20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. 24 Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, 30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. 32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; 33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1:20-33)
The book of Proverbs is like a giant jigsaw puzzle.[^1] The first third of Proverbs is filled with teachings designed to prime the heart for wisdom. The final two-thirds of Proverbs is filled with that wisdom in the form of short standalone sayings. So today, we are still in the first third of Proverbs, and it is as if we are putting the corners and edges of the Proverbs puzzle together in this section. Once we are done with Proverbs 1-9, we will be ready to put together the rest of the Proverbs puzzle by digging into the individual wisdom sayings found in Proverbs 10-31.
Today, we come to a significant corner piece with an introduction to “the most important character in the Proverbs,” Woman Wisdom.[^2] She is wisdom personified—a person standing in for God and his wisdom—crying aloud and inviting people to hear her words. She will appear a handful of times throughout Proverbs, and it seems Solomon thought the wisdom of Proverbs would be made more accessible and relatable if it had a voice and was more than just a collection of abstract concepts. It is, of course, important for us to consider the words of the Bible as words communicated by God, but sometimes we nerd out on various passages and phrases while forgetting someone spoke them. Woman Wisdom is the character Solomon built to try to cut down on that tendency, to remind us that behind these written words is a person—God himself—pleading with us.
But why does Solomon imagine God’s wisdom in the form of a woman? There are likely a handful of reasons. First, the Hebrew word for wisdom is feminine, so the very word wisdom felt female to the Hebrew people. Second, Solomon is writing to his son, and he will often speak of his son’s relationship with wisdom as intimate—a bride to be embraced, a lover to honor, a tree to lay hold of, an intimate friend to speak to, or a hostess holding a massive banquet. The young men Solomon had in mind would be drawn to beautiful women, so he helped them see that wisdom is appealing and should be pursued. Third, wisdom will be associated with birthing the good life in Proverbs, just as women give birth to new life. Solomon saw the way God’s wisdom spawned health and built up God’s people, and he wanted more of that to be born in Israel, so he put forth wisdom as a woman ready to give birth to more life.
This woman speaks in our passage today about the vital response we must have to God’s wisdom. If we want to navigate the complexity of this world well and find guidance for the gray that is so often our human experience, we need to hear and heed her call. As our text will show us today, the stakes are high, and there is no neutral ground. Storms are coming to all our lives, and we will either hear Woman Wisdom and weather those storms “without dread of disaster,” or we will resist her and be destroyed (1:32). Let’s hear her call by considering this passage.
1. The Availability and Attitude of God’s Wisdom (1:20-22)
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
In his description of Woman Wisdom, Solomon shows us her radical availability. She comes in like Fleetwood Mac, singing, “I wanna be with you everywhere.” She is on the street and crossroads where everyone travels, not some mountain trail only a select few can find (1:20). She is in the markets where everyday business is conducted, not some dusty religious building or temple (1:20). She is at the city gates where all types of people pass through—city people had to go through the gates to get to the country; country people had to go through the gates to get to the city. She is available for every type of person and situation. God’s wisdom is for the street; it is applicable to real life; it is for every type of person there is.
God is trying to tell us that his wisdom is accessible. It isn’t portrayed as hiding in the elite institutions, but as available to all in the practical, everyday experiences of life. It is not too lofty or esoteric for the common man to comprehend. It is radically available in the everyday situations of life. This lesson is of great importance to modern believers as it directly confronts tendencies within some pockets of Christianity to shroud God’s wisdom in hyper-spirituality and mysticism. Because the world is complex, some expressions of the Christian faith have created alternate universes that obscure the radical availability of God’s wisdom for everyday living. Pentecostalism and charismatic expressions of faith—and I am charismatic—will sometimes over-emphasize the miraculous or supernatural without acknowledging the practical nature of God’s wisdom. Hyper-spirituality will sometimes frame wisdom as something only attained through spiritual exercises or mystical insights. And sometimes a Christian subculture, with its own shared language of religious platitudes, can make wisdom sound detached from the everyday struggles and realities of life. The net effect of these tendencies is a faith that struggles to engage with the real world. Yet Solomon’s wisdom is intensely practical, dealing with topics like relationships, finances, integrity, and work—matters that anyone, regardless of background, can relate to and benefit from.
