Take-Aways from our Study on the book of Proverbs
Hi men. I’m glad we got to embark on this study together. The wisdom literature of the Old Testament is important for a variety of reasons, but one central truth that I had hoped to focus on was that God has given us minds that can comprehend complex concepts of wisdom and trusts us to make decisions that reflect his character in the world. This should have the two-fold effect of pulling us up to the Lord in our worship and pulls us down into humility, as so many of the decisions we face are not black and white: they require the counsel of others, time, and the willingness to learn from mistakes.
In Proverbs, wisdom is first this:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. (Proverbs 1:7;9:10)
This means that to know God is the absolute priority of every human, and every decision we make in our lives will start with these initial questions: “Who is God? And what does he want from me?” To answer this question based on how God has revealed himself to us through his Word and through the person of Christ is to anchor all of our ethics, behaviors, and patterns in the world in Him. To answer that we don’t know, or no one can know, or to worship a false God is to anchor your life in culture, yourself, expedience, and any other object of worship that brings meaning to an individual – but this is the first major fork in the road for any person: who is God?
And then, if knowing God is ultimate wisdom, we must trust our own wisdom far less:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
We must remember that most Christians through the centuries have been illiterate. That does not mean “stupid,” of course, Christians have always been able to comprehend the Word of God rather orally or in written form, and have been held accountable to his commands throughout the ages. Being able to communicate in language is part of the imago dei – it’s a gift that was given to Adam in the garden, and he even had the privilege of using language to name the animals. But we must not lean on our own understanding – we must remember that children, the illiterate, and the wisest scholar have the same access to the wisdom of God by knowing God first. The wise professor when asked the most important thing he ever learned said, “Jesus loves me so. For the Bible tells me so.” It’s a command for humility, that we be people content with the knowledge we’ve been given in his Word and admit our own limitations in understanding the world, ourselves, and the Lord.
The very next verses in Proverbs speak to this humility:
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8)
Consider Proverbs 15:33 –
The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.
We can then apply this to our lives with a kind of tiered, stairstep approach to knowledge in our lives. We can know a few things in our lives, and a few things we can know well – but we can’t know everything. In fact, we may not know much, but what we can know pleases God and brings joy and peace to our lives. We can –
1. Know God
2. Know His Word
3. Know our families
The Proverbs speak to this in the many Proverbs about our wives and our children. We have the responsibility of knowing them, guiding them, and shaping our families in a way that honors the Lord. We can –
4. Know our vocations
Proverbs is full of wisdom about hard work, creativity, diligence, perseverance, and producing fruit in our work. Consider this verse –
A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich. (Proverbs 10:4)
5. Know our church/know our friends
Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Once we establish the realms where we can have full knowledge, then we can apply this knowledge to the many different areas of life not mentioned here: our speech, our money, our sexuality, and so on. There is no area of life where the wisdom of God remains silent, and yet, we must always hold in front of us the right level of humility in order to live lives that please him.
