²⁵And you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof; ²⁶I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, ²⁷When your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. ²⁸Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me, ²⁹Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. ³⁰They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof. ³¹So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. ³²For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. ³³But he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

Continuing the personification as a woman’s voice, wisdom shouts in a public place to all who will listen. The book of Proverbs zeroes in on the ironic and incredulous stupidity of those who refuse to listen to wisdom and order their lives by it. We can sum up this passage with the present-day derisive retort, “You have got to be kidding me!” For whatever reason, rejecting wisdom turns a person into a ridiculous, self-defeating, naive fool. Wisdom laughs and mocks the unwise when the fruit of their stupid decisions comes to pass. Wisdom has no help for people who bring problems on themselves. It is difficult to put the squeezed-out toothpaste back in the tube or ketchup back in the bottle, or take the crease out of creased leather (all modern-day proverbs that make a similar point).

A wise person cannot help but laugh at or mock the unwise decisions people make and the consequences. This sentiment can be captured in the sharp, poignant dig, “How is that working out for you?” As NT believers who want to model our lives after Christ, we may resist such thoughts or criticism as sub-spiritual. After all, we read the admonishment, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). We must always be aware of falling into the very thing we scorn. “You therefore, beloved … be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness” (2 Peter 3:17).

Nonetheless, wisdom is pictured as mocking the unwise. In fact, we see the same word “laugh” in God’s response to those who rebel against Him, as recorded by the godly man David: “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them” (Ps. 2:4). So while we should avoid mocking and laughter that comes out of arrogance and self-confidence, we can’t help but laugh at the unwise decisions and lifestyle of foolish people—however we must not abandon a humble recognition that “but for the grace of God, there go I.” For living wisely comes not from our own meritorious efforts but is rooted in and empowered by the fear of the Lord: “The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility” (Prov. 15:33, see also Prov. 1:7, 9:10, Job 28:28, Ps. 111:10).

God can do miracles when people repent and turn from their unwise ways, as we learned earlier: “Turn to my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you” (Prov. 1:23). But they still have to live with the consequences of their foolishness. For example, a person may ignore warning signs to stay away from an unstable cliff. When the overhang breaks loose under his feet, he may repent on the way down and be forgiven by God of his stupid decision, but he will still hit the ground! Of course, it’s good for him to realize his foolish decision to ignore the sign, but during the ensuing freefall, there is no wise course of action that will mitigate the impending results of hitting the bottom. To be sure, we can learn from our mistakes, but a lifestyle of unwise “mistakes” will prove destructive to our well-being. The thief on the cross received forgiveness from Jesus, but he still died.

So too, many dumb decisions are irreversible in life, and there is no good, wise way out of the consequences. But the person who orders his life by wisdom will rest in the security of being able to handle adversity, knowing that foolish decisions were not the cause of his difficulty. He is confident because, contrary to the unwise person (vs. 29), he loves knowledge and chooses to fear the Lord, the foundation for all wisdom (Prov. 1:7).

Lord, more than anything, I want to listen to the voice of wisdom as I hear it in Your Word, as I listen to those who live wisely, and as Your Spirit impresses it on my mind. Lord, I fear the thought of You laughing at me for continued unwise decision making.