Woman Wisdom is also persistent. Solomon pictures her as the aggressor. She is not passive or demure, but instead cries aloud, raises her voice, and speaks to any who will listen (1:20-21). Unlike a detached guru or calm therapist, there is an urgency in Woman Wisdom. She cares deeply for her audience. She cries out to three types of people. First, the simple, the most teachable type of fool found in the Proverbs (1:4, 22). Their mind has not yet been made up. They could go either way, but here Woman Wisdom grieves simple people who love being that way (1:22). Second, she cries out to the scoffers who delight in their scoffing (1:22). They crave mockery and love finding ways to ridicule God and his wisdom. Finally, she grieves for the fools who are stuck in their hatred of knowledge (1:22). It’s unlikely any of these people would have said, “I love being simple, I delight in mocking God, and I hate knowledge,” but that is how Woman Wisdom heard their reply to her words, so her heart is broken by their response.
One time, when my three daughters were very little, the two oldest were sharing a bedroom, and one night, they ignored their bedtime by playing together with their favorite dolls. As part of their discipline, we took their dolls and “put them to bed” outside their room at the end of the hallway. Normally, both dolls had their own special beds and covers, but not that night. My middle child is a fact-based person. She knew her Rainbow Brite doll was not a living being. So she just went to sleep—no big deal. But my oldest daughter is a romantic. To her, a living, breathing loved one had just been relegated to a night of abject poverty, neglect, and homelessness. And, as I stood at the doorway listening to them talk after I’d left the room, she tried to reason with her sister. She wanted her younger sister to be as distraught as she was. The injustice of it all! And, finally, with tears, she said to her more composed and fact-based sister, “And the worst part is, you don’t even care!” This is how Woman Wisdom feels about the simple, the scoffers, and the fools—the worst part is, you don’t even care! God is looking for us to care, to humble out, and long for his wisdom in our lives.
So God’s wisdom is presented here as abundantly available and applicable in everyday life, persistently pursuing us day to day, and totally devastated if we want to remain without it. It sounds so much like Jesus, who, when he arrived as the embodiment of God’s wisdom, went straight to the public sphere. He had plenty to offer in the temples and synagogues of his time, but his words were accessible to fishermen, tax collectors, and the everyday multitudes of ancient Israel. His words could be heard on the beachfront, out in fields, in homes, and in busy cities. And his wisdom is still accessible today, following us into our everyday lives and experiences. Whatever you wish others would do to you, do also to them (Matt. 7:12). Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No’ (Matt. 5:37). It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your good works are done in secret (Matt. 6:1-4). Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11). No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and money (Matt. 6:24). The voice of Jesus, with wisdom that cuts to the core, still resonates today. Woman Wisdom is calling—through Jesus—to each of us, inviting us to embrace Jesus’ ways. She is available for life right now.
2. The High Stakes Outcomes of God’s Wisdom (1:23-27)
23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. 24 Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
As Woman Wisdom continues her speech, she tells us what happens to those who heed her call and those who don’t. The person who listens to God’s wisdom goes through three unique stages.
The first stage is hearing the reproof of wisdom (1:23). To be reproved is to be rebuked or corrected. We would do well to think of it not as an angry or condescending word but as a compassionate and honest one. All throughout the Proverbs, rebuke or correction will be held up as kind and helpful, just as the entire Scripture is useful to reprove God’s people to make them complete, mature for every good work (2 TIm. 3:16-17). Sometimes, God’s wisdom is like a mirror in a well-lit bathroom or a friend who’s willing to tell you there’s lettuce in your teeth—it shows us blemishes and imperfections, but this is God’s grace. Wisdom is pursuing us, hoping for our right response!
