a proverbs primer

David VanAcker, Pastor of Discipleship

Grace Church, Sunday Worship

Proverbs 1:1-7

July 5th, 2009

Proverbs 1:1-7  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:  ² To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,  ³ to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;  ⁴ to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth-  ⁵ Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,  ⁶ to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.  ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Main Points

1.      Rightly understanding Proverbs includes a right understanding of the background of the book of Proverbs, the nature of a proverb, the purpose of the book of Proverbs, “wisdom” in the proverbs, and the relationship between the wisdom prescribed in Proverbs and the cross of Christ.

2.      The book of Proverbs is a collection of proverbs.

3.      A proverb is a wise saying or a helpful general principle.

4.      Proverbs was written, primarily by King Solomon, to make its readers wise. 

5.      Proverbial wisdom is something like “skill in the art of godly living”.  

6.      Proverbs is not ultimately a book about living a good and prosperous life, but a book about living out our redemption in everyday life. 

Introduction

How many of you have ever said, “I wish that I’d known that earlier”?

How many of you have wondered what God would have you do in a particular business or parenting or money decision?

How many of you have ever been uncertain about how God would have you handle a certain relationship?

How many of you find yourselves frequently learning by your mistakes?

What you lack (what we all lack to a certain degree) is wisdom.  When we lack an understanding of the right thing to do or the right way to do it, we lack wisdom.  Lovingly and wisely, however, God has given us an entire book of the Bible dedicated to helping us to get it.  There is perhaps no more day-to-day practically helpful book in the Bible than Proverbs; yet it has been my experience as a pastor that many people rarely find themselves there when looking for guidance or direction from God. 

My aim over the next two weeks is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to help develop in you an appetite for Proverbs.  That is, I intend this message (along with next week’s) to entice you with the sweetness of God’s wisdom expressed through King Solomon and the other authors.  The book of Proverbs is full of insight and practical advice.  It’s packed with tools for godly living, social success, smart business practice, healthy marriages, and avoiding strife.  Indeed, anyone who desires to live (rather than merely think or feel) rightly before God should learn to love the book of Proverbs.  Again, my aim is to give you a taste for these things. 

In order to accomplish this aim, we’re going to spend today looking at the book of Proverbs from up high.  We’re going to look down on Proverbs from above to get a big-picture sense of the book that we might be able to better appreciate our dive down (next week) into the particulars of the book. 

Reading Proverbs is, in many ways, not like reading one of the gospels or epistles or prophets or books of the law.  It is part of what scholars call the wisdom literature of the Old Testament (along with Job, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes); and it takes some explaining.  That’s primarily what we’re after today.

Then, next week we’re going to look at several, what I believe to be, especially significant or helpful passages and themes in Proverbs.

Pray

As I said earlier, my aim here is to wet your appetite for Proverbs by showing you how helpful and practical it is.  This begins, I believe, by helping you to have a right understanding of Proverbs.  And rightly understanding Proverbs includes a right understanding of the background of the book of Proverbs, the nature of a proverb, the purpose of the book of Proverbs, the notion of “wisdom” in the proverbs, and the relationship between the book of Proverbs and the cross of Christ.

The book of Proverbs is a collection of proverbs.

Proverbs 1:1 has led many to believe that that everything following was written by Solomon. 

Proverbs 1:1  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel

1 Kings certainly gives weight to the notion that Solomon wrote many proverbs and was a very wise man.

1 Kings 4:29-34  ²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore,  ³⁰ so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.  ³¹ 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.  ³² He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.  ³³ He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.  ³⁴ And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Indeed, the traditional view of Proverbs was that the entire book was written by Solomon himself.  However, the text (along with modern scholarship) lets us know that the book of Proverbs is instead a compilation of proverbs written over time.  Specifically, we read that Solomon (1:1; 25:1), a group of wise men (22:17-24:34), a man named Agur (30), King Lemuel (31:1-9), and an anonymous author (31:10-31) all contributed proverbs to the book of Proverbs. 

Proverbs 22:17-18  Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge,  ¹⁸ for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

Proverbs 30:1  The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.

