Proverbs 8:22-31 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 8:22-31, which read,

v.22, 23 - "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.  From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth."

Solomon is teaching his sons about wisdom and that wisdom has been around for a long time.  Wisdom was established by God in the beginning and used by Him in the process of creation, "His works of old."  The earth is brought into the conversation about how old wisdom is.  This is not some new information that Solomon is coming up with.

v.24-29 - "When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.  Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth; while He had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world.  When He established the heavens, I was there, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when He made firm the skies above, when the springs of the deep became fixed, when He set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth;..."

Look at the creation account given to us here by Solomon.  Water, springs, mountains, hills, earth, fields, dust, and heavens are all creation words from Genesis 1.  Not only is this an establishment of how old wisdom is and where it comes from but it is also another passage to understand the beginning of things given to us to understand God's creating powers.  There was wisdom used when God put things in place in the beginning.  Order, design, and placement still amaze the scientists of our day on how God put all of this that we enjoy together.

v.30, 31 - "Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having my delight in the sons of men."

The wisdom of God was beside God in the beginning and used by God who is the master workman.  Each day of creation, wisdom was used by God to put things in place.  Wisdom was rejoicing as God proclaimed, "It is good" with each element of creation.  Wisdom has "delight in the sons of men."  Here was a segment of creation that was going to also use wisdom because it was created to have the capacity to appreciate and implement it.  Wisdom was going to be transferable from God who created it to His creation of mankind who would listen, learn, and live out the principles of God.

God's wisdom is old, that's the point today.  Wisdom was prior to creation and used in creation to establish what we live upon and who we are.  Wisdom is foundational to our life.  Maybe this is why the consequences are so great when we do not follow it and go the way of the foolish.  We are going contrary to very thing used by God to put all things together.

"You are here for a purpose" is a popular phrase that we use.  You were placed here by God's wisdom just as the earth, heavens, seas, skies, plants, and animals.  You are able to possess something called wisdom because you were created in the image of God who created it and used it to produce you.  The question is will you listen to God's wisdom; will you acknowledge His counsel; and will you submit to His will for how things are ordered by Him?

I have been learning through this walk through of the book of Proverbs that wisdom is not just something to possess but also something to submit to.  It is not enough to know but rather to take that knowledge and turn it into action, i.e. wisdom.  Applied knowledge is to be a characteristic of my life as I follow after the Giver and Creator of wisdom.  How I speak of, respond to and act out are in relationship to His instruction.  If I am possessing wisdom then I am thinking about God and His word to be applied to what is before me.  Let's pray.

"Lord, You are so precious.  You have created all things.  You have put them together with Your wisdom for us to marvel at Your handiwork and give glory unto You.  May we submit to the wisdom of old and realize that it is not out of date ever because it is woven into the fabric of our lives by You.  You designed it that way.  Help us to not to go against the fabric of our lives today in foolish ways.  Amen."

Pastor Adam