Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Al Campbell:
Proverbs 8:22-36 (ESV)
22 “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. 23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, 26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. 27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. 32 “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. 33 Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. 34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. 35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, 36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”
Yesterday’s description of the numerous blessings of Wisdom is followed by a description of who Wisdom is. The purpose of doing this is to help us find Wisdom, by knowing who we are looking for, and to help us believe that Wisdom can indeed deliver on the promise of giving us “better than all we desire.” (8:11) The poet who wrote this does this in a clever way, by describing many facts about a person, and then asking “who am I?” (It’s like the game show “Jeopardy.”). As you read through verses 22 – 31, remember the creation story in Genesis 1:26, how it reads in the plural, “Let us create many in our own image.” There was more than one creator! God the Father, plus the person in Proverbs 8:22. The answer is revealed in John 1:3 to be Jesus.