A Wise Man Will Hear

“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.” Proverbs 1:5-6

There are degrees of hearing. We regularly hear sounds in the background that we don’t really notice. We can hear someone talking, but not really be paying attention to what they are saying. We can hear a series of words when someone is speaking, but not understand what they mean by what they said. But the kind of hearing referred to in the passage above is the kind from which we learn something because we are paying attention. Have you ever wondered how someone got so smart? The Bible says that the way to learn is to listen; not giving a casual hearing, but listening with an earnest intensity and a desire to truly understand. Wisdom and knowledge never engulf anyone all at once. There is a process by which we can learn more based on what we already know. The verse says, “A man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.” This word gives the sense of procurement or ownership. Wise people recognize the speech of someone who has knowledge and wisdom and will listen with the goal of gaining some of that knowledge and wisdom for themselves. This is the way that we can learn to understand both the proverb and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings (hard questions or riddles). God’s Word is speaking to us. We hear the speech of wise people. Are we really listening?