Every Longing Heart
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Today’s Reading: Proverbs 8
I appreciate that God appointed me to live in this time and in this culture. I do. He knows what He’s doing. Really, I don’t want to complain. Our era boasts wonderful advancements that affect our quality of life. Can I just say, though, it is so loud. Maybe that’s the introvert in me talking, but boy, it’s loud.
Our society is literally noisy, with machines whirring, electricity buzzing, cars passing, alarms ringing, and TVs playing; but it’s also “loud” in the marketplace of ideas. The internet has made information more accessible than ever, and it’s also created a cacophony of competing opinions and self-made experts. YouTuber begat armchair expert, who begat TikTok influencer, who begat zealous crusader, who begat… well, you get the idea. The point is that they’re all yelling at each other, and it’s loud.
All the noise is disorienting. It can become very difficult to sort through all the voices. In desperation, we dig and decode and sort and spin — until we realize that for every persuasive opinion there is usually an equally persuasive rebuttal. Surely there is an ancient wisdom that can be found to be more steadfast than this current flood of information.
“But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?
No mortal comprehends its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
(Job 28:12-14 NIV) (emphasis mine)
This next part is so cool. The Old Testament often speaks of wisdom as a virtue or concept, but it also speaks of wisdom as a person. In our reading today, we see that she calls out, raises her voice, loves, walks, rejoices, etc. Look especially at verses 22-31.
Wisdom was with God before Genesis 1:1, “constantly at his side…filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in His presence” (vs. 30). The person Wisdom (Hebrew: hakmah) was with God, in communion with Him, from before “In the beginning, God created…” We know who that is, right? That’s Jesus!
Here’s another crazy twist. Let’s look more closely at Proverbs 8:22.
The English translation is “The Lord brought me (that is, wisdom) forth as the first of his works.”
The Hebrew here is “YHWH begot me (wisdom), the beginning (resit, pronounced ray-sheet) of His way.” This isn’t chronology, this is a renaming.
This is the same as the first word of Scripture. “In the beginning”=b’resit
The Hebrew is communicating that before creation, God brought forth the person Wisdom, who is the Beginning, who is also self-existent and eternal. When Genesis 1 says, “In the beginning,” it means, “In (or through) Wisdom, the person,” or, more plainly, “Through Jesus, God created….” (It is also saying “beginning” chronologically. Hebrew words do that; they often have multiple meanings.)
I can’t explain it as well as Biblical scholars (thank you, Chad Bird from 1517), but I know it’s true because the apostle John knew it was true:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1-3 NIV)
And Jesus Himself said it was true.
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.” Revelation 3:14
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13 NIV)
Our pursuit of wisdom, the idea, will lead us to Wisdom, the person. He is Wisdom; He is the Word; He is the Beginning; He is from before creation. He is the second person of the Trinity. He is God Himself. If we want wisdom, He’ll give it freely, because He knows it will lead us to Himself.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5 NIV)
So quiet all the other voices, and pursue Wisdom.