Proverbs 1:28

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
– Proverbs 1:28

Though wisdom cries in the streets and bids the wayward turn at reproof, there is a time when it is too late. Fools were pictured as refusing wisdom and now are pictured as seeking for it early. Seeking it early conveys the thought of earnestness or diligence. This is not repentance but a desire to be delivered from the consequences of their own folly. No amount of seeking or calling will avail when it is too late.

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Proverbs 1:26

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
– Proverbs 1:26

This verse continues from the previous one. God laughing at their calamity is an expression of just judgment (Psalm 2:1-4; 37:12-13). The picture is clear. Wisdom has long cried to the simple and the fools to turn at her reproof. Wisdom has long warned of the destruction that waits at the end of folly’s road. Yet, the fools, the simple, the scorners have refused wise counsel and went on their own way. When they come to the end of that way, they will want to escape the dread consequences but God will not hear their cries then. The call to forsake folly and embrace wisdom is an urgent one.

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