Wisdom Calls Out in the Street

Wisdom cries aloud in the street. She raises her voice in the public squares. She calls out at the head of the noisy streets. Wisdom, in Proverbs, is not a quiet library resource. She is not reserved for scholars. She is in the street — the marketplace, the gate, the town square — the busiest, noisiest places of everyday life. Wisdom is for everyone. And she is shouting. The question Proverbs keeps asking is not: are you intelligent? Not: are you educated? Not: are you talented? The question is: are you wise? Wisdom in the Hebrew tradition — hokhmah — is not primarily about knowing information. It is about skill in living. It is the practical know-how to navigate the complexities of human existence in a way that honours God and produces flourishing. And the beginning of all of it — the foundation, the starting point, the root — is the fear of the Lord. Not terror. Not cringing servility. But reverent awe. The recognition that God is God and we are not. That he made the world and knows how it works. That his ways are higher than our ways. When we begin there — when we orient our whole life around that reality — something changes. We start to see clearly. We start to make decisions that are genuinely good, not just immediately gratifying. We start to become wise.