Proverbs 31:1  The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:

So, one of the first things that we must understand, if we are going to rightly understand Proverbs, is that it is a compilation of proverbs written by different men over time.  As to the questions of how much time and when—it’s difficult to be precise. 

Because Solomon, who reigned from 971-931 B.C., is mentioned as an author (for which 1 Kings 4:21-34 gives support) and because King Hezekiah, who reigned from 715-686 B.C., is mentioned (25:1) we know that the first proverbs were written at least 300 years before the book of Proverbs was finally compiled. 

Again, the book of Proverbs is a collection of proverbs, written primarily by King Solomon (along with a few others as well), and compiled over a few hundred years. 

A proverb is a wise saying or a helpful general principle.

So what is a proverb?  Most simply, a proverb is a wise saying or helpful general principle.  This is very important to understand as we seek to apply the proverbs to our lives.  Without this understanding we may find ourselves trying to form laws or rules out of statements that were never meant to be laws or rules. 

For instance, without this understanding we might read Proverbs 22:6 which says, “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it,” and conclude that it is a law or rule (rather than a general principle) that godly parents will always have godly children. 

Indeed, godly parents should expect, as Proverbs 22:6 suggests, that their children will be godly.  However, it is a misunderstanding of the nature of a proverb to turn it into an absolute statement.  Indeed, we see both biblically (see Judah in 1 Chronicles 2:3 and Isaac in Romans 9:13, for instance) and practically that this is not the case. 

Similarly we might read Proverbs 3:9-10 which says, “honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine” and conclude that it is a law or rule (rather than a wise saying) that if we give our money liberally to God we will find ourselves with great earthly wealth.

Indeed, those who give liberally to the gospel should expect, as Proverbs 3:9-10 teaches, that they will be blessed richly by God.  But it is a misunderstanding of the nature of the proverbs to interpret this as a rule.  The Bible talks often about individuals who gave out of their poverty who remained (as far as we know) financially impoverished (see the poor widow in Mark 12:42 and the Macedonian churches in 2 Corinthians 8:2, for instance).

Proverbs are, once again, not laws, rules, or absolute statements.  Instead, proverbs are wise sayings and general principles. 

In light of this truth, Duane Garrett and Kenneth Harris helpfully offer a “grid” for best applying a proverb.  That is, they suggest, in order to best grasp the intended principle in any given proverb we should ask ourselves the following three questions:

1.      What virtue does this proverb commend? In the case of Proverbs 22:6 the virtue extolled is parenting in a godly manner.  In the case of Proverbs 3:9-10 the virtues promoted are giving first to God (in all things, including finances) and trusting God above all things.

2.      What vice does it hold up for disapproval? In 22:6 the vice condemned is unintentional parenting.  In the case of 3:9-10 the vice rebuked is a selfish hording of, or trusting in, our money.

3.      What value does it affirm?”  In 22:6 the value affirmed is intentional and effective parenting.  And in 3:9-10 the values affirmed are selfless giving and unconditional trusting.

Sovereign Grace Church (Fairfax, Virginia) offers another helpful set of questions, designed to serve as a “reader’s guide” for rightly understanding the proverbs:

1.      How does the second line of the proverb explain, illustrate, or elaborate on the first line? In Proverbs 3:9-10 for instance the second line (“then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine”) explains the first line (“honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce”) by reminding the reader that it brings God delight when His children love Him first; so much so that he blesses them when they do so. 

2.      How does this proverb show us the right way or warn us against the wrong way? Again 3:9-10 shows us the right way by illustrating the relationship between God’s desire for primacy in our hearts and His blessing on those who hold Him in such regard.

3.      How is Jesus Christ the fulfillment of the wisdom in this proverb? In 3:9-10 this truth is glaring.  Loving God with all that we are and trusting in Him with all that we have is the conduit through which God imparts salvation to us in Jesus Christ.  That is, in surrendering ourselves to God, by grace through faith, Jesus becomes for us a barn bursting with wine!

Both sets of questions are designed to help us get to the heart of the proverb while avoiding the mistake of trying to create rules or laws from the proverbs.  Again, the right way to understand proverbs is to understand them as wise sayings or general principles, not absolute statements.

Proverbs was compiled to make its readers wise. 

