Lady Wisdom Who Was There Before the Mountains

There is a bend in the road, just past the edge of town, where the way splits in two. One path goes left. One path goes right. And a traveler stands very still there, wishing with all his heart that someone wise would come and take his hand and say, "This way. Come. Walk with me."

The book of Proverbs was written for people standing at that split in the road. Its sayings were gathered in the days of King Solomon, David's son, the young king who asked God for a wise and listening heart. And it tells of a wonderful Someone. Her name is Wisdom.

Wisdom is not hiding in a dusty old book where you could never reach her; she is out in the street. She is calling on the busy corner where all the people hurry past. She stands at the town gates and lifts her voice, glad and unashamed.

"Come!" she calls. "Come, you who do not know the way. Walk with me, and you will not stumble in the dark."

She is like a friend leaning out the window, waving both arms, calling your name down the road. She wants to be found.

And Wisdom was there before the mountains.

Before the first hill ever rose up out of the ground. Before the deep seas were given their edges. Before there were any clouds for the rain, or any cold springs bubbling up sweet, Wisdom was already there. Long before, on the very first mornings of the world, when God spread out the sky, she was beside him. When God spoke to the waves and said, "This far, and no farther," she was close to his heart. For she is God's very own.

And what was she doing there? She was playing. She was delighting. Day after day she was God's joy and his laughter, glad in all the bright world he was making, and most glad of all in the children he made to live in it.

In you.

So when Proverbs says, "Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own small understanding; in all your ways listen for him, and he will make your paths straight," this is what it means. There is Someone wise enough to lead you. He loves you. And he was here first.

That Wisdom beside God before the mountains, who played in his presence and called out in the street, was a beautiful picture of Someone coming. One day Wisdom would have a face and two hands. One day he would walk our dusty roads and stand in our streets and call, "Come to me. I will show you the way."

His name is Jesus. He is the Wisdom of God himself, a person who can really take your hand.

So the next time you stand where the road splits, you do not have to be afraid. You can put your hand in his and walk. But turn the page carefully, for on the next one waits a man who had gold and gardens and music, everything except this, and you will see what happens when a heart tries to find its own way.