Listen and Look! She’s trying to get your attention.

Proverbs 8:1-3 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? At the top of the elevated places along the way, at the intersection of the paths she takes her stand; beside the gates opening into the city, at the entrance of the doorways she cries out

Wisdom does not hide, nor is it hard to find. Notice, like sin, Wisdom still uses the avenue of our senses to get our attention. Whether we like to admit it or not we are much easier external beings, than internal ones. True, the inner life is the one we need and will gain the most from, but that requires discipline. We respond to external things much quicker and easier, which can be a problem if we are not careful. As we saw in Proverbs 7, sin enticed through the senses. However, we must remember that our sense are neither holy nor evil, they are only one of the conduits we have to receive communication. Since they are so easily connected to, Wisdom will take advantage of the easy entrance. The two senses that Wisdom connects to in this passage are hearing and visual. Consider the meaning of “top” 

Heb “head.” The word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head”) refers to the highest area or most important place in the elevated area. The contrast with chapter 7 is striking. There the wayward woman lurked at the corners in the street at night; here wisdom is at the highest point in the open places in view of all. ^[1]

Interesting that wisdom places itself in plain view of all. Unlike sin, which is calculating and picks specific ones to pursue, wisdom desires all to come and take part. Sin entraps, Wisdom invites! Anyone that is looking will see Wisdom. The other sense is hearing. The term used here is one that makes the point that Wisdom is not shy in its desire to communicate. 

The cry is a very loud ringing cry that could not be missed. The term רָנַן (ranan) means “to give a ringing cry.” It is often only a shrill sound that might come with a victory in battle, but its use in the psalms for praise shows that it also can have clear verbal content, as it does here. For wisdom to stand in the street and give such a ringing cry would mean that it could be heard by all. It was a proclamation.^[1]

Wisdom proclaims Truth, sin perverts it! So it is important that we allow our senses to be used, the problem is what we do with it next. The disconnect comes with the next “train station” on our track of communication. When our senses are communicated to, we have to make a choice which track do we send that communication to. If we send it to our emotions only, we will react, that is what happened to the foolish young man in the previous chapter. If instead we send that information down the track that leads to our mind first and then our emotions, we will be proactive. Our mind will ascertain what values this data is to our inner man first and then our outer man. 

External living is temporal and in the end very unfulfilling. The inner life weighs the real issues of this world and will take direction from Wisdom that leads to joy, faith and peace. To love Wisdom is to love God, life and yourself!

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^[1] Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.