| “If you look for it [wisdom] as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” |
| —Proverbs 2:4-5 |
Don’t we all remember stories from our childhood about buried treasure? Reading such accounts, we wished we could be surprised to find some rare and expensive fortune in our backyards. Yet, God clearly entices us to search His written Word for jewels that He has waiting for us within those precious pages.
To find most buried treasure takes work. Those seeking the treasure must search diligently and, hopefully, dig up that treasure. Similarly, it takes work for us to diligently comb the depths of the Scriptures and “dig up” the marvelous truths stored there. Puritan writer, George Swinnock, puts it this way: 1
Precious things cannot be had without the greatest difficulty. They that desire great reward must run through many dangers. Nature herself will not bestow her precious treasure without much labor. Dirt lies common in the streets, but gold is buried deep in the earth. Stones may be found everywhere, but pearls are hidden in the bottom of the sea.
As with buried treasure, to find the deep truths in Scripture we need the element of discovery. Please let me illustrate this truth:
In 2 Kings 22, we read that a young King Josiah instructs his men to supervise the renovation of the temple in Jerusalem. Verse 8 of this passage describes that as they worked:
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.”What follows this verse is a description of the revival and renewal of the covenant that took place among God’s people. The discovery of God’s written Word literally changed the society in which these people lived.
Today, not only should we seek the hidden truths of Scripture, but we should also meditate, rejoice, and determine to follow what we learn there. In the longest chapter of the Bible, Psalm 119—which line-upon-line expounds the glories of God’s written Word—in verse 11, we read:
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
Beyond just discovery, there exists the obligation for us to obey what we find in God’s written Word. We discover the treasure, not to merely enrich ourselves, but in order to purposefully live out the precepts given there, in order bring glory to God.
As an exercise of “digging for buried treasure” in God’s written Word, let’s take one loaded verse we find and meditate on each word within that text. Then, seeking definitions and exploring the ramifications, let’s look for examples in Scripture that make that particular verse come to life. Next, we should pray the words of the verse. Finally, we should memorize the text from that verse: planting God’s truth in the depths of our hearts and minds.
As we spend time doing this spiritual discipline, uncovering deep truths, we will very likely exclaim as Hilkiah the high priest did: “I have found it!” Have fun digging!
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| 1 From “Works” by George Swinnock, as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 308. |
