Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. 

Proverbs 8:34 

Seeking Christ is a lifelong pursuit. He is such a vast storehouse of wisdom and knowledge we can never exhaust the resources in Him. Certainly our minds and hearts can barely comprehend a tiny fraction of the wealth He contains. Our text holds out the promise of blessedness for everyone who listens to Him. The remainder of the text depicts the daily pursuit of the wisdom that is in Him. It  involves a daily watching and waiting. Wherever we look for Him in the Scripture He is there. From the gateway of Genesis to the doors of the Gospels we behold Christ again and again. When we come to the close of Scripture, we behold the revelation of Him. The more we find Him, the better off we are. The more we contemplate Him, the more He gives us wisdom and knowledge to imitate Him. As we pursue Him throughout life we grow to be like Him until we see him face to face. This is a blessed life indeed. It is a life with the greatest purpose and ends in the highest good. To pursue Christ brings us to wisdom that surpasses every philosophy and all other purported revelations. Christ is all and the highest good.  

Great God of Wonders, 
we rejoice that You speak wisdom to our souls. 
We praise You that, as we listen to You, 
we continue to grow more deeply.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. 

Proverbs 8:32 

Christ’s words lead us to blessedness. Our text is a statement from the mouth of wisdom personified. It is striking how these words sound so much like Christ. In Luke He remarks ‘But He said, more than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’ On the night before He went to the cross, He said to His disciples, ‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.’ By this He indicated that His word abiding in us would have a positive effect on our praying. These and other references like them lead us to the conclusion that Chris’s words and wisdom’s words are practically synonymous. To follow wisdom’s words is to follow Christ’s words and vice versa. This is utterly consistent with the idea from Colossians that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Therefore we hear the voice of Christ from the ancient page. It is entirely appropriate for us to do so because ‘to Him give all the prophets witness.’ We are not imposing on the ancient literature anything that is not implicitly there. Where wisdom is, Christ is. It is always worthwhile to seek Christ.  

Our gracious Savior and our God, 
we rejoice that You have spoken to us from ancient days. 
We praise You that you are still speaking to us 
through Your word and by Your Spirit.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men.  

Proverbs 8:30-31 

Christ is the creator. The Scriptures attest to this on multiple occasions. John says, ‘All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.’ The writer of Hebrews declares of the Son, ‘through Whom He made the worlds.’ With those statements in mind we turn to our text which is part of a passage with multiple references to creation. We read in the previous verse, ‘When He marked out the foundations of the earth.’ Our text follows with, ‘Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman.’ Thus the language of Wisdom personified is the description of Christ. This is the longer version of the truth that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If we would understand our origins, we must look to Christ. If we would interpret the course of history, we must look to Christ. If we would understand the course of the world and where it must ultimately arrive, we must look to Christ. No one else can offer us this depth and breadth of understanding. Christ was there at the beginning. He will be there at the end. He is full of the wisdom we need to understand what has been, what is, and what will be.  

Our Gracious God and our Creator, 
we rejoice that You have made all there is. 
We praise You that You uphold it with the word of Your power. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
 

When He prepared the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command when He marked out the foundations of the earth… 

Proverbs 8:27-29 

When wisdom speaks we hear the voice of Christ. As Solomon wrote of wisdom he personified her. In doing so, he wrote much of what we recognize as being true of the eternal Son of God. Our text is one from which we can draw clear references to Christ. We have been considering the verse from Colossians that tells us that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, if we discuss wisdom, especially wisdom personified, we must include Christ. It is one thing to speak of wisdom as an abstract concept. It is something else to speak of wisdom as a person. In our text, wisdom is speaking. In the larger context wisdom makes multiple references to the pre-creation situation. Our text refers to God’s preparation of the heavens and the acts of creation. Wisdom was there when all this occurred. According to John, the Word was there, active in creation. The writer of Hebrews, speaking of the Son of God says it was by Him God made the worlds. If we draw these references together, we conclude that Christ and wisdom are inseparable. When wisdom speaks, Christ speaks and vice versa.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that we hear Your voice through Your Word. 
We praise You that all  
You speak is wise.  
 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice? 

Proverbs 8:1  

To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart.  

Proverbs 8:4-5

If all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, then we cannot speak of wisdom without speaking of Him. Proverbs 8 personifies wisdom. Therefore when we come to the passage Christ is here. Our text begins by speaking of wisdom crying out and lifting up her voice. The next two verses describe her as being ‘on the top of the high hill beside the way where the paths meet, and at the gates of the city.’ Thus, wisdom is everywhere a person might go. The second portion of our text articulates her invitation to all who will hear. Wisdom appeals to all to come to her, ‘to understand prudence.’ This reminds us of Jesus’ action on the last day of the feast of tabernacles, ‘On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’  The similarity between this incident and the description in Proverbs is striking. Christ calls us to come to Him. He declared that He came into the world, ‘to seek and to save that which was lost.’ To answer His call, to embrace Him as He offers Himself is to find the storehouse of wisdom. We find Him everywhere in the Scriptures and always to do us good. 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You embody wisdom. 
We praise You that as we come to You, 
we learn to be wise.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning