Don’t Diss Lady WisdomProverbs 1:20-33

Which voice are you listening to?

The most important choice you make each day is to attend to & apply God’s Wisdom.

1. The Reach of Wisdom (1:20-23)

The Setting: Public places

The Tone: Loud and clear

The Big Idea: It is very, very dangerous to diss Lady Wisdom.

Simpleton: believes anythingProverbs 14:15

Mocker: vocal in his devaluation of God and Wisdom.

Fool: hard-headed and always right

We love what we ought to frighten us, we delight in what should repulse us,

and we hate what should be most cherished.

God’s patience is long, but limited.

God’s Spirit and Word work together and always in harmony.

2. The Rejection of Wisdom (1:24-32)

Four negative attitudes towards counsel and rebuke

• You rejected me = stubborn refusal

• You gave no heed = insensitive tuning out

Advice is practical instruction; rebuke is pointing out error.

• You ignored my advice = indifference

• You would not accept rebuke = defensiveness

Wisdom calls but is not “on call.”

Charles Bridges says, “Prayer, once omnipotent, will then be powerless.”

The perfect storm of your life is not when you fail, but when you succeed and you finally get your perfect life, with you at the center. It’s the poison of your kingdom coming and your will being done.

C. S. Lewis wrote, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God will say, ‘Thy will be done.’”

3. The Reception of Wisdom (1:33)

“At ease from the dread of evil” does not mean the righteous will never experience evil, but they will be free from worry and anxiety, experiencing God’s peace.