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A PEOPLE OF UNDERSTANDING Part 4 of 4 Gleanings from Proverbs (Amplified Bible) In Proverbs we find the source, definition, description, purpose, price, and the rewards of understanding. Just as there are two sources of wisdom, so are there two sources of understanding: worldly and divine. From God’s word, we receive divine understanding: "from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" {2:6b}. But that understanding becomes man’s only as he draws it forth: "...blessed...is the man who gets understanding--drawing it forth [from God’s word and life’s experiences]" {3:13}. Through relationship with God, we gain understanding, for "the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding" {9:10b}. To be complete, man requires that understanding which comes from God alone: "Surely I am too brutish and stupid to be called a man, and have not the understanding of a man [for all my secular learning is as nothing]. I have not learned skillful and godly Wisdom that I should have the knowledge or burden of the Holy One," bemoans Agur in Prov. 30:2-3. Throughout, the Proverbs abound with pleadings and admonitions to receive godly wisdom and understanding: "And with all you have gotten get understanding--discernment, comprehension and interpretation" {4:7b}. "My son, be attentive to my wisdom...and incline your ear to my understanding [of what is becoming and prudent for you]; That you may exercise proper discrimination and discretion and your lips guard and keep knowledge and the wise answer [to temptation]" {5:1-2}. "As for him who lacks understanding, [God’s] Wisdom says to him, ‘Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the [spiritual] wine which I have mixed’" {9:4b-5}. Clearly portrayed as a path, understanding may be chosen, abandoned or rejected. Those who choose the way of understanding save themselves many a snare and stumbling: "a man of understanding walks uprightly--making straight his going" {15:21b}. "The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall abide in the congregation of the...dead" {21:16}. "[H]e who follows worthless pursuits is lacking in sense and without understanding" {12:11b}. Costly and rewarding, understanding is both a mind and heart issue: "inclining and directing your heart and mind to understanding--applying all your powers to the quest for it; Yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding...Then you will understand the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of [our omniscient] God" {2:2b-5}. The people of understanding, in contrast to the foolish, the seducible, and the evil, shun self-seeking. "Evil men do not understand justice, but they who crave and seek the Lord understand it fully" {28:5}. "A [self-confident] fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his personal opinions and himself" {18:2}. "O...you [self-confident] fools, be of an understanding heart" {8:5}. Those who refuse understanding bring upon themselves added chastenings: "...discipline and the rod are for the back of him who is without sense and understanding" {10:13b}. "The mind of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, inquires after and craves it, but the mouths of [self-confident] fools feed on folly" {15:14}. "A man of understanding sets skillful and godly Wisdom before his face" {17:24a}; he "has a cool spirit" {17:27b}, and he draws counsel out of the heart of others {20:5b}. Maintaining a teachable attitude, he learns from chastening and correction: "he who heeds reproof gets understanding" {15:32b}. "Wisdom rests [silently] in the mind and heart of him who has understanding" {14:33a}. "...through knowledge and superior discernment shall the righteous be delivered" {11:9b}. Godly understanding proves to be both a refreshing source of life and a stabilizing factor for individual and family development. "Understanding is wellspring of life to him who has it"{16:22a}. "Through skillful and godly Wisdom is a house [a life, a home, a family] built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation]" {24:3}. "Lean on, trust and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind, and do not rely on you own insight or understanding" {3:5}. -Ruth French November Newsletter 1998 | The Lord’s Will | Pastor's Journal November 1997 | Questions on the Test Clean Hands and a Pure Heart | A People of Understanding part 4 of 4 | Poems | Thanksgiving Revised: August 29, 2007. |
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