Wisdom Cries Out
20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Our Savior Calls to Us (vv. 20-21)
The pursuit of wisdom is not a pastime or hobby, an activity for soft bodies and gentle souls. Such is our pressing need of wisdom, for we are determined to live as we please and think our own thoughts, that wisdom is portrayed as no calm counselor or passive persuader but as crying loudly (v. 20), commanding (v. 21), rebuking (v. 23), and reaching out to pull us back from calamity (v. 24), as well as laughing at us when we refuse its pleas and ridiculing our self-inflicted calamities (v. 26). Wisdom confronts us everywhere and confronts us strongly; it is a life-or-death encounter. At the outset, Solomon would have us understand how serious are life, the decisions we make, the dangers that face us, and the consequences of foolishness. “Wisdom” is plural; whatever our need, the manifold wisdom of God is sufficient for us (Eph. 3:10). The depth of our folly is swallowed whole and healed by the abyss of God’s glorious wisdom, if we will but seek the heart to heed it. The cry is even more urgent now that our Lord Jesus Christ has come, for he is the “wisdom of God,” in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid (1 Cor. 1:24; Col. 2:3). By his death and resurrection, the wisdom of this world has been made foolish; it was judged at the cross as impotent, blind, obsolete, and dangerous (1 Cor. 1:20). And reigning now in glory at the right hand of the Father, it has been decreed that every knee shall bow to him (Phil. 1:9-11). We may either bow in adoration and humility, seeking for him to supply our absolute deficiency, or we may be crushed by that stumbling stone (Matt. 21:44), as the West is experiencing today – men and nations, economies and business, families and institutions – for turning from his wisdom. This cannot be avoided; his Father has promised him the nations. They will either come in faith to be taught from his mouth, or they will be destroyed as so many fragile clay pots (Ps. 2:9; Rev. 2:27). And as for us who claim to know and love him, the call also comes to us with great urgency, for our constant temptation is to build upon another foundation, to synthesize the world’s blindness with God’s wisdom, and to abuse God’s grace shown to us in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 6:1).
This is the reason Solomon portrays wisdom as calling out everywhere: in the streets, amidst the hustle and bustle of commerce, at the entrance to the city gates. We need heavenly wisdom in each street we trod, door we enter, and business we undertake. This is one reason the world’s entertainments and dramas are so dangerous to the soul. They attractively, often sympathetically, teach that man can solve his problems, understand the mysteries of life, and restore his relationships without submission to God’s word. Even playing at this is sheer folly (Prov. 24:9). Businessmen, scientists, and politicians are even more tempted, for possessing a certain kind of power and believing themselves to have discovered impersonal laws and principles of profit, nature, and society, they forget that “the Lord giveth wisdom” and “worship and serve the creature, more than the Creator” (Prov. 2:6; Rom. 1:25). Is there any greater proof of our folly than the calamities and miseries we have created by playing God, thinking we have no need to be taught by him? And God’s wisdom cries out to us everywhere even more today: we have his Spirit, his completed word, the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Did not our Savior’s earthly life stand as a fulfillment of this very cry, as a testimony that he alone is our only safety and wisdom? In the country, temple, city, and private houses, to the poor and ignorant, diseased, learned and powerful, he went everywhere speaking the truth of God and calling men to listen to his living voice and turn from their own darkness. He is the only light of the world, the truth of God come down from heaven to rescue us from our folly. His cry comes to us through our parents and teachers, and especially the preaching of his word, which is as his own voice, calling us to lay aside the folly and waywardness of our heart and to walk beside him as our Good Shepherd, who will always lead us in the right and safe way. As for the world, there remains the light that shines in darkness, the reigning, life-giving Savior. There is yet time and opportunity for our dark land to enjoy the rising beams of his wisdom – only through his grace and power, raising us up from our tombs of folly, and his light and wisdom, turning us back to the paths of righteousness now so shining so luminously in his word.
