Shannon Bond, Pastor of Cherokee Baptist Church
Proverbs 2:6–8 (ESV) 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
The first word in v. 6 is “for.” When you see words like “for,” “because,” “therefore,” “so that,” etc., the writer is connecting what he is about to say with what he has previously said. Solomon told his son in the first six verses that if he sought hard after wisdom, he would understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Now back to v. 6: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Basically, Solomon is telling his son that to seek wisdom is to seek the Lord, because the Lord possesses wisdom, knowledge and understanding. To say it another way, any pursuit of biblical wisdom is not simply a quest for knowledge and understanding—it is a quest for the Lord who possesses all knowledge and understanding.
Verse 7 says, “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity.” The upright person is the person who walks according to God’s ways, according to his Word. God doesn’t store up sound wisdom to give to those who are foolish, but for those who are upright, who walk according to his ways. Then notice the second half of the verse. God’s sound wisdom, stored up for the upright, for those who walk in integrity, is God’s shield for the wise. In other words, God is the one who makes sure his wisdom works for the upright. To go a step further, as a shield, God protects those who walk in wisdom. Why? For his glory and their good.
Verse 8 tells us how God is their shield: “Guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.” God guards the paths of justice, which means that the paths that the wise walk are paths of justice, paths that lead to righteousness. Those who walk these paths can rest in the knowledge that God is guarding their path and watching of their way.
The last sentence is so comforting. God watches over the way of his saints. He watches them walk in the path in order to guard it. He never takes a nap, never gets caught up in Instagram, never goes on vacation. He is ever present to his saints, always ready to dispense the wisdom he’s stored up for them, always looking out for them.
One thing that never changes— we are always in need of wisdom. When we seek the Lord, we find the wisdom we need. Will you turn from earthly wisdom and seek the Lord today?