Proverbs 23.23
“Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.”
The Lord calls us to be people of truth. In this proverb, we are instructed to seek truth and “buy” it. In other words, invest in truth. Please notice that there are two parts to this admonition: 1) Truth should be the content of what we think; 2) Wisdom, instruction, and understanding are the mental discipline by which we acquire and apply truth.
The message is this: In order to buy truth, you must invest in the disciplined process of learning and building wisdom. Not a surprise, the process of “learning” in this verse is the Hebrew word musar. If you are not willing to invest the effort and do the work of musar, you will fail to acquire truth. You cannot have the content of truth without a commitment to the disciplined process that is necessary for acquiring truth.
Truth is not hidden. God has made himself and truth known to every person in the world. This is the declaration in the opening chapter of the book of Romans: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (Romans 1.19-20)
In addition to the physical truth that can be seen and discovered in the world that God has created, the Lord has given us verbal/propositional truth through his Word. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3.16)
God’s Word is truth, and it is eternal. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever” (Is 40:8).
Likewise, Jesus affirmed that “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mt 24:35).
Because the apostles understood the primacy and necessity of truth, they were deeply committed to teaching truth without compromise: “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor 4.2-3)
However, the apostle Paul warned that a time would come when people will not be interested in truth. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4.3-4)
The OT prophets echoed the same warning:
“Truth has stumbled in the streets.” (Isaiah 59:14).
“Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.” (Jeremiah 7:28).
These warnings are prophetic words that describe the time in which we live. Indeed, observers of culture often describe our generation as the “post-truth culture,” and the consequences of this postmodern worldview are catastrophic for everyone and everything in our society.
More tomorrow …
