By Rev. Ron Purkey
Guest Columnist

Proverbs 2:1-22

Rev. Ron Purkey

“That thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; … Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:2-3, 5)

The key idea here is of God’s protection over his own (Proverbs 2:7-8, 11-12, 16). The path of life is not an easy one, and the older we get, the more dangers we face. The world, the flesh, and the Devil are out to defeat us, and we need the wisdom of God to keep us out of their power. Sinners are out to entice the young (Proverbs 1:10-19), and too often their temptations are so alluring they are difficult to resist. But the Christian who knows the Bible and seeks to obey it will be kept safe from their power.

The Lord’s commands to his own (Proverbs 2:1-9). Notice what we are to do with God’s word: receive it, hide it in the heart, incline the heart toward it, apply it to our lives, cry out to God for wisdom, and search the word to find God’s will. Solomon is not talking about simply “reading a chapter a day” and letting it go at that. He insists we live in the word of God and allow the word to live in us. Verse 4 compares Bible study to the mining of precious metal. The truths of the word must be “dug out” and put through the furnace of personal experience. They must be “minted” into spiritual coins we can keep in our treasury for future use (Matthew 13:52). Furthermore, this wisdom will become a shield to our lives (verse 7) so God can protect our paths. When Christians deliberately turn from the wisdom of God found in the Bible, they are putting themselves (and others) in danger.

The Lord’s care for his own (Proverbs 2:10-22). Notice the argument Solomon gives in this chapter that begins with the “if” of Proverbs 2:1 and continues with the “then” of verse 9 and the “thus” of verse 20. If we receive God’s words and obey them, then we will have wisdom to make wise decisions, and thus the Lord will keep his promise and protect us from the evil man and the strange woman. When you obey God, you have the privilege to “walk in the ways of good men” (Proverbs 2:20). If you follow the Word of God, you will never lack for the right kind of friends.

The wicked may appear to be succeeding, but their end is destruction (Psalm 37). The godly will be rooted in the place of God’s blessing (Psalm 1:3), but the ungodly will be uprooted from the land. The safest and most satisfying path is the path of wisdom, the path of life. We need the wisdom of God from the word of God to protect our paths.

Read Ron Purkey’s Bible study outlines at www.rcpbibleoutlines.com free on the website. Purkey has been an ordained Baptist minister for 50 years.