His Warning to the Gullible (vv. 22-27)
The fact that he calls out to us through the preaching of his word in pulpits across the land, in thousands of obscure homes through fathers and mothers who have resisted the unbelieving spirit of our age, gives us hope that he has not abandoned us completely, which would be just, to our crooked ways and miserable destiny. And men are deceived into taking such paths; they are simple, which means gullible, open-minded. We take them, first, because we deceive ourselves into believing lies about ourselves, God, and the world in which we live. Then, we become easy prey for the world’s lies, propagated by the father of lies and willingly embraced by those in whom he works. Only our Savior can illumine us at this most fundamental level: to see and believe the truth about our true condition and to penetrate through the masks of deception worn by the world. And there is not much time: now or ever, for the consequences of folly are often sudden and deadly, never slight, and always personally painful, as lives of broken men, ruined societies, and denominations without the candlestick of our Savior’s presence bear witness. But all these witnesses are to no avail, for we love to be open-minded. Now we have elevated it to the status of a religion: try everything; deny yourself nothing; find meaning and pleasure in whatever comes your way. These are the deadly sirens shouting pleasantly to us, trying to drown out wisdom’s call. That “scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge” (v. 22) only intensifies the horrible condition in which men find themselves when they turn away from God’s word. Solomon has not forgotten his son. As a wise father, he knows that moral openness, comical mockery of sacred truth and serious living, and preference for mindless folly are deadly traps. Only the Son of God can deliver us; only a wise son who closes his heart to evil, lives soberly, and loves God with all his mind will make a joyful and uninjured transition to Christian manhood. O, may this be us and our children!
In the midst of so much folly, our Savior ever calls us to turn at his reproof (v. 23). Children, the voice of your parents is really the voice of Jesus Christ inviting you to choose the wise path, to hear the words of life (John 6:63). Sometimes, this voice comes with great force and uncomfortable confrontation, but you must remember that this is not a parlor game. Your future, peace, and very soul are at stake. Whenever the pastor or teacher, husband or wife, friend or brother calls us to turn from foolishness and obey God’s word, it is always the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, for all truth and wisdom are to be found in him. And what a motivation to turn! He pledges to pour forth his Spirit upon us, to indwell us by his Spirit in such a way that he will guide us safely through the many pitfalls that surrounds us. Living wisely, moreover, is never a matter of “stop doing this.” Our gracious wise Savior sets forth many encouragements to walk the narrow way and bear his cross. We sometimes excuse our stubbornness by speaking of the Bible as “being so negative,” but would you have someone attempt to save your burning house by cheerful words and speaking as many do today: “Now, don’t speak evil of the fire; you should not judge?” No, you want them to bring out the water cannons. This is what Scripture does to all our folly. But this is not all. After warning us strongly of the dangers of sin, it sets forth many blessings for repentance: for God himself to walk with us, talk with us, and be our guide throughout life until we reach his eternal kingdom (2 Cor. 6:17-18). However sin allures and our own weakness trembles at the thought of forsaking sin and turning to God, let us keep this promise before us. Our Savior’s arms are open to us, and he pledges to remove our filth and make us his dwelling place by the Holy Spirit. All the treasures and pleasures of the world are so much dung in comparison to having Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory and lover of our soul, to be our guide and cheer us on our way (Phil. 3:8) – and you cannot have both, Christ and folly (2 Cor. 6:14-18).
If men will not turn, wisdom will still have the last say, the last bitter laugh. The warning here is very plain, so plain that even the most ignorant can understand Solomon’s meaning. We face again the eternal truth that the choice between wisdom and folly is unavoidable, as are the consequences of that choice. How will fools respond to the call of wisdom? They will refuse and disregard wisdom’s outstretched hand, pointing the way to safety, offering help (v. 24). They will avoid all wisdom’s counsel and refuse to submit to reproof (v. 25). Before considering the awful consequences of this response, we should note, simply, that they are deserved. Fools like to pretend to be victims. This is a really a cloak to avoid responsibility. Much of our culture is built around this paradigm: making other men pay for the foolish, heedless lives of others, whether criminals, unwed, teen mothers, or corrupt politicians. We must face the fact that we live in a world governed by moral laws, God’s laws, of cause and effect. There are no victims. All men heard God’s voice in Adam; they heard him again in Noah. They are taught by conscience and God’s works in nature that they owe their lives to him, should submit to his power, and thankfully serve him for his goodness. Now that Jesus Christ has come, the word has gone out into all the world, so much so that all men have at one time or another heard God’s truth or have access to it. Thus, the covenantal unity of man, natural revelation, and now the finished work and kingdom of Jesus Christ leave all men without any excuse. To pursue folly is nothing but sheer willfulness, intentional ignorance, and intense, heaven-sent blindness for our ingratitude. So, when wisdom laughs and mocks at our calamities (v. 26) – economies collapsing because built upon paper and paper-debt, sex-focused men and women finding not love but emptiness and disease, billions upon billions of educational monies yielding dumber citizens, global Babels leading to war and disintegration – we should not wring our hands or play the surprised victim. “The curse causeless does not come” (Prov. 26:2). Sow to the wind, reap the whirlwind (Hos. 8:7). Fear, destruction, distress, and anguish (v. 27) – at every level – are the cost of rejecting God’s wisdom. His word is true from the beginning (Ps. 119:160). We knew it: conscience, covenant, natural revelation, the Son of God, the witness of one trouble after another. It was a knowing choice, and an inexcusable one. The Judge of all the earth will do right (Gen. 18:25); his word will prevail over all the schemes, pretenses, and excuses of man.
