The Book of Proverbs

1. The Book of Proverbs The How and Why of Wisdom Proverbs 2:1-22; 3:5-8

2. The Purpose of Proverbs • Proverbs was originally written by King Solomon (1:1) as an instruction manual to be used by parents in the nation of Israel to teach their sons wisdom: • Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. (Proverbs 1:8 cf. 4:1; 6:20) • God eventually included the Book of Proverbs in His special revelation, the Bible, in order to give wisdom to all those who read it (cf. 1:1-7)

3. What is Wisdom? • Wisdom is competence with regard to the realities and complexities of life. Wisdom is the ability to know the right thing to do in the 80% of life where the rules of morality don’t apply. Being good and moral is not enough – you’ve got to be wise. (Tim Keller)

4. If this box represents all the significant decisions that you have to make in life: Wise versus Unwise Moral versus Immoral

5. The How and Why of Wisdom • The passages in Proverbs that we will be examining today (Proverbs 2:1-22; 3:5-8) will teach us two things: • How we should go about getting wisdom • Why we need wisdom

6. The How and Why of Wisdom 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 3:6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. 3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 3:8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

7. The How and Why of Wisdom 2:1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2:2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 2:3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 2:4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 2:5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

8. The How and Why of Wisdom 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 2:7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 2:8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 2:9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path. 2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

9. The How and Why of Wisdom 2:11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. 2:12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 2:13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 2:14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 2:15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

10. The How and Why of Wisdom 2:16 It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, 2:17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. 2:18 For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 2:19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.

11. The How and Why of Wisdom 2:20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. 2:21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; 2:22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

12. How to Get Wisdom 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 3:6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. • The search for wisdom begins with trust – “with all your heart” = total trust in God (in Hebrew, “heart” = the real inner you – your thoughts, desires, true beliefs, and feelings) • Depend on God for wisdom, as opposed to your own natural way of thinking about things. • In everything that you do conform to God’s standards and He will straighten out your life.

13. How to Get Wisdom 3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 3:8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. • Beware of being over-confident in your own innate sense of what is wise. Often our opinions are tainted by our own evil desires. • Begin instead with a reverence for the Lord and His word which over time will help you turn away from evil. • A right relationship with God leads to a state of complete physical and mental well-being, not simply the absence of illness and disease (Bruce Waltke on 3:8).

14. How to Get Wisdom 2:1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2:2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 2:3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 2:4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure… • Value wisdom and diligently search for it (2:4) • Earnestly ask for God it (2:3 cf. James 1:5) • Hear it – pay attention! (2:2a) • Accept it – grab hold of it and believe it! (2:1a) • Turn it over in your mind, meditate on it – understand it! (2:2b) • Remember it – treasure it! (2:1b)

15. Why You Need Wisdom 2:4 …if you look for [wisdom] as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 2:5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. • Proverbs teaches that the “fear of the Lord” is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), but here we see that as you get more wisdom you will be better able to understand the fear of the Lord. • In other words the more you get wisdom, the easier it is to get more wisdom!

16. Why You Need Wisdom 2:7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 2:8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 2:9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path. 2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. • Wisdom will enable you to live a holy life (upright, blameless, just, faithful, etc.) which will make you successful and protect you from the pitfalls that come with sinful living. (2:7-9) • The more you learn wisdom, the more you will desire and enjoy it. (2:10)

17. Why You Need Wisdom 2:11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. • “Discretion” = another word for wisdom • Wisdom (or discretion) will make you wise to those who would otherwise lead you astray (2:11-19) • Wicked men who delight in doing wrong (2:12-15) • The adulteress with her seductive words (2:16-19)

18. Why You Need Wisdom 2:12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 2:13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 2:14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 2:15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. • Wisdom will save you from going down the path of those who take delight in doing evil.

19. Why You Need Wisdom 2:16 [Wisdom] will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, 2:17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. 2:18 For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 2:19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. • Wisdom will save you from the seductive advances of someone who is trying try draw you into having sex outside of marriage.

20. Why You Need Wisdom 2:20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. • Because Proverbs is Wisdom literature it only recognizes two ways: • The ways of the wicked (2:12) • The ways of good men (2:20) • In 2:12 we saw that “wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men” • Here we see that wisdom leads us to “keep to the paths of the righteous”

21. Why You Need Wisdom 2:21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; 2:22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. • “The land” here refers to the future heavenly land where only those who are blameless will go to live with God forever (see Psalm 37:9,29,38) • In the end, there only two outcomes, depending on what type of person you are: • The upright (or blameless) will live and remain in the “land” (i.e. heaven) • The wicked (or unfaithful) will be cut off (or torn from) the “land”