The Fear of the LORD is the Beginning of Knowledge
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· 582 viewsProverbs gives us wisdom for day to day living. We need wisdom so we can live a life that honors God.
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Introduction
Today, we begin a new series in the book of Proverbs. We will be in this book for the next couple of months. Some of you might ask, why are we studying proverbs? Why did you choose Proverbs Pastor Alex?
Why did I choose this book?
Its in the OT.
I choose this book because we need to grow in our understanding of the OT. 75% of the Bible is found in the OT and I believe many Christians are ignorant of its teaching. Proverbs seemed to be an easy book that relates to all age groups and in all seasons of life.
2. Its practical.
This book is profoundly practical. It helps and guides us with the everyday decisions we make. Proverbs is applied Christianity. There are things in life where we need wisdom: what should I look for in a spouse? How should I spend my money? How shall I invest? How shall I work? When should I speak? When should I stay silent? What type of friends should I choose?How shall I use my time? Shoot I tweet this? Proverbs helps us understand these questions in our day to day experience.
Its needed.
3. It’s Needed.
We live in a digital age with the explosion of information and rapid changing technology. We can ask Google or Alexa anything, and an answer is immediately generated.
Yet with all the information at our fingertips, people are still not living successful lives.
We are becoming people who have access to vast amounts of knowledge with a few taps of our thumbs but who retain just little bits of knowledge in our minds and hearts. As we increasingly dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of information, we grow increasingly unable or unwilling to distinguish between knowledge and information, wisdom and knowledge.
Tim Challies
In fact, there was an article written in the Atlantic, entitled “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains” which the author makes the case that even though we have more information than ever, we are becoming stupid and less human because of how the internet is shaping our brains.
Even while I was reading it, there were ads that were distracting me and I clicked on google because I was bored.
The author writes,
Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
Think about a generation now addicted to social media. If the first thing we do in the morning is check facebook or social and media, instead of reading the Bible and pray, do you think buzzfeed or the latest instagram story is going to make us godlier or wiser?
Proverbs help us for the everyday and it is needed today.
Today, we will be looking at the introduction of the Book. The first seven verses lay out a road map for the rest of the book. The proverbs were mostly written by Solomon, but other Kings and writers are mentioned at the end of the book and it may have come to its completed form years later after Solomon’s death. I want to ask three questions this morning.
I. What is Wisdom? (v. 1)
II. Why do you need Wisdom? (vv. 2-6)
II. How does One attain Wisdom?
III. What is the foundation of Wisdom?
III. Where do you get Wisdom? (v. 7)
Scripture Reading:
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The Title (v. 1)
The Purpose (vv. 2-6)
The Foundation (v. 7)
I. What is Wisdom? (vv. 1-2)
I. What is Wisdom? (vv. 1-2)
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
What is a proverb?
A proverb is a short simply and pithy saying of practical truth that is easy to remember. “Early bird gets the worm.” “An apple a day keeps a doctor away.” The Hebrews used proverbs because they are easy to remember and they are poetic expressions of truth. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. One preacher likened proverbs to hard candy you must chew on until you get the sweet part.
Proverbs are like warheads. Sour on the outside until you chew and suck on it until it becomes sweet.
Proverbs are like warheads. Sour on the outside until you chew and suck on it until it becomes sweet.
A proverb is a poetic, terse, vivid, thought-provoking saying that conveys world of truth in a few words. They are observations about how life works. Tim Keller.
The Proverbs are for deep thinking and living.
They are observations about how life works. Tim Keller
The Author: The Proverbs of Solomon
This is King Solomon. David was considered the greatest King of Israel. Solomon was considered the wisest. He ruled from 970-931. Israel was prosperous under his reign.
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.
1 Kings 4:29-3
He was the Son of David through Bathsheba. He began his rule well as he prayed not for riches, nor for the lives of his enemies, but he prayed for wisdom.
And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
God’s Response:
1 Kings 3:7-
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
The Condition:
I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
1 Kings
The Illustration of Wisdom: The Tale of Two Prostitutes in .
The Tale of Two Prostitutes in .
