Proverbs 9 "Wisdom and Folly"

Ever wonder where wisdom comes from? How to get it?

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" Proverbs 9:10

This verse says the fear of the Lord is where it begins.

OK. Not fear of the Lord as in being scared of Him, but rather as we read in Proverbs 8:13;

"To fear the Lord is to hate evil."

How simply put! It doesn't get more understandable than that.

To hate evil is to "hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." Proverbs 8:13

To hate those qualities is where wisdom starts.

Let's take a look at the opposite of wisdom: foolishness. In today's reading we were introduced to the woman Folly. "The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge." Proverbs 9:13 The complete opposite of yesterdays prude, which we also read more of today in verses 1-6. Woman Folly is loud, obnoxious, has no moral direction and not smart.

Remember how we read in Proverbs 1, that throughout Proverbs the word 'simple' generally denotes one without moral direction? Well, this woman Folly actually invites immoral company into her house, saying "Let all who are simple come in here!" Poverbs 9:16 Very bluntly, she is an immoral, dumb woman who loves the ways of death and destruction.

When we fear the Lord and hate evil, we have the promise that our "days will be many, and years will be added to [our] life." Proverbs 9:11 What a great promise!

Let's close with the next verse (v.12),

"If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
  if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."

Lord, thank you for Your great promises. Thank you for Your wisdom. Father teach us of Your wisdom. Give us a desire to hate all evil, but first the evil in ourselves lest we think more of ourselves than we should. Lord, let us not invite immorality into our homes like the woman Folly does, but rather fill our hearts and our homes with Your goodness, Your love, Your presence so that all who know us, all who hear us speak and all who come through our homes may know that we love You. Amen.