Daily Devotional
               Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.   

  The Wisdom of God

Verses for the Day:

Proverbs 9:1-5:(KJV): "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled."

Thoughts for the Day:

The book of Proverbs in its poetic fashion, speaks of Wisdom in the feminine gender. These particular verses have a very strong spiritual meaning. Wisdom being personified as a woman, is inviting us to her banquet of "best things," in contrast to the lustful woman who calls to the simple, to drink of the "stolen waters that are sweet," (mentioned later in this chapter). Wisdom here, means more than doing things in the best and most wise way.   Wisdom is a person, and symbolically refers to Jesus. In Song of Solomon, Jesus is referred to as the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley, the one who brings us to His banqueting table.

Song of Solomon 2:4: "He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love."

If Wisdom is portrayed symbolically as Jesus, this first verse in Chapter 9 means that we must build our houses on Jesus or they will not stand. These houses do not mean our physical residences, but refers to the need to examine how we are building our spiritual houses. There is a parable spoken by Jesus, in the New Testament, that tells us what this means.

Matthew 7:24-27: "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."

Notice that the storms come against both kinds of people, both the wise and the foolish. However, notice that the wise are still standing after the storms of life batter their houses. What is the difference?  The wise are the ones who obey the Word of God and keep His commandments, while the foolish hear, but do not take action on what they hear.  If we desire our financial houses, our career houses and our families to withstand the storms, we must keep the commandments of God, that pertain to these different houses.

Psalm 127:1: "A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

What does the second half of this verse mean in Proverbs 1:9 when it mentions that "she hath hewn out her seven pillars?" A carpenter knows that the pillars in a house are the support beams. When the scripture mentions that Wisdom has used seven pillars, this is saying that this house has perfect support because symbolically, the number seven in scripture is the number of perfection or completeness. (In Hebrew all names and numbers have meanings.  Hebrew numbers were not simply numbers referring to arithmetic.)

In the remainder of these verses in Proverbs, it describes the banquet that wisdom has prepared -- she butchered her meat, she set her table with wine, and had her servants go and offer invitations to "come and dine" to those who would listen. This is the offer of Jesus to people to come and eat of His bread (understand His Word) and drink of His wine (receive the Holy Spirit.)  That invitation is still going out today from the Master.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, How grateful I am that you have made such wonderful things for us to feast on, at Your table.  It is so wonderful to understand Your Word and to know the presence of the Holy Spirit. I do need Your help in building and setting in order the things in my life. Give me Your wisdom for the task.  I also need Your love and Your strength to carry out those things, that You have spoken to me to do.  Lord, I want to be a blessing today, as I labor in Your kingdom.  Help me to represent You well, and to be good and kind to all of those in my house and office, and all that I meet, as well.  Thank you for Your love and watch care over me and all of my family and loved ones.  Bless Your people all over the world.  I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.