Two prostitutes come before Solomon. Both have a child. One child died in the middle of the night maybe because the mother laid on the child. In the morning, the prostitute with the dead child switched the baby with mother of the living child. The case came before Solomon and he asked for a sword for the child to be split in half. The mother of the living child was willing to give up the child while the mother of the dead child was willing for the child to be killed. And this is the type of wisdom God gave Solomon. He was able to read between the lines and act rightly.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
Wisdom comes from God.
The Son of David
Proverbs are like warheads. Sour on the outside until you chew and suck on it until it becomes sweet.
Solomon comes from a royal line. God promised David to have a ruler sit on his throne forever. Wisdom was needed so that the Davidic King could rule on behalf of God and continue to Davidic dyansty. And the Dyansty would continue through the obedience of the King.
The King of Israel
And wisdom is needed so that he could rule and govern his people with justice and equity. The people of Israel was to be a light to the nations by seeing how they lived differently under God’s rule. And the King was to be an example of God’s faithfulness and goodness as he ruled justly over people.
The Purpose: To Get Wisdom
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
To know Wisdom (v. 2)
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
What is Biblical wisdom?
At its simplest, then, chokmah—“wisdom”—is skilfulness in dealing with the matter at hand so as to get the best results. In Proverbs the matter at hand is life itself, and the best result is the good, harmonious and successful life. So for men “to know wisdom” is for them to have the skills needed to make a success of their lives.
“Wisdom is wedding thought and experience to become ‘competent with regards to the realities of life.’ Tim Keller
“Instruction” has in view the way wisdom is acquired. The word is musar. Basically it means “discipline”, and it is the word for training in the school of wisdom, whether in the classroom under the wisdom teacher or in the home under parents.
Wisdom is not about age or having a degree, status, position or wealth, but biblical wisdom is the ability to live skillfully or wisely in the world God has made. A wise person knows how to take the truths of God’s Word and apply to everyday life. A wise person is a moral person. A wise person is one who knows how life works under God’s rule.
Knowing about versus Truly knowing.
There is a difference between knowing facts about something versus knowing through experience.
You can read books about riding a bike. But you don’t know how to ride a bike unless you actually ride it. A med student can read textbooks about heart surgery. But I would rather have an experienced doctor operated on my heart than a student who read books.
A pastor can have theology and preaching. But a true pastor knows how to apply that theology and preach to help people.
Some of you know facts about my kids. But you don’t know my kids the way I know my kids by living with them.
Wisdom is experiential knowledge.
And verses two to six give further descriptions of what wisdom looks like: instruction, insight, prudence, discretion which are really different aspects of wisdom. One writer said,
“Wisdom is skill, expertise, competence that understands how life really works, how to achieve successful and even beautiful lives.”
Jesus
Luke
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
And God is the author and source of wisdom:
The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;
Proverbs
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
Wisdom is for living. You can have knowledge without wisdom. But you cannot have wisdom without knowledge. Wisdom takes the knowledge learned and applies it to living. You can tell whether a person is wise or not by the way he lives his life.
Wisdom is evangelistic. You cannot win people to Christ if you you have a lot of Bible knowledge, yet your life is out of order. A wise person, by his living, will win attractive to Christ.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and whoever captures souls is wise.
Wisdom is a community project. What better way to grow in wisdom than in the church.
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Wisdom is found in the Word.
Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
Transition: What is Wisdom? It is not merely knowledge, status or a degree, but it is a skill in living rightly. It is understanding how God made the world and living rightly in the world God has made. The next question is why do you need wisdom?
II. Why Do you Need Wisdom? (vv. 3-6)
II. Why Do you Need Wisdom? (vv. 3-6)
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
A. We need wisdom because we are by nature sinful and foolish (v. 2)
A. We need wisdom because we are by nature sinful and foolish (v. 2)
Ever since the fall of man, because we have rejected God’s rule over our lives, we became foolish and darkened in our understanding. All of us are born fools. We are born thinking we know better than God. The definition of sin is rejecting God’s ways and following our own ways. Sin is stupidity and foolishness.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
What is Biblical wisdom?
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
To know wisdom and instruction.
“Instruction” has in view the way wisdom is acquired. The word is musar. Basically it means “discipline”, and it is the word for training in the school of wisdom, whether in the classroom under the wisdom teacher or in the home under parents.
