Daily Bible Study: Proverbs 2:1-9

My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.

Proverbs 2:1-9 (NKJV).

There's going to be a lot of repetition in Proverbs, and the entire Bible, on various topics, which is expected given the internal coherence of scripture. Wisdom is always held in high esteem, always a treasure worth seeking, and yet also something which God is happy to bestow on all that seek it.

Remember back to the first chapter of Proverbs, that you cannot seek to obtain what you already have, and so unless you are God, there will be many things for you to learn, thus why the pursuit of wisdom starts with you not being God, and having reverence for God. Here the reader, or listener, to Solomon's wisdom is encouraged to not just seek wisdom with a lackadaisical apathy, but to pursue wisdom with great passion.

Compare this to the student who is searching out a topic they have found interesting. They won't just haphazardly consume new learning, they'll search it out, their hunger for more driving them forward against difficulties that they face along the way.

How does this hungry student treat teachers who bring forth more topics to devour? How does the learner respond to one who feeds their hunger?

This is why the pursuit of wisdom produces understanding of not just wisdom, but the heart of God, out of the gratitude and appreciation for the investment God is happy to make in those who have humbled themselves and sought truth. Again, that humility is not mere denigration, but awareness of the role that you or I play as the student, as the learner, as the one still in need of refinement, and God's role in growing us to satisfy his purposes in our lives.

The process is intentional, and wisdom often proves itself counter-intuitive to our natural desires, so our passion not only helps retain our focus when external distractions come along, but also help us overcome internal motivation problems, because to live in wisdom often means denying what we think we want to get what we truly need. It takes everything we've got to stay focused on God, and we can't do that while also being dismissive of the importance of what God offers through wisdom.