Proverbs 1:20-22: Will I hear?

Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words: “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Proverbs 1:20-22

Calls aloud: a ringing cry, cry aloud, in summons, exhortation

Love simplicity: object folly, evil, etc.

Delight: in bad sense of inordinate, ungoverned, selfish desire, take pleasure in

Fools: stupid fellow, dullard

Knowledge: discernment, understanding, wisdom: in highest sense, knowledge of God (including obedience)

Love one. Hate the other. 

Love selfish desire. Hate wisdom and obedience to God. 

It's one or the other, the two do not mix. 

Wisdom is crying out: "How long? Until when? You stupid one, who love evil, how long will you continue fulfilling selfish desire?"

An alarm is sounding! Yet, sadly the fools have turned a deaf ear to it. 

How often do I choose folly, evil desires rather than obeying God? How often do I ignore Wisdom shouting at me to change, yet I turn a deaf ear and continue in the ways of sin? 

I'm so grateful that God in His wisdom does SHOUT to get my attention. I'm so thankful that even when I make the wrong choice, God in His grace and mercy is forgiving and loving. 

In order to hear Wisdom shouting above the enticement of sin, my heart must be permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God (Acts 9:31 MSG). And when I have reverence for God, I'll want to listen to and follow after Wisdom. Wisdom is crying aloud—will I hear? 

Hear and Listen

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 29. Here is what I learned.

The voice of the Lord makes the wilderness tremble; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. Psalm 29:8 (AMP)

The Lord’s voice shakes the ·desert [wilderness]; the Lord shakes the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Kadesh. Psalm 29:8 (EXB)

As the storm travelled, it burst over the desert. "The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh." God courts not the applause of men - his grandest deeds are wrought where man's inquisitive glance is all unknown. Where no sound of man was heard, the voice of God was terribly distinct. The vast and silent plains trembled with affright. Silence did homage to the Almighty voice. Low lying plains must hear the voice of God as well as lofty mountains; the poor as well as the mighty must acknowledge the glory of the Lord. Solitary and barren places are to be gladdened by the gospel's heavenly sound. What a shaking and overturning power there is in the word of God! even the conservative desert quivers into progress when God decrees it. The Treasury of David

Sometimes I sit listening intently for God’s answer to my prayers. The silence is so overwhelming. Then I realize that God is SHOUTING His answer, only I don’t hear it because I’m waiting for the answer I want to hear. 

God wants my attention and yet, I’m not hearing or noticing Him. I often wonder if He’s standing there waving His arms, jumping up and down, shouting at me to get my attention... only I am blind and deaf because of my own desires. 

When I finally notice and hear God, and listen to Him, His answer to my prayers are so much better than I could imagine. His plans are so much more thought out than mine. His plans take into consideration all aspects of the now and future, where my plans are short-sighted and are adequate for only the here and now. 

To create a positive day, I have to hear and listen to what God is saying. I may not always understand or agree, but God does has a plan and purpose!