My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
In the opening verses, the secret that so many have sought in vain is made known: how to find the knowledge of God. After all, there is very little mystery about it. The Christian need not be scholarly and profound to understand this Scripture of truth. It is condition of soul, rather than a well-furnished mind that is required. God has given His word. He exhorts us to search it in dependence upon His Holy Spirit, who is now come to guide us into all truth.
It is no careless reading of the Scriptures that is here indicated. The soul is exhorted to “receive” these sayings. This is something more than a cursory examination of them.
The sayings of God must be received into the heart, and there they are to be “laid up” or “hidden.”
The ear must be inclined to wisdom; the heart applied to understanding; while the mouth cries after knowledge, and the voice is lifted up for that which will give spiritual intelligence.
The whole being is thus devoted to the search for the truth. As men dig deep for the silver and make diligent effort to locate hidden treasure, so the earnest seeker must dig into the Word of God and be not content with surface findings. When thus esteeming the words of His mouth as more than one’s necessary food, the result is certain:
“Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”
It is to be feared that even among those who hold and value much precious truths, diligent Bible study is on the wane. It is well to remember that reading books about the Bible is a very different thing to searching the Word for oneself. Notes and expositions may be helpful. If the writer did not so believe he would not now be putting pen to paper. But if these works of uninspired men be permitted to take the place of the sure Word of the living God, the results can only be baneful in the extreme. The result of such one-sided study will be that men will draw their thoughts from one another, in place of from the great reservoir of truth itself. This will result in dry intellectuality which is the very opposite of fresh, vigorous spirituality. (Commentary by H.A. Ironside)