April 19, 2023

Passage Read: Psalm 148 - Proverbs 1
Meditation Verses: Proverbs 1:22-33

Thought

Wisdom is brutal! Yes, generous to those who listen to rebuke, she pours out her heart to them. But refuse to listen to rebuke, and she cuts you off. When calamity strikes because you didn't listen to her, she laughs at you! Then when you do call out to her, she blows you off. She characterizes such simpletons as hating knowledge and rejecting the fear of God, so she consigns them to eating fully from their own ways. She rejects them, even when they finally turn to her! This is a response that seems so hard to accept, seems so unchristian! I thought we were supposed to be more gracious. Sure, let them suffer from a bad choice here and there, but when they come back busted up a bit, help them out. But wisdom is like, "Sorry, you're on your own!"

Application

Wisdom has been calling out in the streets and public squares, calling to the simple to turn from their ways. So it's not like she gave them a one-off, a single warning, but she's been pleading and warning for some time. They keep laughing at her, so in the end, she laughs at them. There are consequences in life, but this is probably ultimately about God's judgment, after which there is no coming back. When you see Jesus face to face and decide to repent, it's too late. You'll bow the knee, but be shipped off to Hell afterward. I still can't imagine laughing at that point, and I don't want to think of God laughing at that point, but the years of rejecting His grace and spitting in His face by going your own way, at that point, their condemnation is deserved. People need warning, even if they refuse to listen.