Overview of Proverbs 1-9 Pt. 1

Introduction: Today we begin an epic journey through the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs is part of what is known as wisdom literature (or poetry), along with Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. What do we need to know about this book before we study it in depth?

   Who wrote Proverbs? The Book of Proverbs is credited to Solomon, and while he wrote most of it, he did not pen all of it. In Proverbs 30–31, we find the words of Agur and the mother of King Lemuel. We know from 1 Kings 4:32 that Solomon spoke over 3,000 proverbs and wrote some 1,005 songs. We also know that the men of Hezekiah assisted in the compilation of the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 25:1).

   When was Proverbs written? The Book of Proverbs was penned before his character decline, so somewhere around 931 B.C. However, keep in mind that the proverbs we read in these thirty-one chapters are about 3,000 years old, and yet they are as relevant as when first penned. I would dare say the ink on these proverbs is still wet.

   What is the purpose of the Book of Proverbs? Solomon doesn't leave us in the dark. He informs his readers of the purpose of the proverbs in chapter 1:2–4:

   2 To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, 3 to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; 4 to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion —

   The New Living Translation renders these verses this way:

   2 Their purpose is to teach people wisdomand discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. 3 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. 4 These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young.

   What is wisdom? It is more than intellectual knowledge or academic theory. The Hebrew word chokmahcan refer to technical skill (like a craftsman building), but in Proverbs the word refers to skill for living. Hey, does anybody here need some skill for living? I do! My hand is up.

   The late Dr. Jerry Falwell defined wisdom as: "Seeing things from God'spoint of view." I would add that we must not only see it but live it out.

   Warren Wiersbe wrote, "Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge." Keep that phrase in your thoughts for just a moment.

   What is the key verse? Before Solomon teaches a single proverb, he gives us the master key that unlocks all thirty-one chapters. The key is Proverbs 1:7:

   "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

   What does it mean to fear the LORD? The Hebrew word yir'ah implies a deep reverence and awe for God that shapes how we live. Solomon teaches that if you get the foundation wrong — if you don't start with God — you cannot build a life of wisdom, no matter how smart you are.

   Proverbs 1:7 would be a great verse to commit to memory as we make our way through this series. It is the key that opens the Proverbs.

   Outline of the Book of Proverbs. I want to provide you with two very simple outlinesfor Proverbs. Dr. Henrietta C. Mears, in her book What the Bible Is All About, provides the first:

1. Counsel for young men — Chapters 1–10

2. Counsel for all men — Chapters 11–20

3. Counsel for kings and rulers — Chapters 21–31

   The second outline is from Dr. J. Vernon McGee:

1. Wisdom and Folly Contrasted — Chapters 1–9

2. Proverbs of Solomon — Chapters 10–24 (written and set in order by himself)

3. Proverbs of Solomon — Chapters 25–29 (written and set in order by the men of Hezekiah)

4. Oracle of Agur, Unknown Sage — Chapter 30

5. Proverbs of a Mother to Lemuel — Chapter 31

   Over the next three weeks, we are going to do an overview of all thirty-one chapters of this remarkable book. We won't be able to stop at every verse, but I will highlight some of the key ideas found in each chapter. My original goal was to cover all of this in one message, but that changed after I had typed out twenty-two pages of notes. Years ago, I heard someone say: teach less for more. So that is the advice I am going to follow.

   A prayer before we begin: Lord, my prayer is that all of us will fall in love with the Book of Proverbs before this message is over, that we will hunger for Your truth, and that we will have a desire to apply Your Word to our daily lives.

   How to get the most from this study: You will get the most from this study if you come with an open Bible, a pen or pencil, and a notebook — or use the sermonguide provided each week.

Proverbs 1 — Wisdom Presented(1:1–33)

   Proverbs 1 launches the entire book with ten key words of wisdom and one non-negotiable foundation: the fear of the Lord.

   Solomon also gives his son — and every reader — three critical decisions: I will listen to my parents; I will not go the way of sinners; and I will accept the Word of God as truth.No chapter sets the table for everything that follows better than this one.

   Wisdom is personified here as a woman calling out to three specific groups: the simple, the scorners, and the fools. Wisdom calls out from the open squares, the chief concourses, and the city gates — everywhere people gather, wisdom is calling. Her invitation is open to all, but not all will hear. Those who reject wisdom will face the consequences of their choices. Those who hear and heed will find life. Which voice are you listening to?