What’s the point or purpose of the proverbs?  From the very first words in Proverbs we are told by King Solomon that the proverbs exist to help make its readers wise. 

Proverbs 1:1-4  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:  ² To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,  ³ to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;  ⁴ to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth…

We read it again in Proverbs 1:5, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance.”

Indeed, one of the chief aims of the book of Proverbs is to impart wisdom to its readers; to the people of God.

Regarding wisdom…

·         We are told that wisdom is crying out to the people of God, (Proverbs 1:20-21) “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; ²¹ at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks.”

Wisdom is crying out to us.  We must plug our hears (or have them plugged), as children of God, to miss it (which we do often times, because the wisdom of God often conflicts with our fleshly desires). 

·         We are told that if we truly seek wisdom we will find it, (Proverbs 2:1-5)  “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,  ² making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;  ³ yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,  ⁴ if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,  ⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”

Our God, who gives good gifts, will not withhold wisdom from us (James 1:5) if we seek it where it may be found.  If we truly desire to be wise, God will grant that to us. 

·         We are told that wisdom comes primarily from God, the Word of God, and our parents (Proverbs 2:6-8; 4:1-2) “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;  ⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,  ⁸ guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.”

Proverbs 4:1-2  Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight,  ² for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching.

If we do not find wisdom it is because we are looking for it in the wrong places.

·         And we are told that the one who seeks and finds wisdom is blessed, (Proverbs 3:13-14) “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,  ¹⁴ for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.”

Proverbs 8:10-11  Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,  ¹¹ for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

Wisdom is a gift from God.  It is a blessing more valuable than any amount of riches.  Because He loves His children, God gives us wisdom.

In this regard, perhaps one of the most remarkable aspects of the book of Proverbs is its scope.  As we will see more next week, Proverbs offers wisdom on a vast array of topics like sex, honesty, work, laziness, speech, loose women, business, discipline, being a husband, wife, mother, father, child, neighbor, enemy and friend, money, poverty, anger, conflict, planning for the future, religion, old age, flattery, alcohol, contentment, revenge, and courage.

The book of Proverbs was written largely to make its readers wise, and what a job it does.

As we wrap up today I want to answer two more questions: (1) What is wisdom in Proverbs? (2) What is the relationship between the wise sayings for practical living in Proverbs and the cross of Jesus? 

Proverbial wisdom is “skill in the art of godly living”.

Now that we’re clear on the fact that Proverbs was inspired by God to give wisdom to His people, we’re left with the question: “What is wisdom in Proverbs?”

The American Heritage Dictionary defines wisdom as, “The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.”  But I don’t think that this quite captures it.  I don’t believe the Proverbial wisdom, like this definition, is means-less in its understanding of wisdom.  That is, I don’t believe that wisdom in the proverbs is apathetic or indifferent towards means. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Rudolf Smend says, wisdom in Proverbs is “the art of reaching one's end by the use of the right means”.  But I don’t believe that Proverbial wisdom, like this definitions is end-less either.  Smend’s definition speaks of one’s own end, but Proverbs hardly has one’s own end as the main thrust of it’s wisdom. 

Proverbs never offers advice on the right end void concern for the right means and it never suggests a right means ambivalent towards its end. 

In the end, I believe that wisdom in Proverbs is best defined as Duane Garrett and Kenneth Harris define wisdom, “skill in the art of godly living”.  That is, the kind of wisdom that the proverbs offer includes both an understanding of the right goal and the right method for attaining that goal; for one can not be skilled in “godly living” if one does not have knowledge of God’s purpose for one’s life as well as God’s prescribed means for accomplishing that purpose.

For instance, Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”  The end or goal of this proverb is that we would, with our words, bring peace and avoid anger and wrath.  However Proverbs 28:23 says, “Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.”  The point here is that wisdom teaches that flattery, for instance, is not a proper means for achieving the end of peace and avoiding anger and wrath.  That is, wisdom is concerned with both how we speak and why we speak.  Wisdom is concerned both with right means and right ends.

