20 Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square ; 21 At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings : 22 “How long *, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded ? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge ? 23 “Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. 24 “Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention ; 25 And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof ; 26 I will also laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when your dread comes, 27 When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. 28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer ; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, 29 Because * they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD. 30 “They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof. 31 “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. 32 “For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. 33 “But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”
Wisdom is crying out. She wants to be heard and known. The problem is not that wisdom is hidden or that right thinking is fuzzy, it is that we refuse to listen to the counsel of God. When calamity comes from our refusal to heed His advice, then shake our fist at Him as though He did not give us clear warning. When things go wrong we run around and seek answers and we will not find them because we have rejected His counsel.
We must be willing to accept and listen to the call of wisdom. If we do not we must not act surprised when things fall apart. We will reap the foolishness we sow.
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