   Don't miss verse 33,

   33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

Proverbs 2 — Wisdom Sought(2:1–22)

   Proverbs 2 uses the words "if you" in verse 1 and "thenyou" in verse 9. It speaks about the importance of personal effort in seeking wisdom. There are ten verbs found in this chapter that speak to the effort that must go into searching for wisdom. What's the payoff? When wisdom enters our hearts, it will protect us — from wicked men (v. 12), from the immoral woman (v. 16), and from every path that leads to destruction (v. 20).

   If we cry out for understanding and search for wisdom with our whole heart, God promises that He will give it.

Proverbs 3 — Wisdom Guides(3:1–35)

   Proverbs 3 is a favorite among many believers, for it contains some great verses that have brought encouragement throughout Church history. Here is what we discover in this chapter:

The value of receiving biblical instruction from one's parents — 3:1–4

Trusting the LORD — 3:5–6 (probably the most memorized verses in all of Proverbs)

A humble walk — 3:7

Honoring the LORD with your firstfruits — 3:9–10

Receiving correction and discipline — 3:11–12

Finding wisdom — 3:13–20 (lists the value of finding wisdom)

Wisdom will keep you — 3:21–35

   I want to draw your attention to verse 13,

   Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;

   The truly happy Christian will desire wisdom.

Proverbs 4 — Wisdom Pursued(4:1–27)

   Look at verse 5: "Get wisdom." Underline those two words.

   One author penned, “The highest achievement in the universe is the attainment of wisdom.”

  How can you get wisdom? Through obediently receiving the sound biblical doctrine passed down to you (4:2). You are taught it, you are to retain it, and you are to incorporate wisdom into your whole being.

   Wisdom will add years to your life (v. 10), it will guard your steps (v. 12), and it will keep you on the path of the just (vv. 14–19). It will also affect every part of your body:

Your heart — v. 23

   Highlight this verse – it is a key verse in Proverbs. It reads,

   23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Your mouth — v. 24

Your eyes — v. 25

Your feet — v. 26

   Wisdom will keep you on the straight and narrow path. You won't turn to the right or the left.

Proverbs 5 — Wisdom Directs(5:1–23)

   Proverbs 5 opens with the words "pay attention to my wisdom." King Solomon warns his son about sexual immorality and the devastating consequences of the adulterous path.

   The percentage of people in the United States who have been led astray down the path of adultery is staggering. 20% of men and 13% of women. According to a YouGov National poll 33% of Americans admitted to cheating at some point. It was also reported that 45% of men and 35% of women have admitted to emotional affairs.

   As a pastor, I have had people say to me, "But I love them." They had to feed their minds with that mantra, because that was the only way they could live with themselves. Adultery is always wrong, and it always carries a high price.

   Look at verse 4,

   But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

    Wormwood is bitter gall, a poison when ingested.

   Wisdom offers a better way. It says to "drink water from your own cistern" (v. 15). This speaks of sexual intimacy enjoyed within the confines of a faithful marriage.

   Don't miss the words found in verse 18,

   Rejoice with the wife of your youth.

   God's design for intimacy is always better than the world's counterfeit.

Proverbs 6 — Wisdom Warns(6:1–35)

   In verses 1–5, Solomon warns about co-signing for others (the word used in our text is surety). Solomon tells his son not to do it, and if he has co-signed on behalf of another, to seek to get out from it as fast as he can.

   In verses 6–11, Solomon tells us that if laziness is an issue, we need to turn and look at the ant. The ant is anything but lazy — it stays busy working with purpose, preparing in the summer for the winter to come. Watch the ant and be wise.

   Verses 16–19 give us the classic list of seven things the Lord hates: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness, and one who sows discord.

   Verses 20–35 give us Scripture as a shield against immorality:

It's everything we need — 6:20

It's to be hidden in our hearts — 6:21

It is to guide us in every direction — 6:22

It will never let us down — 6:23

It will protect us — 6:24

   It protects us from the immoral woman (the evil woman). It protects us from spiritual damage to the soul (the inward man). It protects us from the actual sin of adultery and the damage that follows (the outward act). It protects us from the jealous wrath of her husband.