Wisdom must be wedded to discipline and correction. A wise person will be willing to be corrected and instructed.
The book of Proverbs is a gospel book, because it is part of the Bible. That means the book of Proverbs is good news for bad people. It is about grace for sinners. It is about hope for failures. It is about wisdom for idiots. This book is Jesus himself coming to us as our counselor, as our sage, as our life coach. Ray Ortlund
To understand the words of insight.
B. We need wisdom because we need to learn how to live righteously (v. 3)
Insight— Insight means you are able to read between the lines. Solomon was able to read between the lines of the two prostitutes regarding which one was lying and who was the truth mother.
B. We need wisdom because we need to learn how to live righteously (v. 3)
B. We need wisdom because we need to learn how to live righteously (v. 3)
B. We need wisdom because we need to learn how to live righteously (v. 3)
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
Again wisdom is for living. It is for how you treat others. How you treat those who are weak and and the oppressed. It is to help you live as a righteous and just person in a day where people are unrighteous and unjust. Wisdom is needed in the ability to act and choose rightly.
C. We need wisdom because young people need to grow in maturity (v. 4)
C. We need wisdom because young people need to grow in maturity (v. 4)
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Our culture thinks its cool to not grow up. We have a phrase for this “adulting”. Adulting is a phrase what well what adults do. Urban Dictionary
Adulting (v): to do grown up things and hold responsibilities such as, a 9-5 job, a mortgage/rent, a car payment, or anything else that makes one think of grown ups.
Jane is adulting quite well today as she is on time for workpromptly at 8am and appears well groomed.
Jerry is adulting because he showered today and got an oil change for his car.
John is adulting by moving out of his parents house and got a job.
Wisdom is for those who need to grow up and be adults!
The word simple has the same root word meaning an “open door”. In other words a simple person is a naive person. He does not think about his actions. He does not have discernment in what he does, what he says, or he posts. A lot of this is the result of immaturity.
Proverbs wants to give prudence to this group. To give knowledge and discretion/discernment. Discretion is the ability to choose between what is good and what is excellent. Youth could refer to any age group before being recognized as an elder in Jewish Synagogue which was about 30 years of age.
Young People
Proverbs is asking you to think deeply, grow in knowledge, and grow in discernment. Give thought to the decisions you make. Get wisdom. Get Dicscipled by a wiser believer. Be open to correction. And grow in maturity.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
1 Corinthians 15:31-
Adulting is not a cool term. You are to seek to grow in maturity. It is not cool to be a grown up kid for the rest of your life.
Illustration: Peter Pan
Peter Pan is the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. He is a immature and self-centered boy who flies but never grows up. He is a cultural icon of immaturity and adolescence. But we know that Wendy has to grow up and can’t be with Peter Pan because she has to get on with real. You can’t stay immature.
Wisdom is to help people grow up and be mature.
D. We need wisdom because wise people understand that learning never ends (v. 5)
D. We need wisdom because wise people understand that learning never ends (v. 5)
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
Socrates was considered the wisest man who ever lived because he claimed to know nothing. Wise people understand that they never graduate from learning. You can never get a Master’s Degree or PHD in Wisdom. The wise will continue to learn and obey instruction.
Hearing is also synonymous with obedience.
The wise are humble and will continue to increase in learning. The wise will seek to obtain guidance.
Christian
The definition of a disciple is a learner. We continue to learn God’s Word. If you think you already know all you need to know, the Proverbs calls you a fool.
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.
Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.
A Wise Leader
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
Wise leaders keep learning. Good preachers keep learning.
Young Pastors
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
1 Timothy
Christian
Re
Don’t think you mastered Christianity. Don’t think you mastered the Bible. You need to be Mastered by the Bible. You need to keep learning. Read books. Go to conferences. Listen to podcasts. Go to Sunday School. Go to small groups. Learn the Bible with others. For some of you go to LABTS. Go to Seminary. Try to listen and learn from the Preaching of God’s Word. Don’t neglect God’s gathering. Do not neglect to grow in obedience.
I remember when
Wise people love growing in knowledge. Even wise people grow in obedience.
