Proverbs: Gaining a Heart of Wisdom
Proverbs 1 – 9, Proverbs 2
An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.
"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."
The dean looks at them and says, "I should have taken the money."
When Solomon was a young king, he had pretty much the same offer and also chose wisdom, that he might rule the nation wisely. The difference is, as we read Proverbs, Solomon has no regret. In fact, he urges us to pursue wisdom, to treasure it far more than wealth.
At the beginning of 2010 my dad encouraged me to read Proverbs. He suggested that like Solomon, it would be good for me to gain wisdom in leading this new campus (which is true). So I did my devotions in Proverbs, and I found it fresh and exciting. I wanted to share and explore some of this together.
Proverbs 1-9 is one section, an extended prologue, laying a framework for the rest of the book. It is a collection of discourses; later we have individual proverbs. Considering reading Pr 1-9.
Today I’d like to consider the broader question of what we’re exploring, what is wisdom in Proverbs? I’d like to share 3 different aspects or definitions of wisdom.
Wisdom as “the way things work.”
The Hebrew word for wisdom refers to “masterful skill, understanding, expertise” (e.g., technical and artistic, governing, military). Skill in life, knowing how to handle life in this world: circumstances, relationships, money, temptation, speech/tongue, etc. It is becoming a masterfully skilled at handling life.
Theologically, the picture is that God created the world, and He created it with a certain order. There are God-made principles/laws for how things work. If you get an iPhone or an iPad [picture], you want to learn some simple, intuitive rules for how it works. You can ignore the manual, you can make up your own rules, but that’s foolish.
Likewise with life in our world. We can work with the Maker’s principles and generally find blessings, or we can work against these principles and find ourselves in trouble. Wisdom is learning to live with the ways God made things to work, and so be skilled in handling life.
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. (3:9-10)
We do not out-give God. Giving to God is increase, not decrease. God is a Giver, not a Taker.
The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. (3:33-34)
The righteous and humble enjoy God’s favor and blessings.
The wicked and scornful endure God’s curse
God is Judge. The wicked do not go unpunished and the righteous are not righteous in vain.
1. God has ordered this world, “the way things work.”
Being generous to God is gain.
God is judge and there are consequences to our actions, good or bad.
Wisdom is to live according to these principles/rules.
2. God has permitted exceptions. “The way things work is that things don’t always work the way they are supposed to work.”
These are not rules/laws. There are exceptions, and that’s part of wisdom as well, to know there are many exceptions. It doesn’t always “work right.”
Proverbs speaks of oppression and oppressors, so the righteous may be poor and suffer.
Proverbs speaks about how we can prepare (do everything right) but we cannot control the outcome of things.
Wisdom involves recognizing that there are patterns, and what those patterns are. Wisdom sees God’s bigger design.
Wisdom involves recognizing there are exceptions. The world is not entirely predictable and God is not contained. Wisdom recognizes we don’t see the whole design.
3. There is a difference in what God says and what our society says.
The way our society says the world works and the way Proverbs says the world works are not necessarily the same.
There is so much in Proverbs that promotes generosity. Our society does not teach/promote generosity. It promotes consumption. And we are consumers.
Our society does not promote righteousness. It teaches people to “get away with what they can,” “nice guys end last,” etc. In our world, righteousness can seem foolish, and most of us probably don’t live so “foolishly.”
We have listened to the wisdom of the world. We are more the product of our society than we probably realize. Recognize that, from God’s perspective, we may not be as wise as we think we are.
Without Scripture, it would be almost impossible to find a different kind of wisdom. Through our study, hopefully God will help us discern the God’s wisdom from the world’s wisdom and grow in His wisdom and become more skilled in living life in God’s world.
Wisdom as protection for youth
If you read Proverbs, you’ll notice how many sections begin with “My son, be attentive to my words,” “My son, do not forget my teaching,” “My son, hear your father’s instruction.”
Scholars say Proverbs was written to young boys, adolescents, preparing them for adulthood.
A large part of the teaching urges these young teens to resist temptations, particularly sexual temptations and peer pressure. These two pressures can be so overwhelming that it would be almost impossible to teach our kids anything more if they are not able to deal with these first.
Proverbs is trying to teach youth (us) discernment and desire: to be able to discern good from bad, wise from foolish, and to help them desire the good/wise.
