Saying Twenty-One

Proverbs 24:3-4

Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Stop chasing wealth. Start courting wisdom.

In the city of Vacuosity, on a street named Dense, there lives a man, so bald, whose house eclipses the neighbours’ puny efforts at humble dwellingplaces. Others have two storeys; he has three. Others have one pool; he has two — and a jacuzzi. Others have white picket fences; his is gold.

Patrolling the neighbourhood one Saturday morning with an outward air of rich boredom, Aym Flish self-consciously pulls away his beanie and scratches the top of his aging scalp. He does not want to show the anxiety that oppresses his heart. Try as he might, he cannot wrench his mind away from the eternal problem of ‘what to do with all the money’. Having finally achieved the coveted seven-figure salary, he finds himself wandering aimlessly on weekends, pondering the million- (or even billion-) dollar questions of life — without much success in the way of answers.

His house is built, yes; but what is the point of a large house if only he lives in it? It does not feel established. His rooms are full of valuable furniture, beautiful art, and precious trinkets. But they are not pleasant.

Take the armchair that resides in his fourth living room, for example — the one custom-built to the exact shape of his backside (don’t ask how that was done), which, upon sensing him enter the room, warms itself from the inside, adopts a welcoming posture, then clasps him snugly in a perfect recline as he lowers himself into its affectionate grasp. Somehow, he feels there is still something missing. Life, he is sure, has more to offer than auto-reclining armchairs that cradle your glutes like they were made to do it (because they were).

Mr Flish, however, does not take such opportunities to turn to God, or seek out a church. His habit, on these occasions, is to stare at an empty patch of wall for ten minutes, then ask Alexa to purchase a television that will fill it.

What Aym Flish is missing is marriage — not with a woman, but Lady Wisdom. Now, it is true that a wise woman (the flesh and blood kind) would do wonders to build up Mr Flish’s home. Indeed, this is arguably the crowning theme of the book of Proverbs:

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband… (Proverbs 12:4a)

The wise woman builds her house… (Proverbs 14:1a)

He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD. (Proverbs 18:22)

…a prudent wife is from the LORD. (Proverbs 19:14b)

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above pearls. (Proverbs 31:10)

Saying Twenty-One, however, is only secondarily an exhortation to literal marriage. It is drawing on an even more foundational requirement for men — that they court and win Wisdom herself. Every mention of wise women and prudent wives is no more than a temporal, creational expression of an eternal truth:

Happy is the man who finds wisdom… She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her… She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her. (Proverbs 3:13-18)

Get wisdom! … Love her, and she will keep you… Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you. (Proverbs 4:5-9)

Mr Flish never sought her out, never talked with her, never asked her Father for her company. And at age sixty-seven, snoozing unsoundly in his armchair, he is lost without her. His house exists, but it is not established (cp Prov 9:1). He has wealth, but it is not pleasant (cp Prov 8:18-19).

Jane Austen deftly observes:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

With your permission (which I will take as granted if you continue reading), allow me to rephrase Austen’s quote in this way:

It is a truth rarely acknowledged, but nonetheless deeply accurate, that a man in possession of a good fortune — whether single or married — must be in want of Lady Wisdom.

I use “must” in a different sense to Austen — as the superlative form of “should”. Men, both young and old, must study the beauty of Lady Wisdom. They must become infatuated with the way she moves, laughs, cries, and perseveres. Because, as the saying points out, it is only through union with Lady Wisdom that a man’s house may be established; and it is only by fellowship with her sister, Knowledge, that he will acquire wealth that is a blessing, not a curse.

Now, there is a perennial danger of over-spiritualising the Proverbs; of reading statements like Saying Twenty-One with the conceited assumption that Solomon did not really mean what he said. If we had written it, we surmise dismissively, we would have included the word “spiritual” after “precious and pleasant” — just to be on the safe side. After all, such a sweeping pronouncement as “wisdom brings wealth” might offend Christians who are wise, faithful, and poor.

Proverbs, however, is not a textbook of facts; it is a guidebook of principles. It describes how men respond to God, and how God responds to men, through the lens of wisdom and folly. It does not illustrate wooden cause-and-effect laws, but the complex dynamics of a personal relationship. If you relate to God like this, it promises, he will relate to you like that.

It is not so simple, then, to count up your wisdom points, cash them in with a quick prayer, and look expectantly for the equivalent wheelbarrowfuls of gold to turn up on your doorstep within 3-5 business days. God’s ways can no more fit in a box than he can.

However, it would be foolish to deny that Saying Twenty-One genuinely draws a straight line between wealth and wisdom. Generally speaking — or perhaps, proverbially speaking — a life lived in marriage to Lady Wisdom will be a productive life in which you build and establish your house, and fill it with the evidence of God’s blessings upon you.

The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. (Proverbs 10:22)

Those who rightly distance themselves from the ‘name it, claim it’, ‘call it, haul it’ prosperity gospel often fall into the other side of the ditch by concluding that there is no correlation between covenant-relationship with God and covenant-blessings from God. Saying Twenty-One offers a stable middle ground: true and lasting prosperity — spiritually, relationally, and materially — is established through wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

Scriptures for Comparison

Matthew 7:24-27

Proverbs 9:1

Psalm 1:1-3

Ecclesiastes 5:10-12

Proverbs 3:16-18

James 1:25

Proverbs 4:5-9

Proverbs 8:18-21

Proverbs 10:22

Colossians 2:2-3