The Need For Someone to Draw Our Water

“Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Pr 20:5 AV)

This verse has confused commentary writers across the board.  Some believe the man of understanding, seeking counsel, will draw it out of another who has plenty of wisdom.  Others, like myself, see the first statement as a statement of the condition of mankind.  We have within us wisdom and understanding of which we are unaware, and a man of understanding will counsel with us to draw it to the surface.  I have seen this play out more times than not.  When someone comes to me and asks advice, generally speaking, they probably know the answer.  Due to confusion, inner turmoil, fear, or forgetfulness, they cannot see what they know to be true.  Much counsel is framed by asking questions with self-evident answers.  The reason a counselor does this is the internalize the answer on the heart of the inquisitor.  It is better for the individual to draw correct conclusions with his own reasoning than to simply be given the answer.

One of the greatest joys of life was teaching my children at home.  I had the privilege of starting out the first two in kindergarten and first grade.  To this day, I can remember the ‘oi’ boys.  You would have have been there.  Anyway, I used phonics as the method of teaching them how to read and write.  Something I was never taught.  We were taught rhymes and exceptions.  Anyway, I can remember the drills we used to use and asking my little students to put sounds together to form words.  Rather than seeing words as whole words and memorizing words by the shapes of the letters, I had them combine letters to form words.  It was fun having them create words that didn’t exist.  Funny sounding words or nonsensical words were a hoot.  One of my sons fought me some of the way.  He didn’t want to do the work.  Once I convinced him a time or two that he really didn’t have a choice, he hunkered down and learned his lessons.  When they began to realize they had the pieces they needed to read, they began to sound out letters and form words all on their own.  They had knowledge.  What they were missing was understanding the rules that governed a combination of letters and then the meaning of those combinations.  They had what they needed.  They just needed a guide to show them what they already knew.

The word of God is very precise here.  The one who draws out the counsel has understanding.  In the book of Proverbs, knowledge is simply the gathering of facts.  Understanding is how those facts relate to one another.  Wisdom is the discipline to apply those facts in a way that produces fruit to God’s pleasing.  Above, the one who can draw out counsel is one who has understanding.  The one with whom he is drawing out that counsel is lacking understanding.  Which means, he has knowledge.  The gift of the counselor is to help the one who knows the answer to what he seeks but cannot see it because he hasn’t put it all together.  In other words, the man of understanding can see the weakness in reason the others cannot, and leads him to put it all together and realize the answer he had all along.  How do we apply this?  Well, one of our frustrations in life is being confronted with situations in which we are at a loss as to the solution.  Because we cannot see what needs to be done, we are discouraged, confused, or even anxious.  I am faced with one as I type.  However, I wrote a source for counsel and he responded by asking I call.  That I did today.  Immediately when he wrote he gave me peace that there was a solution to my quandary even though I might have to wait a day or to for it.  After a lengthy conversation, it occurred to me I had the correct insight all along.  The lesson is clear.  Just because we feel anxious that we may not have a solution does not mean we don’t.  It is there.  All it takes is counsel from someone who can help us see what we have known to be true all along.