Proverbs 8:5
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O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
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If you think me too harsh, dear reader, you prove your own ignorance. The Giver of wisdom will grind you senseless under His glorious feet, if you refuse His generous blessing (Matt 21:44). He will bring calamities into your life, and He will fill the heavens with laughter when you tremble in fear and beg for His help (1:20-32; Ps 2:4; 37:13). But it will be too late! He will mock your troubles and your fears! I am not too harsh.
Solomon continues his personification of wisdom in this chapter. See the comments on 8:1. Wisdom, the ability to rightly judge, is presented as a woman here and in other early parts of this book. It has been said, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!" It is our prudence to soberly consider the gracious offer of this glorious and terrible woman.
In this particular verse, Lady Wisdom exhorts simple and foolish men to take the wisdom and understanding she offers. Implied is the rhetorical question, Why do you want to continue in the stupidity and lusts of your ignorance (1:22; Ex 16:28)? Why?
Every parent thinks this thought regarding their children, and every pastor thinks it about his members. Parents watch their children ignore instruction and rush into trouble, and pastors watch members do the same. So our father and preacher in this book, Solomon, by the inspiration of God, calls for us to hear his instruction and learn wisdom.
Are you offended at being called simple and foolish? It shouldn't offend. You came into this world messing on yourself, and you will go out doing the same. And unless you take God's merciful offer of wisdom, you are not much better at this very moment.
If wisdom is the ability to rightly judge, do you have it? If understanding is accurate discernment, do you have it? There is only one way to know. Are your thoughts and actions in perfect agreement with God's written word? Scripture alone defines wisdom, and thoughts to the contrary are insane (Psalm 19:7; 119:130; Isaiah 8:20; I Tim 6:3-5).
You know nothing at all by nature: you must acquire wisdom by instruction; and there is no better source than these very proverbs (1:1-4). Do you fear and crave its words?
Scripture addresses every area of your life - sex, employment, speech, money, eating, children, exercise, driving, thoughts, hair, television, clothing, friends, etc. If you think or act contrary to what is written, you have not advanced beyond the diapers that recently protected you, and your thoughts are the braying of a donkey (Job 11:12; II Pet 2:12).
Why be a fool? Take the offered wisdom and understanding today! How? Humble yourself before His word, repent of your foolishness, repudiate your sins, admit your ignorance, and conform every thought, word, and action to His holy word. Amen.
Wisdom calls you, dear reader! She begs you to consider her choice goods. She offers understanding and wisdom to the simple and foolish. Do you hear her? Or are you too busy? Or is your life too noisy to hear her voice? Are you too proud and set in your ways to know you are brutishly ignorant? You disregard her offer at your own peril!
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