The Path to Understanding God (Proverbs 2:1-5)
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Proverbs 2:1-5
My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
Have you ever felt like you’re trying to follow God, but you’re not sure if you’re doing it right? Like, what does He actually want from us? And how do we even start? These verses today show us the what and the how, as they all point to verse 5: understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God.
How do we actually get there? God isn’t vague about this. He’s actually very clear: If we want to know Him, here’s what we need to do. These verses lay it out. They show us the six disciplines needed to understand the fear of the Lord.
We’ve gone through these verses before over on the X+1 Podcast, discussing how these verses present many “if/then” clauses – “if you do this, then this will happen” – in this case, the “ifs” being the disciplines, and the “then” being the fear of the Lord.
So what are the “ifs”? What are the conditions?
“If you make your ear attentive to wisdom” – if you listen closely, really tuning in.
“If you incline your heart to understanding” – if you desire wisdom, not just hear it, but want it.
“If you call out for insight” – if you ask for it, knowing you don’t have all the answers.
“If you raise your voice for understanding” – if you seek it urgently, like something you truly need.
“If you seek it like silver” – if you pursue it with the same energy you’d put into chasing something valuable.
“If you search for it as for hidden treasures” – if you focus completely, willing to dig deep.
“Then” – verse 5 says – “you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
If that was a lot for you to handle, that’s alright.
In summation: Listen, desire, ask, urgency, pursue, focus.
Those are:
The six disciplines needed to understand the fear of the Lord.
The six disciplines needed to find the knowledge of God.
The six disciplines needed for wisdom.
So which of these six disciplines do you struggle with the most? Is there one you need to focus on today?
God promises that when we seek Him, we’ll find Him. So today, let’s pray and commit to listening, asking, and pursuing Him like He’s the greatest treasure – because He is.
