Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for the day and his Word, and ask him to help his people listen to his wisdom and to care for them.
Read
Scripture Passage
22 “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29 When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Pr 8:22–31.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
God possessed wisdom before the earth, depths, mountains, dust, heavens, clouds, and seas were made. He has always been and always will be wise. His wisdom joins complete knowledge with almighty power, and it is displayed most clearly in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Proverbs 8:23
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
The children name verses 30 and 26-27, but Bryan does not state his own selection. Verse 23 best represents his repeated central point that God's wisdom did not begin with creation but is everlasting.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Trust and praise the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfectly wise God. See his wisdom revealed in the gospel and in Jesus Christ, and rest your life in him.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Good morning. Thank you so much for joining us for Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. What do I say next? This year, 2020, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Oh, that's right. That's right. We'll make it through all the wisdom literature.
Today we're at Proverbs chapter 8, verses 22 through 31. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, pray, and get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. We pray that we would listen to your wisdom now. Please, Lord, care for us in Jesus' name. Amen. You guys ready? So we'll just read two verses at a time, okay? So I'll read two, then Nathan will read two, then Debra will read two, alright? So let's try to pay attention.
The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way, before his works of old. Who's the me it's talking about? The Lord possessed me. David. Nope, this is wisdom. So it's talking about wisdom, like she's a lady, right? The Lord possessed wisdom at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was even an earth. Verse 24 and 25.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth. Fourth. Yep, I was brought forth. Fourth. When there was no foundation, burning with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth. Well, as yet he had not made the earth or the fields or primal dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the foundations of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limits, when the waters would not transgress his commands, so that the waters would not transgress his commands, when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was beside him as a master craftsman, and I was his delight, rejoice always before him, Rejoice in His inherent works, for the light was the sun of men.
Okay, well what do we need to do? We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what is the? Call. No, best versus summarize. Good job. And C, what are we called to do in response to this? Okay, so A, what is this about? So this is talking about wisdom, and is wisdom something recent with God? No. No?
No, it's like spending, because you have to have wisdom. Yeah, has God always had wisdom? Yes. Did God have wisdom before He created the heavens? Yeah. Did God have wisdom before He created the sea? What about the mountains? Did God have wisdom before the mountains? Yes. What about, did God have wisdom before He created the dust? Yeah. Did God have wisdom when he told the seas, like, okay, ocean, you can go here, and you can go here, but no more. Did he have wisdom when he did that?
Yes. That's right. So, when did God not have wisdom? Never. Yeah, he's always had wisdom, right? That's the point of this, is God is... Oh, that wasn't good. Nope. Because God is wise. That's right. God is always wise forever. He has forever been wise and he will always be wise. And that's where it gets at the end, right?
Verses 30 and 31. Rejoicing, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in his inhabited world. And my delight was with the sons of men. What do you guys think is the best verse to summarize this section? What do you think? What's the best verse to summarize this? I can't find the verse, but like the verse where she says the light. Okay, so Nathan wants to say verse 30. Deborah says 26 and 27. Those are good choices. What would you choose?
There's a book I really like. So the book is by a man named J.I. Packard, and the book is called Knowing God, and he talked about God's wisdom this way. He said God's wisdom is His almighty power and His all-knowingness put together. No, no, we don't jumpy-jumpy during devotions. Sit down.
So if God was all-knowing but didn't have any power, would that be very good? No. No, right? He'd be pretty helpless. If God had all the power but didn't know everything, would that be good? No, because then he couldn't do anything. Well, he could do whatever he wanted, but would it be good? No. No, he wouldn't know if it was good or not. Because wisdom is knowing from evil. Yeah, right, so knowing evil and hating it, right? But God knows everything good and has the ability to do it.
How cool is that? So do you think we can trust God? Do you think that we can trust God with our lives? Do you think that we can praise God for his wisdom? What else do you think that we're called to do from this? How do you think his wisdom was most clearly shown?
It's showing the gospel in Jesus. That's right. That's right, that's the wisdom of God manifested to us as his grace in Jesus Christ so we can trust in him. Okay, uh-oh, Lego's in the tea. All right, why don't we go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you that you are wise. You are perfectly good. You are all-powerful and you are all-knowing. You are omniscient and you are omnipotent. And in you, Lord, you are able to do all things wise.
Father, we pray that you would let us rejoice in you, especially in the work that you have done in Jesus Christ. It's his name we pray. Amen. May God bless you today. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. May you praise the God full of wisdom and glory, and we'll see you tomorrow. Want to say bye? Bye!