WISDOM SPEAKS

For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm. —Proverbs 1:32, 33

The book of Proverbs introduces its readers—or hearers—to Wisdom as a character. “Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square” (Proverbs 1:20). Some commentators point to Jesus as the fulfillment of this prefiguration (see, for example, Luke 11:49); others consider this character as simply a personification of the virtue, a literary device to deliver the book’s larger reflections on the role of wisdom in the life of faith and human flourishing. Whichever way we read or think about this, Wisdom urges that choosing to live by the values and virtues she declares will have real and practical results in our lives.

And her words were echoed by Jesus—at least their meaning—when He concluded the Sermon on the Mount with the parable of the wise and foolish builders.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” When storms and trouble would inevitably come, their lives and faith would endure, Jesus explained, “because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:24, 25). The book of Proverbs portrays the way of Wisdom as one that brings a double benefit—it will protect us from the dangers of folly, and it will guide us in the paths of righteousness and goodness. As such, Wisdom will help us avoid some of life’s risks, disappointments, and sorrows—a life of greater safety and ease—and will allow us to live without fear, even when harm comes or threatens us. In Proverbs, when Wisdom speaks, she is worth listening to.