Proverbs 2:10 "For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul."
Sometimes, I would rather not know.
Some knowledge isn’t so pleasant. Like, knowing about the 11 murders in south Alabama yesterday. Or the church shooting in Illinois last Sunday. Or even the latest details of the stimulus package. I don’t want to be aware of those things.
I don't always want to know the missteps of a close friend either. Or, worse yet, the nagging sins that plague my own thoughts.
But with wisdom in my heart, can even such sad bits of knowledge find a resting place?
Perhaps Solomon wasn’t going there with this verse. Metaphors can be pushed too far that they break. But Christ did say he came to give us a peace that is beyond what the world gives. (John 14:27). And Paul urged us to not be anxious, regardless of our circumstances (Philippians 4:6-7).
So even in the midst of the knowledge of tragedies and sin, I am to fear no evil (Psalm 23:4). Because I’m in the presence of God. I can let the knowledge of my Savior reach into deeper places, beyond the moment of evil, into a future place of grace. Here there rests either a just punishment for the unrepentant, or abundant forgiveness for the breaking heart.
In the end, I know that all will be made right, it will be well, regardless of the mess that we’re making now.
Such knowledge is indeed pleasant to my soul.
1 comment:
I saw this today on Desiring God blog. How fitting!
"A Vexing Jewel: The Price and Pleasure of Knowledge by John Piper
If you want to know God better, it will be costly, and it will be worth it.
For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. (Ecclesiastes 1:18)
That is true. It's true because the more we know...
...the more we know that we don't know.
...the more we know that suffering abounds.
...the more we are accountable to live up to.
...the more dementia will take away.
But it is worth it.
There is gold and abundance of costly stones; but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. (Proverbs 20:15)
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)
(author: John Piper)
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