It must also be said that the wisdom of Proverbs, true wisdom, always begins with the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Simply, we will never be wise—we will never possess wisdom—if we do not fear God.  Much could be said about what it means to fear the Lord, but it will suffice here to acknowledge that fearing God means grasping his sovereign lordship.  That is, fearing God means understanding that nothing I do in life is outside of God’s control or reign.

We know that we have begun to be wise when we understand that there are no secular (or Godless) decisions; that there is no area of interest in our lives for which the wisdom of God does not rule; that every choice that I make must be brought before the throne of God; and that failing to do so is foolish and deadly. 

Proverbs is not ultimately a book about living a good and prosperous life, but a book about living out our redemption in everyday life. 

Finally, it must be said that Proverbs is not ultimately a book about living a good and prosperous life, but a book about living out our redemption in everyday life.  That is, the admonitions in Proverbs, like the obedience demanded throughout the rest of the bible, are not independent of the cross of Christ.  Or again, despite the fact that Proverbs might seem void of reconciliation or redemption or salvation language (we never hear of a coming messiah or the atonement for our sins or a provision for failing to act wisely), or despite the fact that Proverbs might seem to advocate a graceless obedience (just do it) as a means of pleasing God, it does no such thing. 

The obedience expected in Proverbs points us (along with the rest of the Word of God) straight to the cross.  It is precisely because we cannot, on our own, do the things that Proverbs commends to us, or live perfectly in the kind of wisdom that Proverbs prescribes, that Jesus died for us.   It is not, then, by perfectly heeding (as if we could) the wisdom of the Proverbs that we are saved, but by trusting in the one who did perfectly live in wisdom on our behalf: Jesus Christ.  And it is by trusting (or having faith) in Jesus Christ that we are empowered to live and love the wisdom of the Proverbs.

Or, as Paul said it (Ephesians 2:8-9), “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Or as William Arnot so eloquently puts it,

“The theme throughout [the entire book of Proverbs] is: righteousness the fruit of faith.  We who live under the Christian dispensation should beware of a fatal mistake in our conception of its distinguishing characteristic.  The gospel is not a method of bringing men to heaven without righteousness or with less of it than was demanded in ancient times.  The actual holiness of his creature is the end of the Lord in all his dispensations, as certainly as fruit is the object of the husbandman when he plants, and waters, and grafts his trees.  The death of Christ for sin is the divine plan, not for dispensing with obedience from men, but for effectually obtaining it.  Reconciliation is the road to righteousness.  God proclaims pardon and bestows peace, that the rebels may submit and serve him.  They who feel more at ease in their alienation because they have heard that Christ gave himself for sinners are trampling under foot the blood of the covenant.  Alas! even God’s dear Son is made the stumbling block over which men fall blindfold.  A vague impression comes in and possesses a corrupt heart, that personal holiness is in some way less needful under the reign of grace.  God is my witness, I have not in these pages taught that men should try their own obedience, instead of trusting in the Savior for the free pardon of sin: but I have taught often and once more tenderly repeat the lesson here, that those who do not like the obligation to obedience, have no part yet in the forgiving grace“ (William Arnot, Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth, p.580-581).

As we read Proverbs we must keep in mind the cross of Christ.  Jesus died to enable us to obey and cover us when we don’t.  Though the name of Jesus is not mentioned in Proverbs His blood makes our delight in, and obedience to, the wisdom of Proverbs possible and pleasing to the Father.  As you read the proverbs look to the cross.  And as you look to the cross, follow the crucified Christ in the obedience that led Him there.

Conclusion

Again, my aim for today, was simply to help you come to the book of Proverbs with a right perspective.  Specifically, we must understand, if we are going to read Proverbs well, that the book of Proverbs is a collection of proverbs, that a proverb is a wise saying or a helpful general principle, that Proverbs was written, primarily by King Solomon, to make its readers wise, that Proverbial wisdom is something like “possessing the knowledge both of right ends and means”, and that Proverbs is not ultimately a book about living a good and prosperous life, but a book about living out our redemption in everyday life. 

I’d like to encourage you to spend some time reading through Proverbs this week, for the sake of your souls and to better prepare you to hear next week’s sermon.

Proverbs 2:1-5  My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,  ² making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;  ³ yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,  ⁴ if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,  ⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.