Proverbs 16:22 Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.
Proverbs is a book of contrasts, contrasting the two different kinds of people in the world: wise and fools, righteous and wicked, good and evil, godly and worldly, and others, which always means believers and unbelievers. Each of the two is further contrasted by result: promise and threat, reward and punishment, blessing and curse, life and death. In this verse, understanding is wisdom, which comes from faith in God’s Word; the instruction of fools is folly, which comes from the ungodly world and its lies and from our own fallen sinful human understanding and reason with its deceptions.
The “understanding” referred to here is the same as “faith in Jesus.” It is the believer who may lay claim to the promise of a “wellspring of life.” A wellspring is a fountain or a spring of water that never dries up or stops flowing. It is forever. Jesus puts it this way: “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life [John 4:14],” and, “Whoever believes in me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water [John 7:38].” Living water is God’s life, which is eternal, which is the Holy Spirit.
We have within us a never-ending source of life, a groundswell of refreshing water that is always available. It may be called upon at any time for any need. We may speak and hear the Gospel and receive life all the time. When we run dry, which happens by living in a world of sin that saps the life out of us, we drink of the gospel by remembering our baptism, returning to the Word of life, and reminding ourselves of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are refreshed and renewed with life. For life and new life we listen to the right Voice.