A Young Man Finds Treasure in a Clay JarBible World
2:3Proverbs 2:3
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
To cry after knowledge and lift the voice for understanding is to seek earnestly, actively, vocally and urgently, with strong desire and persistent effort. It is heartfelt prayer in recognition of need, joined to receiving and keeping God's words, inclining the ear to wisdom and applying the heart to understanding. It means searching the Word of God for the knowledge of God as for silver and hidden treasure, laboring diligently until it is possessed and refusing to rest in supposition, surface reading, or taking the sayings of men for truth. Those who seek in this way come to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God, and to understand righteousness and judgment and equity and every good path, with wisdom entering the heart and knowledge becoming pleasant to the soul. The wisdom so gained is to be valued above gold and silver, for it endures trial, nourishes spiritual life, builds upright character, and guards from evil ways.
Earnest Search Described
The verse calls for crying after knowledge and lifting the voice for understanding with earnestness, activity, vocal urgency, strong desire and persistent effort. That earnest pursuit is part of training children to be true and faithful to God and to meet His requirements. The cry is earnest, heartfelt prayer that recognizes need and asks with urgency rather than offering empty words. The seeking is joined to receiving and keeping God's words, inclining the ear to wisdom, applying the heart to understanding, and listening to wisdom.
It means searching the Word of God for the knowledge of God as for silver and as for hidden treasure. The mind must work diligently to discover God's thought in the Word, relying on the Holy Spirit to open the understanding. The treasure may be found by every soul who will give all to obtain it, laboring with diligent, earnest effort until it is within possession.
Such study refuses to be content with supposition, surface work, surface reading, or taking the sayings of others for truth. It rejects man's inventions, which are unreliable and dangerous because they put man where God should be and put the sayings of men where a Thus saith the Lord should be. It refuses to think there is no more knowledge to gain, but digs like miners sinking a shaft deeper and yet deeper beneath the surface where rich golden ore waits to reward the one who will dig for it. It studies the Bible as an inexhaustible treasure, for human intellect can be measured and human books can be mastered, but God cannot be found out by the highest, deepest, broadest flight of the imagination, since there is infinity beyond all that can be comprehended and only the glimmering of divine glory and of knowledge and wisdom has yet been seen.
Fruit and Faithful Practice
Those who cry out in this way come to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God, because the Lord Himself gives wisdom, knowledge and understanding. When knowledge is sought as silver and searched for as hidden treasure, the seeker comes to reverence the Lord and to know God. This earnest seeking builds upright character, with wisdom and knowledge guiding in righteousness and keeping from evil paths.
They come to understand righteousness and judgment and equity and every good path and the good way. Wisdom enters into the heart and knowledge becomes pleasant to the soul, while discretion watches over the seeker and understanding keeps him. The wisdom thus received is more valuable than gold and silver. It does not wash out in the heat of summer but endures and stands the test of trial, keeping from following impulsive conjectures and from uncertainty.
Knowledge so sought is given to the soul as food that nourishes and stimulates spiritual life, rather than remaining mere new theories or acquaintance with facts without practical use. Through a correct faith divine knowledge becomes human knowledge, and the result is glorious treasure. Such searching leads to truth and to a deep awareness of the far-reaching claims of God's law, which examines inward thoughts as well as outward actions. Heeding these words builds upright character, guides in righteousness, and guards from evil paths and evil ways.
It is following on to know the Lord in the school of Christ as laborers together with God, weighing carefully all sides of a question and stepping firmly forward by faith instead of standing about waiting. Teachers are to seek truth as hidden treasure and humble themselves in order not to be deceived. They are to educate children in the truths of the Bible and train them to be true and faithful to God and to meet His requirements. The instruction is to be read and considered in order to honor the Lord in word, correcting too much visiting and conversation that is not profitable.
To cry after knowledge and lift the voice for understanding is to seek earnestly, actively, vocally and urgently, with strong desire and persistent effort. It is heartfelt prayer in recognition of need, joined to receiving and keeping God's words, inclining the ear to wisdom and applying the heart to understanding. It means searching the Word of God for the knowledge of God as for silver and hidden treasure, laboring diligently until it is possessed and refusing to rest in supposition, surface reading, or taking the sayings of men for truth. Those who seek in this way come to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God, and to understand righteousness and judgment and equity and every good path, with wisdom entering the heart and knowledge becoming pleasant to the soul. The wisdom so gained is to be valued above gold and silver, for it endures trial, nourishes spiritual life, builds upright character, and guards from evil ways.
Earnest Search Described
The verse calls for crying after knowledge and lifting the voice for understanding with earnestness, activity, vocal urgency, strong desire and persistent effort. That earnest pursuit is part of training children to be true and faithful to God and to meet His requirements. The cry is earnest, heartfelt prayer that recognizes need and asks with urgency rather than offering empty words. The seeking is joined to receiving and keeping God's words, inclining the ear to wisdom, applying the heart to understanding, and listening to wisdom.
It means searching the Word of God for the knowledge of God as for silver and as for hidden treasure. The mind must work diligently to discover God's thought in the Word, relying on the Holy Spirit to open the understanding. The treasure may be found by every soul who will give all to obtain it, laboring with diligent, earnest effort until it is within possession.
Such study refuses to be content with supposition, surface work, surface reading, or taking the sayings of others for truth. It rejects man's inventions, which are unreliable and dangerous because they put man where God should be and put the sayings of men where a Thus saith the Lord should be. It refuses to think there is no more knowledge to gain, but digs like miners sinking a shaft deeper and yet deeper beneath the surface where rich golden ore waits to reward the one who will dig for it. It studies the Bible as an inexhaustible treasure, for human intellect can be measured and human books can be mastered, but God cannot be found out by the highest, deepest, broadest flight of the imagination, since there is infinity beyond all that can be comprehended and only the glimmering of divine glory and of knowledge and wisdom has yet been seen.
Fruit and Faithful Practice
Those who cry out in this way come to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God, because the Lord Himself gives wisdom, knowledge and understanding. When knowledge is sought as silver and searched for as hidden treasure, the seeker comes to reverence the Lord and to know God. This earnest seeking builds upright character, with wisdom and knowledge guiding in righteousness and keeping from evil paths.
They come to understand righteousness and judgment and equity and every good path and the good way. Wisdom enters into the heart and knowledge becomes pleasant to the soul, while discretion watches over the seeker and understanding keeps him. The wisdom thus received is more valuable than gold and silver. It does not wash out in the heat of summer but endures and stands the test of trial, keeping from following impulsive conjectures and from uncertainty.
Knowledge so sought is given to the soul as food that nourishes and stimulates spiritual life, rather than remaining mere new theories or acquaintance with facts without practical use. Through a correct faith divine knowledge becomes human knowledge, and the result is glorious treasure. Such searching leads to truth and to a deep awareness of the far-reaching claims of God's law, which examines inward thoughts as well as outward actions. Heeding these words builds upright character, guides in righteousness, and guards from evil paths and evil ways.
It is following on to know the Lord in the school of Christ as laborers together with God, weighing carefully all sides of a question and stepping firmly forward by faith instead of standing about waiting. Teachers are to seek truth as hidden treasure and humble themselves in order not to be deceived. They are to educate children in the truths of the Bible and train them to be true and faithful to God and to meet His requirements. The instruction is to be read and considered in order to honor the Lord in word, correcting too much visiting and conversation that is not profitable.