Give Heed to Wisdom’s Reproof—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 17B (Proverbs 1)

Proverbs 1:20-33 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

²⁰ Wisdom cries out in the street;
    in the squares she raises her voice.
²¹ At the busiest corner she cries out;
    at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
    and fools hate knowledge?
²³ Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
    I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,
    have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
²⁵ and because you have ignored all my counsel
    and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when panic strikes you,
²⁷ when panic strikes you like a storm
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
    and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ would have none of my counsel
    and despised all my reproof,
³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
    and be sated with their own devices.
³² For waywardness kills the simple,
    and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³ but those who listen to me will be secure
    and will live at ease without dread of disaster.”

                ****************

                Don’t be a fool! Don’t “despise wisdom and destruction” (Prov. 1:7). Choosing the path of the fool only leads to misery and destruction. Instead, heed the call of Wisdom. If you do, life will be good. At least that’s the hope. The truth is—if there is such a thing anymore—if we heed wisdom’s call it can keep us from falling victim to scams and other destructive enticements. That’s especially true in an election season when the airwaves and the social media are filled with falsehoods.

                Here’s the thing, Wisdom, which is personified as a woman, is out in the streets and squares and city gates calling out to us, warning us to heed her call. In context Wisdom has a particular group of people in mind, that would be young men. Both wisdom and Foolishness are personified as women who call out to young men, beckoning them to follow their particular paths. The choice is ours. Will we heed the enticements of foolishness and end up destroyed, or will we heed the call of Wisdom and experience success in life? Amy Plantinga Pauw points out that while Wisdom can be portrayed as an alluring figure, in these opening verses, Wisdom is portrayed as “a harsh figure, castigating those who have spurned her teaching. She vows to show them no pity, to laugh at their calamity and to mock them when panic strikes (v. 26)” [Belief: Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, p. 22].   

We this harshness right away as Wisdom asks how long simpletons will love being simple. Indeed, how long will the scoffers disdain wisdom and delight in their scoffing? The problem is fools hate knowledge. They revel in their anti-intellectualism. We see this in our day as people embrace conspiracy theories and reject the wisdom of experts in the various fields of knowledge including the sciences and even medicine. It seems these days, as growing numbers of people reject mainstream education, media, and science, that many folks believe they know better than the experts and the scholars. After all, we have access to the internet and Google. Who needs doctors when you can diagnose yourself?

Do I sound a bit perturbed? Perhaps. After all, as I write this, we’re in the middle of an election season. Every day I watch the ads stream by, often spouting nonsense and lies, or at best misrepresentation. But as propagandists have long known and believed, the more you tell a lie the more believe them. So yes, fools do despise knowledge.

                Wisdom isn’t ready to give up. We may ignore Wisdom’s reproof, but Wisdom is going to keep pouring out her thoughts and words. We may refuse to listen to Wisdom’s counsel, but Wisdom will get the last laugh. Yes, we ignore Wisdom’s counsel at our own risk. If we fail to heed Wisdom’s cries, then she will laugh at our calamity. She will mock us when panic hits like a storm and calamity like a whirlwind. That doesn’t sound very gracious, but if we keep ignoring Wisdom’s guidance, we will pay the price. If we ignore that call for too long, then Wisdom simply does not answer when do call out for help. Indeed, if we neglect her voice when we decide to seek Wisdom diligently, we will not find her. Eventually, our hatred of knowledge and lack of the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of Wisdom, will catch up with us. Therefore, if we fail to heed Wisdom’s reproof, we will eat the fruit of our choices. I think we’ve all been there at some point. We’ve made choices that have produced some rather unsavory fruit.

                This isn’t the happiest reading from Scripture. Wisdom tells us that “waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them” (Prov. 1:32). In other words, Wisdom warns us that ignorance is not bliss. We ignore the warnings that Wisdom gives us at our peril.  

While the reading does sound ominous, there is good news here. The reading from Proverbs 1 ends by letting us know that “those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster” (Prov. 1:33). That is a hopeful word, though we know that things don’t always work out for those who make good choices in life. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t listen to the voice of Wisdom, but it doesn’t guarantee success. It may make the odds better but it doesn’t guarantee them. Still, we can take some comfort in the knowledge that generally, if we heed the words of Wisdom, we will dwell securely. That offer of blessing might be a bit premature, but it is a reminder that in most cases when we pay attention to the facts and not let ourselves get caught up in false narratives, we will be better off.

Life is filled with choices. We can heed the warnings, or we can ignore them. It is true that if we tune Wisdom out, Wisdom may cease calling out to us. Again, that is at our peril. We don’t have to wait until it's too late to listen. Listening to the voice of Wisdom is best done in the context of a community. As J.B. Blue writes: “Life is lived in community, and we who seek to live wisely bear responsibility to consider the consequences of personal and social choices.” We must listen for those consequences in every area of our lives, whether our personal relationships, the church, or our workplaces. As Blue points out the questions we must ask are: “Which choices are wise, and which are foolish?  [Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, p. 396].

Wisdom is calling out to us, warning us of the dangers that are out there in the world. Wisdom is pointing us in the right direction if only we will listen to Wisdom’s voice. So we sing:

Be thou my wisdom, and though my true Word;

I ever with thee and though with me, Lord;

Thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tower;

Raise though me heavenward, O Poer of my power.

—      “Be Thou My Vision.”