The second stage for those who heed wisdom’s call is when they turn from their error towards God’s wise path (1:23). The ability to turn or change course, to recognize the error of your path and get on a new one, is a major key to Proverbs and life. This concept is embodied in the words turn and repent, words Jesus often used when he spoke.
After hearing Woman Wisdom’s reproof and responding positively to it, the final stage is that she pours out her spirit and makes her words known to us (1:23). Those willing to receive God’s wisdom will find themselves saturated in that wisdom, drenched with her thoughts and words, able to comprehend and grow in the sayings found in the rest of this book.[^3] Those who humble themselves will be exalted, Jesus said (Matt. 23:12, James 4:10). This there’s-more-where-that-came-from stance from wisdom reminds us of the power and aid of the Holy Spirit to carry out the commissions God gives us. As we take steps in the direction of obedience, we must trust the Spirit to strengthen us for the path. And we must believe he will give us the wisdom we need for life.
But, according to her speech, the person who doesn’t listen to Woman Wisdom endures a massive storm (1:24-27). There is terror in her voice. Woman Wisdom holds out the natural consequences of disregarding her guidance—terror, storms, calamity, whirlwinds, distress, and anguish (2:26-27). She never wanted this, which is why she cried out in the streets in the first place, but the consequences of folly will arrive, and that day is no fun. She laughs in celebration when right triumphs over wrong.
C.S. Lewis once 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 says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.'”[^4] Just as Jesus told us we would endure storms well, like a house built on the rock, if we built our lives upon the wisdom of his teachings, so Woman Wisdom anticipates that fools will not be able to endure the storms of life (Matt. 7:24-27). Her despondency in Proverbs is God’s grace, a warning system alerting us to the dangers that lie ahead.
All of this is an incredible warning about the importance of our decisions. What we do with our lives matters. There is dignity in these finite little lives. In only a handful of generations, no one will know who we are, but even though our lives are so short, our choices and decisions matter—probably to those generations! The greatest decision we make in this life, of course, is our decision about Jesus Christ. I know that some tell themselves that if there is a God, he will work it all out in the end and that if there is a judgment, he’ll give us an opportunity to make things right at that time. But this would make God an accomplice to our folly. It would mean that only after death would our choices matter. God, however, has infused this life with dignity, eternal significance, and worth.[^3] We have an opportunity today to make choices and decisions that will greatly impact tomorrow. God has built his world that way. The stakes are high.
3. The Life-Giving Analysis of God’s Wisdom (1:28-33)
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, 30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. 32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; 33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
Woman wisdom takes a sober, theatrical turn when she breaks the fourth wall, looks directly to all of us readers, and announces, “Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer” (1:28). She is done with her sermon on the stage and now gives her backstage thoughts. In her analysis, there is a core issue at play in the lives of fools who remain that way: They hate knowledge and do not choose the fear of the Lord (1:29). We thought about this fear in our first teaching on Proverbs; it is a deep reverence and respect for the nature and character of our Creator-Father God. The fear of the Lord is what causes us to say, “Your will be done.” In the Garden of Eden, when the fear of the Lord was absent, Adam and Eve decided they would no longer allow God to determine what was good and evil. They wanted to eat the fruit. They decided it was good. And God’s determination was relegated to the sidelines. And this core issue of a lack of the fear of the Lord gets us into all sorts of trouble to this day.
Over the years, my family and I have joked that one of my favorite people is a guy called “Future Nate.” I really care about that guy and want to set him up for a good life. So, because Future Nate won’t want to wake up to a sink full of dirty dishes, I will wash them the night before so he can have a nice experience in the morning. Or because Future Nate will be stressed out if he has too much work to do the next day, I will work even harder today to clear his plate. Or because Future Nate likes to show up to his home gym with everything in order, I try to put everything away so that guy can have a great workout when he gets around to it. I really spend a lot of time thinking about Future Nate. This is my humorous way of saying that Woman Wisdom is calling out to us with candid warnings, giving us life-giving analysis regarding God’s wisdom and how it will impact future you. Adhered to today, it can give you life tomorrow. Ignored today, Future Nate will be very sad.