Proverbs 7 — Wisdom Treasured(7:1–27)

   This chapter opens with the hedge that all of us need to place around ourselves when it comes to immorality. Notice the word "keep," used in verses 1 and 2. Next, look at the word "bind" in verse 3 — your fingers are there as reminders, 1, 2, 3 (and so forth). Then look at the word "write" in verse 3. Where are we to write them? "On the tablet of your heart." Finally, in verse 4, we have the words "say to wisdom" — it's about incorporating wisdom into everyday life, and when you do this, we read in verse 5, "that they may keep you from the immoral woman."

   Sexual sin is a reality, and the truth is wisdom can keep you from making terrible decisions in the heat of the moment – it will also help you to avoid bringing baggage into your future relationships. Don’t miss what I just said.

   In verses 6–23, the simple, and those devoid of understanding, are presented as turning into the home of the immoral woman. That decision cost him his life (v. 23).

   The final four verses of this chapter are a second reminder of the utter importance of paying attention to the sound biblical instruction of a father.

   The house of the immoral woman leads to hell and death.

Proverbs 8 — Wisdom Exalted(8:1–36)

   Proverbs 8 has been called the crown jewel of the first section of Proverbs. Wisdom is personified as a person — as Lady Wisdom (8:2).

   What do we know about wisdom?

Wisdom calls — 8:4

Wisdom speaks truth — 8:7

Wisdom is better than silver, better than gold, better than rubies, and nothing compares to her — 8:10–11

   And although wisdom is personified as a woman, many biblical scholars believe that wisdom here in this chapter points to the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is called "the wisdom of God" in 1 Corinthians 1:24.

   Also note the following about wisdom:

Wisdom was present at creation — 8:22–31

   This chapter ends by saying that a person is happy when they listen to wisdom (8:34), and if you find wisdom (Christ), you find life (8:35). But those who sin against wisdom hates their own soul; and those who hate wisdom love death.

   In chapters 1-7 the challenge was for a son to listen to the instructions of his father, but from chapter 8 and following there is a deliberate escalation, now the challenge is to listen to Wisdom.

   Question:Have you found Jesus Christ?

Proverbs 9 — Wisdom Challenged(9:1–18)

   Proverbs 9 presents two competing banquets: wisdom's feast (9:1–12) and folly's table (9:13–18). Both call to the same guests — the simple, the foolish, those who lack understanding. Wisdom offers a life-giving meal; folly promises that "stolen waters are sweet" (9:17). But those who follow folly find that her house leads to the depths of hell — this is an echo of chapter 7.

   Proverbs 1:7 told us, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." And Proverbs 9:10 it repeats it: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." I have read that this is not accidental repetition — it's a literary inclusio, a bracket that signals "everything between these two verses belongs together as one unit." Solomon is telling the reader, structurally, this is where the first movement of the book ends.

   And what is the point of this chapter? Choose to sit at wisdom’s table – eat from what wisdom lays out.

Conclusion: Nine chapters in, and the road map for the whole book is already in front of us. Solomon opened with a foundation (Chapter 1) — the fear of the Lord (1:7) — and then spent nine chapters showing us what that foundation looks like when it's built on: a son who listens, a heart that seeks, a life guarded from immorality, a body shaped head to foot by wisdom, and a Wisdom who was there at creation itself and who points us, ultimately, to Christ.

   Notice the pattern. Every chapter from 1 through 9 has offered us the same fork in the road, dressed in different clothes: wisdom or folly, the strange woman or the wife of your youth, the ant's diligence or the sluggard's excuse, the house that leads to life or the house that leads to death. Solomon isn't simply informing us — he's confronting us. He wants a decision, not just a definition.

   And notice how the section closes. Chapter 9 ends with two competing banquets — Wisdom's table and Folly's table — set side by side, both calling to the same guests. Solomon doesn't end this section with a summary; he ends it with an invitation still hanging in the air, forcing you to decide, one more time, whose table you're going to sit at.

   So here is the question to carry out of these first nine chapters: which voice have you been listening to? Wisdom has been calling since verse 20 of chapter 1 — in the streets, at the gates, in the everyday moments of work and speech and relationships — and by chapter 9 she's set a table and is still calling, even as folly sets a competing table right across the way. The fear of the Lord is still the starting line. And the invitation Solomon opened with is still standing: Get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get understanding.

   How can you and I get the most from this new series of messages from the book of Proverbs? Here are my suggestions:    

· Read Proverbs

· Pray for wisdom

· Bring your Bible

· Take notes

· Be transformed– head, heart, hands, and feet.