A note to parents: Proverbs doesn’t tell us to teach our children, it presumes it, it demonstrates it. Parents, we have a tremendous role in the training and discipling of our kids. We’re not just to provide food and shelter, education, music, sports, etc. Proverbs implicitly teaches us that we are to impart wisdom to our children. We’re to prepare and protect them from the many dangerous temptations that fill our world, particular during their formative and vulnerable season of life. We’re to train them to live life with skill.
After reading Proverbs, I started using the term “wise/wisdom.” Boys, it is not wise to lie, you will hurt yourself. It is wise to give to/serve others, for you also will be blessed. Boys, I want you to become wise not foolish. It’s not just about being kind, being polite; there is also this matter of being wise.
Throughout this series, I’ll try to point out and hopefully we’ll all try to consider ways we can learn wisdom for ourselves and then impart that to our children.
Wisdom as a theological worldview
I think the big benefit of studying proverbs is not to have a collection of wise sayings and principles. Rather it is to gain a system, a paradigm, a worldview. We want to gain the mindset of Proverbs, so that we can see the world and ourselves from a wisdom perspective.
Here’s how I see that worldview coming together:
God (theology)
Proverbs repeatedly says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
How we view God affects what we value & desire; it defines a value system.
What we value & desire guides our choices and behavior.
1. Proverb 2
If you seek wisdom (2:1-4)
“then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (2:5)
You will understand/know God
“Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (2:9-10)
Wisdom will come into your heart, be “pleasant to your soul.” You will want the right things. It is not just knowing, it is being/wanting good.
Wisdom will then save you from wicked men and seductive women (2:12-19)
“So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.” (2:20)
Wisdom will protect you from danger and keep you on the righteous path.
GodàHeartàBehavior/path
2. Wisdom is a God-centered worldview
Wisdom begins with theology: our understanding of who God is, what He values, how He works, what He does. Wisdom is a God-centered worldview. God is the Maker, the King, the Judge, the Sovereign Lord who controls all things. He is, in fact, the center of the universe. Wisdom recognizes God is big and we are small.
If you’re playing basketball, everything changes if Lebron James [picture] is on the court. The game plan completely changes. All of a sudden, it matters very little what you do and matters an awful lot what Lebron does. It would be foolish to play without recognizing Lebron on the court.
If you’re visiting the White House, and Obama enters the room [picture], you can’t act as if this is your house. You can’t throw your socks on the floor and put your feet on the furniture. It’s not your house. The owner has all authority to do what He wants in His house. How foolish to act as if it were your house.
Wisdom begins with the acknowledgment of God.
How foolish it is to live life without acknowledging the biggest factor/agent/actor of reality. It matters far less what we do and far more what God does. This is God’s house, not ours, and He has all authority to do whatever He pleases.
3. A Gospel Reminder
Let me interrupt this to point out how this perspective overlaps with the Gospel.
God is the main agent/actor of reality, and in particular, of our salvation/Christian life. Regarding our relationship with God, it matters little with what we do, it matter a whole lot what God does. Life in the Gospel focuses on what God does for us; God is big and we are small. It’s about what God does.
The good news is that God has done a lot for us, more than we’ll ever fully understand. “It’s too good to be true.”
We said last week that the Bible is a rescue story. It’s a story about how God performed the “Great Exchange”: He took our sin and guilt and gave us his righteousness and victory.
Our first study in The Gospel-Centered Life, we saw that life in the Gospel sees more and more how sinful we are and how much God has mercifully and graciously done for us.
It’s about what God does.
I’d like to confess that though I and others have worked hard to prepare for this new campus, there were so many things that were far beyond our control. Finding a facility, finding an assistant pastor, finding various ministry team leaders and team members, and many of you and how you’ve already been a blessing to us—these were answered prayers and God’s provision. Gospel Wisdom recognizes how God has provided, God has blessed, God has moved. God is big and we are small.
Even in this quest for wisdom, though we are urged to seek wisdom, wisdom is from the Lord.
For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)
Wisdom is not something we generate or acquire. Wisdom is something God gives. We ask, God gives. Wisdom is based, not on the diligence of our search or the merits of our character, but on the grace and generosity of God.
He teaches us “the way things work.” He helps us understand His ways.
He helps us prepare our kids for the many dangers and temptations of life. He gives us and them discernment and desire.
He changes how we view Him, He reveals Himself, and in so doing, He changes our desires and our choices/behavior.
Wisdom comes from God. Wisdom sees that God is big and we are small.
We acknowledge and worship God.