“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,” – Proverbs 3:13 (ESV)
Our promise in this verse from Proverbs 3 is for a blessing or to be blessed. Often the word ‘happy’ is used as a synonym for ‘blessed. By understanding that ‘blessedness’ is a mark of supreme and perfect happiness, then this interpretation should fit. Seeking to be blessed is a good desire and action. We caution to not understand this ‘happiness’ the same as the what our world seems to offer up when a person is said to be happy. Such happiness is often the result of self-centered motivation. Blessed is deeper and much more rewarding. Who it is that receives this promise in fullness? It’s the ones who ‘find’ wisdom. It’s not an accidental or chance finding such as when we find money on the sidewalk. The greater meaning of the Hebrew word for find has the sense of ‘reaches’ what one wants through purposeful ‘seeking.’ The reward of blessing is ours by acquiring the understanding of the wisdom we seek. Of course we seek to find wisdom because we need the understanding and we ‘get’ or ‘draw out’ by digging for that understanding. We are blessed with the result of our search.
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