romises to those who seek wisdom. (1-9) The advantages of
wisdom. (10-22)
Verses 1-9: Those who earnestly seek heavenly wisdom, will never
complain that they have lost their labour; and the freeness of
the gift does not do away the necessity of our diligence, (Joh
6:27). Let them seek, and they shall find it; let them ask, and
it shall be given them. Observe who are thus favoured. They are
the righteous, on whom the image of God is renewed, which
consists in righteousness. If we depend upon God, and seek to
him for wisdom, he will enable us to keep the paths of judgment.
Verses 10-22: If we are truly wise, we shall be careful to avoid all
evil company and evil practices. When wisdom has dominion over
us, then it not only fills the head, but enters into the heart,
and will preserve, both against corruptions within and
temptations without. The ways of sin are ways of darkness,
uncomfortable and unsafe: what fools are those who leave the
plain, pleasant, lightsome paths of uprightness, to walk in such
ways! They take pleasure in sin; both in committing it, and in
seeing others commit it. Every wise man will shun such company.
True wisdom will also preserve from those who lead to fleshly
lusts, which defile the body, that living temple, and war
against the soul. These are evils which excite the sorrow of
every serious mind, and cause every reflecting parent to look
upon his children with anxiety, lest they should be entangled in
such fatal snares. Let the sufferings of others be our warnings.
Our Lord Jesus deters from sinful pleasures, by the everlasting
torments which follow them. It is very rare that any who are
caught in this snare of the devil, recover themselves; so much
is the heart hardened, and the mind blinded, by the
deceitfulness of this sin. Many think that this caution, besides
the literal sense, is to be understood as a caution against
idolatry, and subjecting the soul to the body, by seeking any
forbidden object. The righteous must leave the earth as well as
the wicked; but the earth is a very different thing to them. To
the wicked it is all the heaven they ever shall have; to the
righteous it is the place of preparation for heaven. And is it
all one to us, whether we share with the wicked in the miseries
of their latter end, or share those everlasting joys that shall
crown believers?
romises to those who seek wisdom. (1-9) The advantages of
wisdom. (10-22)