This helps us understand how wisdom works—it is built over time. It’s like eating ice cream every night: what you put in today shows up later so that when the crisis hits, you either have what you need, or you don’t. If wisdom has offered to train you towards self-control and discernment, but you have resisted its lessons and have not added to your wisdom catalog, you won’t have self-control and discernment when you need it most. For instance, one proverb says, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small” (Prov. 24:10). This is not an insult but a fact. To Woman Wisdom, the person who hears her voice is slowly building up their strength so that, on the day of adversity, they will be strong. John Newton once wrote that you need God’s grace to have the right attitude when you break a dish, just as you need it if a loved one dies. What he means is that if you resist it for the broken dish, you will be ill-prepared for the more weighty storms of life.[^5] You must let God’s wisdom build within you over time.
And since we should want to live in the dwell-secure and be-at-ease lane, and not the killed and destroyed lane (1:32-33), we should be anything but complacent about receiving God’s wisdom. Woman Wisdom is calling, and we should hear and respond to her cry.
Conclusion
I need to close by addressing the rather black-and-white, high-stakes nature of this speech. We know God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness, but the wisdom he embedded in the natural world sounds a bit unforgiving to us modern listeners (Ex. 34:6-7). She is laughing and scoffing at those who laughed and scoffed at her! This is ancient poetry, so we should expect these heightened, emotional, and cataclysmic phrases, but there is truth here for us to respect. Some of us, however, wonder how all this talk of harsh consequences coheres with a gracious and merciful God.
First, we must acknowledge that the blunt truth of Proverbs is a version of God’s grace. This book’s mission is to give us skills that make life a little less difficult. It wants to help sharpen our blade so that life can function well. To accomplish this mission, Proverbs must be frank and warn us of what it looks like to ignore it. This is grace.
But we must also acknowledge the gospel. Every one of us has ignored God’s wisdom in various ways. Fortunately, there is grace and mercy from God to cleanse and forgive us of those failures, and there is the aid of the Spirit to help us live renewed lives, sometimes correcting the errors of our past. And our church is filled with hundreds of stories of this grace of God—stories of his redemption in reaching into the lives of fools. He has steadfast love for thousands of generations, and many of us have experienced that gracious and merciful love.
[^1]: Proverbs: Pathways to Wisdom, Dominick Hernandez [^2]: Proverbs, Tremper Longman III [^3]: Proverbs, Bruce Waltke and Ivan DeSilva [^4]: The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis [^5]: Gleaned from God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life, Tim Keller and Kathy Keller
Group Study Questions
Head (Knowledge, Facts, Understanding)
- How does Proverbs 1:20-33 describe the availability and persistence of God’s wisdom?
- What are the three types of people Woman Wisdom addresses in this passage, and how does she characterize their attitudes toward wisdom?
- According to the passage, what are the consequences for those who heed wisdom versus those who reject it?
Heart (Feelings, Impressions, Desires)
- How does Woman Wisdom’s grief over the rejection of wisdom resonate with your understanding of God’s care for His people?
- In what ways do you feel comforted or convicted by the description of wisdom being “radically available” in everyday life?
- How do the high stakes of following or ignoring wisdom influence your feelings about your own relationship with God’s guidance?
Hands (Actions, Commitments, Decisions)
- What practical steps can you take this week to listen to and apply God’s wisdom in your daily life?
- How can you develop a habit of responding to God’s reproof and turning toward His wisdom when faced with challenges?
- Who in your life could benefit from hearing about the availability and urgency of God’s wisdom, and how can you share it with them?