E. We need wisdom because we need to understand truth (v. 6)
E. We need wisdom because we need to understand truth (v. 6)
At its simplest, then, chokmah—“wisdom”—is skilfulness in dealing with the matter at hand so as to get the best results. In Proverbs the matter at hand is life itself, and the best result is the good, harmonious and successful life. So for men “to know wisdom” is for them to have the skills needed to make a success of their lives.
“Instruction” has in view the way wisdom is acquired. The word is musar. Basically it means “discipline”, and it is the word for training in the school of wisdom, whether in the classroom under the wisdom teacher or in the home under parents.
Proverbs
“Wisdom is wedding thought and experience to become ‘competent with regards to the realities of life.’ Keller
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The book of Proverbs is a gospel book, because it is part of the Bible. That means the book of Proverbs is good news for bad people. It is about grace for sinners. It is about hope for failures. It is about wisdom for idiots. This book is Jesus himself coming to us as our counselor, as our sage, as our life coach.
Ortlund Jr., Raymond C. . Proverbs: Wisdom That Works (Kindle Locations 210-212). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
To understand this book. To understand what Solomon is trying to communicate to us. It requires deep thinking and reflection.
Ortlund Jr., Raymond C. . Proverbs: Wisdom That Works (Kindle Locations 210-212). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
Ortlund believes the goal of proverbs is to have deep character and straight thinking.
Wisdom requires slow reading, deep meditation, and thoughtful reflection. Don’t read just to check off a box. Meditate and memorize Scripture. Pray over it. Mull over it. Apply it.
We need to understand how truth applies to our every day situations.
Transition: What is Wisdom? It is knowing how to live skillfully and apply God’s truth to everyday life. Why do you need it? You need it because we are foolish by nature, we need to learn how to live rightly, young people to grow in maturity, wise people need to continue to learn, and to understand God’s truth through deep study, thinking, and reflection.
III. Where Do You Get Wisdom? (v. 7)
III. Where Do You Get Wisdom? (v. 7)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
This is the theme of the book. Wisdom is found in the fear of God. Fearing God does not mean being in dread or terror of Him. Fearing God means revering Him and respecting Him for who He is. “Fear” is not cringing terror but an attitude of awe and wonder before the faithful covenant love of God. Fearing God means to adore Him, to trust Him, to turn away from evil and pursue good.
It is not the fear of a cruel master who beats a slave, but a fear of a son who is afraid of dishonoring a loving and kind respected Father.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
The fear of God is the first fundamental principle of the foundation of living a wise life. It is recoginizing there is a God who made the world. We are by nature foolish because of our sinful nature. And we need God’s wisdom to guide and direct us so that we would not go down path of destruction.
The NET Bible First Edition Notes Notes for 1:7
The NET Bible First Edition Notes Notes for 1:7
The fear of the LORD is expressed in reverential submission to his will—the characteristic of true worship. The fear of the LORD is the foundation for wisdom (9:10) and the discipline leading to wisdom (15:33). It is expressed in hatred of evil (8:13) and avoidance of sin (16:6), and so results in prolonged life (10:27; 19:23).
The fear of the LORD is expressed in reverential submission to his will—the characteristic of true worship. The fear of the LORD is the foundation for wisdom (9:10) and the discipline leading to wisdom (15:33). It is expressed in hatred of evil (8:13) and avoidance of sin (16:6), and so results in prolonged life (10:27; 19:23).
Proverbs: A Mentor Commentary 1:7
Oswald Chambers was correct: ‘The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.’
Wisdom Begins With Worship
Fools Despise Wisdom and Instruction
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.
In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that—and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison—you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. C.S. Lewis
In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that—and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison—you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. C.S. Lewis
Ortlund Jr., Raymond C. . Proverbs: Wisdom That Works (Kindle Locations 501-504). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
The New Bible Commentary 1:1–7 Introduction
Proverbs assumes that you cannot make sense of the world or live a full and successful life unless you see God behind it and involved in it, and seek understanding of it from God with reverence and humility.
The NET Bible First Edition Notes Notes for 1:7
The fear of the LORD is expressed in reverential submission to his will—the characteristic of true worship. The fear of the LORD is the foundation for wisdom (9:10) and the discipline leading to wisdom (15:33). It is expressed in hatred of evil (8:13) and avoidance of sin (16:6), and so results in prolonged life (10:27; 19:23).
