To Encourage You

Proverbs 24:3-4 “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

One of the most important questions we should ask ourselves when we read anything in the Bible is “What does this mean?”  As we study this powerful, life-giving book, we are peering into the very mind of God.  One of the things that He’s told us about Himself is that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts “as the heavens are higher than the earth.”  Therefore, as we read what He’s told us in the Scriptures, we should come to it with humility and a prayer that God would “open (our) eyes, that (we) may behold wondrous things out of (His) law” (Psalm 119:18).   God’s Word is filled with such things, for it’s an infinite book given to us from an infinite, omniscient mind!

In the book of Proverbs, we have the words of Solomon. They were words that were given to him as a result of his prayer that is recorded for us in 1 Kings 3. Here, as Solomon follows his father David to become Israel’s next king, God spoke to him and said, “Ask what I shall give you.”  In response Solomon said, “O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” We are told that this request for wisdom greatly pleased the Lord, and it was wisdom that God gave him – divine wisdom, wisdom from heaven, wisdom that is greater than that of any man. 

An example of the wisdom that God gave him is in the words above about building and furnishing a house. So, do you think this was given to Solomon (and us) so that if we ever DID build a house, that we’d know how to do it? Is this guidance for carpenters, plumbers, and interior decorators, but the rest of us don’t need to give it much heed?  Hardly! You see, elsewhere in the Bible, Paul told us with the wisdom that God gave HIM, that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). All means all, and the “man (or woman) of God” means ANY man or woman of God. It’s all, every bit of it, for every one of us, so the words given to Solomon in Proverbs 3 are meant for you and me. 

So, what in the world is he talking about? What is this “house” and “rooms”?  To answer this, we need to look elsewhere for how God has used these words.  We need to realize that God, in his love, has condescended to us to use words and concepts that are mundane and easily grasped by us to teach spiritual truth that is from His infinite mind.  Jesus often did this by way of parables as He helped us to see that there is much more that He is saying by His words than might first meet the eye. 

So, back to this word “house.”  In the Sermon on the Mount, listen to how Jesus uses this term: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).   It’s the very same message that God gave Solomon.  The “house” is all that encompasses our life.  He’s talking about how we build our lives and what we fill that life with.  In Colossians 3:16 the Holy Spirit puts it this way: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Do you hear that?  It’s the wisdom that is found in His Word that we are to build our lives upon. It’s His Word that is likened to “precious and pleasant riches” and with which we should fill our minds and by which we should live.

In Proverbs 3:13-18 Solomon puts it this way: “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.” And in Proverbs 8 he says this: “Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: ‘To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.’”

So, is that how you’re building YOUR “house.” Is it with such things that you are filling that house’s “rooms”?  If so, you can be sure that you’re building your life based on God’s divine wisdom – and that house will be found to stand firm and be filled with the precious blessings of God not only in this life, but also as we enter what Jesus called “my Father’s house,” a place filled with “many (wonderful) rooms” (John 14:2).