And thus, current events and the condition, sadly, of many lives, families, and congregations professing the name of Christ, would only be a surprise if they were other than they are. The only safe and sound foundation for life is “Christ the wisdom and power of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). As children, we sang “the wise man built his house upon the rock,” but we held out to ourselves that we can build some private, little corner of our lives, an outbuilding or cabin in the woods – or a nation, an economy, a judicial system, a corporation – just some little spot where we can live as we please, think our own thoughts. Calamity! Destruction! Fear! Our own nation has become a catastrophic fulfillment of Proverbs: turning from wisdom’s cry, we are now left to suffer the consequences of our rebellion. No amount of fake money or increased regulation is able to deliver us from terror: not the terror of man’s tyranny but of the wrath of the living God for all those who spurn his Son and his word. Our only plea must be “MERCY; SON OF GOD, HAVE MERCY UPON US” (Matt. 15:22; 20:33)! Our only hope is to turn at the daily rebukes the Lord is heaping upon us because of our ingratitude and unbelief. You see, God’s word is inescapable. Every fool thinks he will be the one who will get away, whom heaven will not notice, whom God will bless despite his rebellion. No; the triune God is true to himself, to his Son, and to his word. Sons of Solomon, heirs of the One wiser than Solomon who has now come and given his precious blood for us: heed wisdom’s call! The winds of divine judgment are blowing.
Rebellion Shuts Heaven and Destroys (vv. 28-32)
And what do we hear: occasional rounds of “God Bless America,” or a politician talking about prayer, or some reports that we are cutting back on reckless personal spending and building personal fallout shelters from a hurricane we know is swirling around us but that none but a few brave souls will admit is from heaven. Just because God turns up the furnace of his wrath, inflicting some with impenetrable blindness and stirring up others to tell even greater lies and hatch even more foolish plans to save us, this does not mean that fools will turn to God in repentance. We may feel and fear judgment, even see it with our own eyes, but unless we repent, we shall perish (Luke 13:3,5). This is the reason Solomon says that the prayers of fools will not be heard. They may call upon God and seek him, but they will not find him (v. 28). Why? Has God completely forgotten to be merciful (Ps. 77:8)? No. “They hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord” (v. 29). They reject God’s counsel and condemn him for daring to reprove them, to disrupt their dreams of life without God (v. 30). Now, if our Lord Jesus heard Peter’s cries of repentance and forgave him, he will certainly have mercy upon men and nations that sincerely loathe their sins, judge themselves as criminals before his majesty, and plead his mercy. But the cry of fools is the cry of Judas, of the men and women trying to climb aboard Noah’s Ark after the rains had begun, of Saul whom the Lord would not answer. These are not cries of repentance but of bitterness that despairs of mercy, hardness that refuses to condemn and turn from pride, even of anger for being resisted in its evil schemes and delusions. Such cries find heaven turned to brass (Deut. 28:23). And we must surely note that Moses directed this covenant curse to God’s professing people! We, too, can deceive ourselves into thinking that grace is a license for sin (Rom. 3:8). We can have God’s wisdom near to us, even be in the midst of a congregation where the voice of our Savior is calling out to us through the preaching of his gospel. But if we will not turn from our sins, if we persist in our foolishness, mocking God’s word and treating the voice of the Son of God with contempt, the time will come, unless God mercifully intervenes, where our cries will be like the ones we read of here: of bitterness but without “seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19), screams of pain but not sorrow unto repentance (2 Cor. 7:10), seeking God without finding him, all because we hated his counsel and despised his reproof. Then, we shall taste the bitterness of a life of folly and be filled with the consequences of our unbelief (v. 31).