The ‘naïve’ person is one who is open and vulnerable to any influence that the winds may blow upon him. The ‘naïve’ lack judgment. The proverbs will make them able to see these influences for what they are and to circumvent the disaster they would bring.
Oswald Chambers was correct: ‘The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.’
We are becoming people who have access to vast amounts of knowledge with a few taps of our thumbs but who retain just little bits of knowledge in our minds and hearts. As we increasingly dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of information, we grow increasingly unable or unwilling to distinguish between knowledge and information, wisdom and knowledge.
Challies, Tim. The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion (Kindle Locations 2649-2651). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
As we increasingly dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of information, we grow increasingly unable or unwilling to distinguish between knowledge and information, wisdom and knowledge.
Challies, Tim. The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion (Kindle Locations 2649-2651). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Challies, Tim. The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion (Kindle Locations 2664-2665). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Challies, Tim. The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion (Kindle Locations 2664-2665). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
A fool is one who lacks spiritual perception. A fool is morally lax. A fool is arrogant and thinks he knows everything. He is a hardened person.
How do we learn to fear God?
God through wisdom made everything. But God through wisdom also redeems us. We come to fear God when we recognize who He is and who we are. The Bible tells us God made us and he is completely righteous and is devoted to upholding the integrity of his name.
Akin, Jonathan. Exalting Jesus in Proverbs (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (Kindle Locations 451-452). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
He will not compomise his justice. And we see that God will not compromise his justice than in the cross. The cross show us that he is Holy and He does not tolerate sin. And the cross also shows us that he infinitely gracious and merciful because it was the plan of the Father to redeem fools who think they know better than God.
“Fear” is not cringing terror but an attitude of awe and wonder before the faithful covenant love of God.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
Proverbs 14:27
True wisdom is found in knowing Christ. Wisdom begins with Worship.
A fool is one who lacks spiritual perception. A fool is morally lax. A fool is arrogant and thinks he knows everything. He is a hardened person.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
We can properly fear Him when we see his character fully revealed in the cross of Christ. We see Him uncomprommising in his holiness and justice. And we see Him infinitely gracious and merciful.
Non-Christian
Give up on thinking you know it all and truly embrace the who One knows it all. When you come to that point in your life when you realize you are not in control, and God is control, and you know that you were supposed to live a certain way, but don’t, then you begin to see the wisdom of God in sending the Son to die in your place so that you can be wise in embracing Christ.
Wisdom embraces Christ
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Proverbs is good news for sinners because Jesus is the wisdom of God incarante. And he came to give us wisdom about God and about ourselves. And in knowing God, we know ourselves rightly. And when we know ourselves rightly, we need to know God who is able to redeem us from our lost condtion.
Wisdom is found in knowing and fearing God. And we can fear Him by looking to the cross where His own Son was punished for our sin, and where His Son’s sacrifice, gave us salvation and deliverance so that we can be forgiven and conformed to His image.
Unbeliever
A wise person will come to the end of himself and say you don’t know it all. A wise person will say I’m not God and God is God. And he will recognize Jesus as the wisdom and righteousness of God.
Wisdom Begins With Worship
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:6-
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Summary:
What is Wisdom? It is a skilled living. It is knowing how to apply God’s truth in everyday life.
Why do you need it? We are by nature fools. We need to learn how to live rightly because sin has made us live foolishly. We need to grow in maturity and increase in learning. We need to understand God’s truth.
Where do you get it? Its found in fearing God. It is the beginning of knowledge. And we see God’s character most gloriously revealed in the death of His Son which is the true wisdom of God incarnate and in Him are all riches of wisdom and understanding.
Conclusion:
I’m doing my devotions in the Book of Ecclessiastes. Solomon is probably writing toward the end of his life after living a wisely and living as a fool as he fell into idolatry. And the conclusion after writing about a hedonistic lifestyle, and seeing that life is vain under the sun without God, is this:
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Your life’s purpose has been stated for you. Fear God, keep his commandements. God will bring every deed into judgment.
And for those in Christ, our sins have been dwelt with because Jesus bore our judgment and He gives us His spirit to live wise lives on this earth so that we can make much of Him.
Let us pray.