield, and giving us a straight path. Keep us in your trenches Lord! Thank you for your treasures to store up and for giving us sight to SEE YOU 🙌🏽 ✨