God is always speaking. How often are we listening?
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. (Pro 1:20-33 KJV)
Solomon speaks here of God speaking in the world, personifying God’s voice as Wisdom. Wisdom cries out. She proclaims. She brings her case. She does so in the open places, in the streets, in the marketplace, at the seats of judgment. She does so everywhere men gather together. In fact, she seeks to bring men together to hear. The various words to cry or utter mean “to gather the flock”, “to call to the staff”, “to call the assembly.”
Wisdom brings a simple message. In our sin we are simple: naive, gullible, easily persuaded, and deceived into sin again and again. We love being simple, the picture is of loving it the same way we love our family. We sin because we want to sin. We want to sin because we like sinning. We like sinning because we are sinners. Soon we progress to scorning. The word for scorn at its root means “tongue of trouble.” When we are brought face to face with the message of sin and salvation, we mock and deride it. We mock and deride the messengers. It becomes a pleasant matter to scorn and mock, a badge of honor. Confident in our own intellect, education, and learning, we hate the very thought of the word of God. What is there that we cannot master and subdue to our will?
Yet God continues to speak. He speaks through preachers, teachers, and evangelists. But He also speaks in calamities, disasters, massacres, and events of all kinds. He speaks through creation in all its wonders and beauty. He speaks in the faces of children being born and children being dismembered and cast into dumpsters. He speaks in the eyes we see, of joy and sorrow, determination and weariness, wonder and pain.
In all these ways God is calling to us as individuals, but also as families, as churches, as communities, and as a nation. He is telling us “I am here, and there is no other.” He is calling us to turn, to re-turn to Him and we shall be made whole. He will bind our wounds, cleanse us, and clothe us in righteousness. We shall stand in His glory and stand as His glory. He will fill us with His Spirit and with His Word. No longer will we look at His will as our condemnation because of failure, but as our joy, as the very food of our souls. He will set upon us His seal and His name, which is the name of Christ.
You see, our country is in the shape it is today, not because of the simplicity and foolishness of those we call unbelievers, but because of ours. If the Spirit of God was in the churches, we would see the churches in the streets, in the gates, in the cities, and in the wide-open spaces. We would see love filled up and poured forth toward one another and to our neighbors. We would not point a finger to condemn, but, as the old Hebrew word meant, to point the way, to point to the Way. With the Word of God in us, we would not vomit accusation, but answers of the hope that is in us. The Spirit of God would lead us to see wonders that are now impossible to predict, if only we will turn.
If we do not, the God will laugh as calamity rains on us and reigns over us. Indeed, it has been happening for years. We cringe and run at every accusation of our enemies. We sacrifice every principle, seeking peace with them, but to no avail. We wrap our foolishness and rebellion in the flag of conservatism, of patriotism, and a thousand other Baalistic terms. We cannot stem the tide of judgment rolling over our country because we have built ourselves dams of the twigs and scraps of our own righteousness, instead of the bulwark of Christ. We slay ourselves, our neighbors, and our children because we refuse to listen to Wisdom’s cry.
Wisdom still calls us to turn again to her. We can yet dwell in safety and live without fear of evil.
Seek her today.
