These are the proverbs of Solomon, David's son, king of Israel. The purpose of these proverbs is to teach people wisdom and discipline, and to help them understand wise sayings. Through these proverbs, people will receive instruction in discipline, good conduct, and doing what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will make the simpleminded clever. They will give knowledge and purpose to young people. Let those who are wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. And let those who understand receive guidance by exploring the depth of meaning in these proverbs, parables, wise sayings, and riddles. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Proverbs 1:1-7 (NLT)
We are about to begin our enlightening journey through the wonderful book of Proverbs. I am so excited and can hardly wait to see the truths that God reveals along our journey!
Personally, I am somewhat of a bookworm. I love to curl up with a good book and feed on its wisdom. And I can’t think of a better book to feed on than the Bible, and more specifically the book of Proverbs. So let’s jump right in and begin.
The first thing that we notice is that King Solomon is the author of our opening verses. God made King Solomon the wisest man that ever existed (1 Kings 3:12). In 1 Kings chapter 3, we learn that God appeared to Solomon in a dream and told Solomon to “…Ask what I shall give thee” (Verse 5).
Instead of asking for riches or for a long life, King Solomon asked for wisdom. “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad…” (1 Kings 3:9, KJV). King Solomon wanted additional wisdom in order to be a good judge of God’s people. God granted his request (Verse 12).
God turned King Solomon into a wise man with an understanding heart. We also can become wise when we are willing to pick through King Solomon’s words and chew on some morsels of his wisdom. Morsels of wisdom…that sounds delicious!
A proverb is a short saying of truth and “It doesn’t argue about the basic spiritual and moral beliefs; it assumes that we already have them” (Life Application Study Bible, NLT version). However, if you find that you are lacking in some basic spiritual and moral beliefs, please refer to last week’s lesson (July 30, 2011).
Immediately in our opening verses, King Solomon tells us the purpose of proverbs. That purpose is to teach us wisdom and discipline. Those two words, wisdom and discipline, go hand-in-hand—if you act foolishly without wisdom, you will be disciplined. And you are disciplined in order to gain more wisdom.
But you must understand what true wisdom is and what it isn’t. True wisdom is not about accumulating a whole bunch of facts and figures. Rather, true wisdom is about putting into practice, or utilizing, all the facts that you have accumulated throughout your years. You simply live what you have learned.
Webster’s Universal College Dictionary says that wisdom is “a wise act or saying.” Wise means “having the power of discerning and judging properly as to what is true or right; possessing discernment, judgment, or discretion.” So if we say that we want to become wise, then we are really saying that we want to learn how to live godly lives with more discernment, improved judgment, better morals, and holier conduct in both our actions and words.
That all sounds wonderful but how do we gain more wisdom? Can everyone become wise?
King Solomon says that proverbs can help everyone who is willing to be helped. The foolish can become clever, the young can learn direction or purpose, and the wise can become even wiser. And those who have already sought out and achieved some wisdom can dig even deeper, “by exploring the depth of meaning in these proverbs, parables, wise sayings, and riddles” (Verse 6).
That brings us to our final verse. Verse 7 says that in order to become wiser, we first must learn to fear the Lord. We don’t fear God as if He is a tyrant, who is going to immediately strike us dead at our first mistake. If that were the case, we all would be dead.
Don’t make the deadly mistake of thinking that God cannot strike us dead—because He Can. All through the Bible, we find cases where God has done that very thing. But normally, if we slip up and make a mistake, He gives us many opportunities to correct our mistakes and to improve.
Fearing the Lord means a reverential awe for the greatness and majesty of God. It means that we have such a high respect and love for God that we have determined in our hearts that we will obey Him. Further, we have determined that we will turn from our rebellious hearts and allow God to teach us. That is the first step to gaining more wisdom.
Verse 7 also provides a contrast to the wise—that contrast is the fool. Fools are rebellious and refuse to learn. They hate all forms of instruction; further, they don’t learn from discipline. Fools cannot be taught because their hearts, minds, and souls have become as hard and dry as sun-baked bricks.
I know that you are not a fool and that you are probably a lot like me, so you can hardly wait to see where our journey takes us next week. But first, let me give you an assignment—this week learn to fear the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Psalm 111-10 (KJV)
Three Key Concepts:
1. A proverb is a short saying of wisdom.
2. Wise men seek wisdom, while fools refuse to learn.
3. The first step in gaining wisdom is learning to fear the Lord.