And so that we shall not miss this critical point – for we delude ourselves into thinking that God’s word is not that important, that there is no need to be so serious about the friends I choose or the thoughts I indulge – Solomon draws the curtain upon the life of fools. Apostasy from God’s word always brings death. Look at the mainline denominations or once-Christian Europe. Look at Western populations which, through their sexual revolution, legalized abortion, and gender chaos, are committing reproductive suicide. All this took place rapidly, yet it represented a “turning away,” a moral slide into the abyss of moral, cultural, and spiritual death. And what is worse, since God often gives the fool his portion in this life (Ps. 17:14), he thinks that all is well. Prosperity must be a sign of successful escape from God’s word, that all will be well after all. In reality, God has only fattened up the fool for judgment and destruction (Ps. 92:7). It is impossible to escape from the consequences of rebellion. The Lord may delay them, sifting, humbling, strengthening his people for the coming storm. He may give his enemies time for repentance, for his “longsuffering is salvation” (2 Pet. 3:15), and he is “kind unto the unthankful and evil” (Luke 6:35). But the day of reckoning is approaching. The open-minded rebel will not escape. And as for us, we must take these warnings to heart, for in presenting foolishness and its consequences with such bleak honesty, Solomon’s primary concern is with those who know and love the Lord. We find much foolishness remaining in us, many areas in which we are ignorant of God’s word or hardened against it. Should we not heed our Savior’s call to wisdom? The contrast between wisdom and folly, blessing and curse, is now so vivid that only the blindest among us can pretend otherwise, but none has an excuse. Now is the time for all true sons and daughters of Mount Zion to flock there, build our lives upon the rock of eternal truth, repent of our folly, and seek for our Shepherd to take us in hand and lead us by his word.
Listening Brings Safety and Peace (v. 33)
Listening sounds so simple. The reality is far different. The only reason we hear God’s voice at all is the mighty work of renewal he performs in us by his life-giving Spirit. In ourselves, we are nothing but fools. In mercy, he took away our hard hearts of flinty stone and set up within us a heart of flesh, tender and pliable to his leading. Sovereign mercy and divine omnipotence alone transform men into listeners. Believing this, even while we see so much dreadful folly in the world, should we not run to him and ask him to unplug our ears even more? To extend his loving arm to us and pull out all the defilement within us that prevents us from hearing him clearly? To hear is challenging. It brings great conflict in our lives, for “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh” (Gal. 5:17). We have pet sins that we are loathe to give up, pockets, sometimes caverns of stubbornness that have been a part of us for so long that we think we cannot live without them. We see this in Peter. Again and again, he refused to listen, I mean, truly listen, to Jesus’ warnings of coming events in Jerusalem, and the true nature of Christian discipleship. He trusted his own wisdom; he was a believer but very foolish. But those last words from our Savior – “I have prayed for thee;” “Father, not my will but thine be done;” “Father, forgive them” – these revealed his true self to him. They broke him, it is true, but the breaking of our stubbornness in the light of our Father’s majesty and our Savior’s enduring, saving love looses us to walk before God with quiet contentment in godliness. The world may spew its venom and roar its threats; we shall dwell securely – not without our share of troubles and tribulations, sometimes severe, for we must ever remember our Father’s purpose to bring us low so that we may be strong in our Savior – confident that the living God walks with us in covenant and love. He is our tower in the storm. The foundation of his word cannot be overthrown: ever, by anything, whatever may come. And thus, listening to him carries an astounding promise: that we shall be “quiet from fear of evil.” Security, quiet, ease: all the blessing the fool seeks by recklessly pursuing his own wisdom and ways. Our Father simply gives them to us when we listen to him. Yes, the storms will come. We shall see the roots of our own lives that are intertwined in the city of man pulled away, cut off, and burned. We may suffer for righteousness’ sake, especially among our extended family and circle of acquaintances, perhaps even from officially sanctioned persecution. But the Son of God is in the furnace with us. He passes through the Red Sea with us, saving us and drowning the Egyptians. If we hear his voice – talking with us, calming us, humbling us, directing us – it is enough.