1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;In reading those verses, pay close attention to the verbs, which emphasize the increasing intensity of spiritual progression.
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
Verse 1 states that we should "receive" God's words, and "hide" them within ourselves. Then verse 2 takes it a step further, stating that we should "incline" our ear and "apply" our heart. The verbs in verse 3 crank up the intensity: "criest" and "liftest." Verse 4 outlines further spiritual progression: "seekest" and "searchest," with particular emphasis on the superiority of God's word over all earthly devices. Finally, verse 5 reveals the rewards for this spiritual development: we "understand" and "find" knowledge of God.
Those five verses, particular the verbs, highlight the path all of us should strive to follow. Whenever we encounter spiritual stagnation, let us try to restart back at verse 1, and follow this outline.
