13 The Value of Wisdom to the Son (Proverbs 3:21-26)
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My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion, 22 and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. 23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, 26 for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught’ (Proverbs 3:21-26).
“The Value of Wisdom to the Son”.
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Last episode we talked about the value of wisdom to the LORD, which was one of my more favorite episodes to make because the verses we discussed - verses 19 and 20 - are like gems hidden in plain sight. They are gems because they are so rich and so valuable, and they are also hidden in plain sight because in the thick of Proverbs 3, which is in and of itself such a rich chapter of Scripture, those verses get so easily overlooked.
Now if I had to summarize the last episode up in one sentence this would be it:
If the LORD founded and filled the earth and the heavens by wisdom, how much more should you and I found and fill our lives with wisdom?!?!
Now as we move on to verses 21-26, Solomon shifts his target audience. He was showing the value of wisdom:
to a human being in general (verses 13-18)
to the Lord (verses 19-20)
And now he is applying those two things to his son (verses 21-26).
And that's what any good parent does right? When advising and training up their child in the ways they should go, a good parent will show the value of it in general, the value of it to the LORD, and then they will apply it to their child's life. They'll make it personal.
That is what Solomon is doing here; he's making his previous comments in verses 13-20 personal in verses 21-26, and that is marked by the first two words in v21 'My Son'.
Solomon says 'My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck’ (verses 21-22).
So Solomon starts here in verse 21 by making an appeal to his son to heed his previous teaching, saying 'My son, do not lose sight of these—', connecting today's verses with the verses from our previous episodes (verses 13-20). But what I find really intriguing is what follows that, where Solomon says,
'…keep sound wisdom and discretion…'
That phrase and that charge there from Solomon to his son is so intriguing to me because it gives us new insight on what our relationship with wisdom should look like.
We see in Proverbs 2:8 and especially in Proverbs 2:11 that wisdom guards those who seek it. When you seek wisdom, verse 11 in Proverbs 2 says that 'discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you'. So there's this part of our relationship with wisdom where wisdom guards and watches over those who seek it.
But also here in verse 21 we see that…
Those who seek wisdom guard it.
As one commentator puts it, it's ‘like a mutual protection society’.
We are to 'keep sound wisdom and instruction'... meaning we are to guard it, to protect it, as a running back would guard and protect a football.
And likewise wisdom guards and protects us.
In some ways it reminds me of our relationship with dogs. I don't know if any of you reading have dogs, but many people get a dog for the purpose of protection. For example, I know my mom wanted to get our newest dog Teddy as a source of protection for our family (which in retrospect is kinda funny because she is the friendliest dog, with a very friendly name). Anyways, many people get dogs to protect them, and likewise they also serve as protection for the dog, just like how my family got Teddy with the desire that she would protect us, and likewise we protect her.
That's wisdom's relationship with us. Mutual protection. We guard and protect each other.
Now why exactly should you and I, why exactly should the son whom Solomon is writing to, care about keeping sound wisdom and discretion?
Solomon continues in verse 22 to say that,
‘they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck’.
That means what it says. Wisdom gives life to your soul. Think of Christ. He is wisdom. He is the one who brings salvation, He brings life to the soul. So life with Him means life for the soul, and it also means beauty for the neck. Life with wisdom, life with Christ, is beautiful. Simply put. It's beautiful.
As if that wasn’t enough, Solomon adds to that in verses 23-24 saying
‘Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet’.
These two verses can be described as a 'merism'. A merism is a rhetorical term for a pair of contrasting words, or in this case, verses, that signify totality or completeness.
So in verse 23 Solomon says that with wisdom ‘you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble’. He's given the ‘motionfull ‘of walking and then in verse 24 he contrasts that with the motionless activity of sleep. Again he says
'If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.'
So what does this signify? Well, this merism of Solomon's signifies that those who seek and guard wisdom, those who keep sound wisdom in discretion in verse 21, those people will be secure at ALL times and in ALL situations. That's what that signifies.
So whether you are coming or going, on the move or at rest, whether your brain is on or off, the weather good or bad, your life a mess or a miracle, it doesn’t matter with wisdom. You will be secure at all times and in all situations and seasons. You will walk safely during the days of your life, and you will sleep peacefully during the nights as well.
This theme of security continues in verses 25 and 26. Solomon writes,
‘Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, 26 for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught’.
This is great. This is something we all want and it's something we can have. It is because of wisdom, because of Christ, that Peter was able to sleep peacefully in prison on the eve of his probable execution (Acts 12). It's the reason Lot and Noah found security in the destruction of the ungodly.
They had no need to be afraid of sudden terror or the ruin of the wicked because the LORD was their ‘confidence’. That phrase 'your confidence' used there in verse 26 may also be translated to 'at your side'. Peter, Noah, Lot, Paul, David, and so many others had no need to be afraid of anything because the Lord was by their side. He was their confidence. He was their security.
Who can live with the fear of man that lives with the fear of God?
You simply can't live with both at the same time. It's like trying to be anxious and at peace simultaneously. It's impossible.
I like how the Christ Centered Exposition describes this closing. It says ‘Keep the wisdom of this book (Proverbs) through Jesus Christ, and it will keep you secure from the ruin of the wicked when that comes'.
That's the theme of our verses today summed up. I love it.
‘Keep the wisdom of this book (Proverbs) through Jesus Christ, and it will keep you secure from the ruin of the wicked when that comes'.
You know I was talking to a friend the other day who was telling me that he was going through Proverbs and he was saying how it was really tough for him because it felt like the same thing over and over again. I'll tell you I certainly can see that and even feel that here in our passage today, because I feel like Solomon continues to drive this point home that nothing is more valuable than wisdom; But honestly I think thats just it.
I think Solomon wants to drill it into his son & his audience (us), that there is:
Nothing better than wisdom.
Nothing better than Christ.
Amen to that.
What would your life look like if you put as much emphasis on wisdom as Solomon did?
That's a good question for me and you to reflect on.
Proverbs 3:21-26 -> “The Value of Wisdom to the Son”
I love you all.
God bless.
