Lady Wisdom

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8

We all know what a proverb is, right?  According to my dictionary, it’s “a short pithy saying in general use, stating a general truth or piece of advice.”  Of course, the idea of a proverb comes from the Hebrew Bible, where we find a whole book, or a good portion of a book at least, of them.

A problem comes in, of course, when we hear a saying and aren’t sure whether it’s from the Bible or somewhere else.  Something like “God helps those who help themselves.”  Though it sounds like it, it’s not from the book of Proverbs or any other book of scripture.  It’s from Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac.

The proverbs that we are used to hearing from the Bible, the short aphorisms that give out those pieces of advice, come in the last chapters the book, after eight chapters of poetry that introduces us to the concept of the proverb.  What we heard today is part of that poem.  

Of course, poetry is the perfect way to introduce a collection of proverbs.  We need language beyond the usual way of communicating to set up the advice and truths that are about to come.  Poetry speaks more than the words it uses.  For the class on the Bible that I’m currently teaching one of our alternate texts is a novel by Brian McLaren in which he covers the scope of the Bible.  Early on, two of the characters are talking and one says, “This talking about God isn’t easy, you know?” to which the other character replies “Right.  It’s like a lot of things in science.  Language is the best tool we have, but it keeps getting in the way.  So in science, we revert to mathematics.  And in theology, we revert to poetry.  Mathematics and imagination are two ways of talking about about things beyond normal language.”  (The Story We Find Ourselves In, p.41)

So it’s not surprising that first poetry is used to introduce the proverbs that finally show up in chapter nine and second that in the midst of this extended poem, the character of Lady Wisdom, or Madame Insight as Eugene Peterson in The Message Bible calls her, shows up.

According to our text Wisdom was brought forth from God.  The verb that is used that is translated in the NRSV as “brought forth” is a verb that connotes the birthing process.  Wisdom is birthed by God, who is simultaneously both masculine and feminine.

The second part of our morning’s reading from the book of Proverbs is good credentialing of Wisdom; we read that she was there at the beginning helping God to bring into being all of creation.  But she wasn’t just there as an observer, she was an active participant who rejoiced with God at every step of the process.  She applauds and dances with joy as God brings forth all the good things of heaven and earth.  As Peterson says in The Message, she was there with God “making sure everything fit.”

Thus what is to come in the following proverbs, we’re told in poetic form, is wisdom, not technical knowledge.  And there is a major difference between the two, of course.  In this day and age we tend to worship at the altar of technical knowledge which can and has led to some problems, while downplaying wisdom.

Technical knowledge created that marvelous invention the television while wisdom tells us when to turn it off.  Technical knowledge brought us the computer and wisdom may remind us that it’s only a tool and that the thoughts of the human are still vastly superior.  Technical knowledge allowed us to drill for oil in the very depths of the oceans while wisdom, if we had listened to her, may have told us that our addiction to oil would lead to problems.

It’s no accident that the Psalm for today is Psalm 8, the great and glorious hymn to creation that it is.  It ties to our Proverbs text nicely.  We read there this morning about God giving dominion to us humans over all of creation.  But dominion does not allow us to use up and destroy for our own pleasure.  We have to remember that Psalm glorifies God and God’s creation first and foremost.  We are a part of that creation and have a major role to play. 

A little over a month ago, a oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded killing 11 people and, since then, has killed countless birds and fish and other sea life, threatening the towns of the Gulf Coast.  And it appears that the latest attempt to stop the flow of that gushing of oil is not going to work.  So we are back to struggling with technical knowledge to help us out of this mess, which is both a literal and figurative mess.

Wisdom, had we listened to her, would have warned us off from drilling so deeply to a place where we cannot reach if and when there is a problem.  And of course, there was a problem.

Wisdom, as compared to technical knowledge, is a relationship which we develop over a lifetime.  Technical knowledge comes and goes and if we worship at its altar we’ll eventually be left feeling empty and dry.  Wisdom, on the other hand, refreshes and renews us  Being in a relationship with wisdom fills us and leads us to God.

Now don’t think I’m some luddite who is locking himself away in a closet away from all technology.  Quite the contrary.  Wisdom allows us full use of technical knowledge with the caveats that come with it.

We walk, arm in arm with Lady Wisdom, seeking God.  Lady Wisdom guides us and dances around us, lifting our spirits and enlivening our souls.  If we are willing to pay close enough attention to her, we shall certainly find ourselves in God’s company before long.