Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Proverbs 1:1-7 | Date: March 22, 2020 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

All right, my plan is for these times that we meet together, as long as it continues, the plan is to look at the book of Proverbs. And today, if you will, look at Proverbs chapter one. I’ve sent you a brief outline. If you want to have your Bibles with you, Proverbs chapter one, verses one to seven, is what we’ll look at. Because this is our first study, let’s just call this “Proverbs: A First Look,” or if you will, “Proverbs: A Christian View.” And I hope that you will see how that is significant by the time we finish up.

But first of all, then, Proverbs chapter 1, verses 1 to 7:

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…

Verse five—I’m sorry, I got distracted with my phone that was ringing.

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.

And then the motto of the book of Proverbs that I hope to get to next week:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Need for Wisdom

Whenever I approach the book of Proverbs, I think in terms of a contrast. There’s a pair of observations about contemporary society that I think are curiously ironic. On the one hand, our society today offers more helps than any society in human history. We have institutions, we have services, consultants, we have counselors, we have Dr. Ruths and all kinds of professionals who can unscrew the tops of our heads and probe into our inner self and diagnose our problems and offer solutions and provide directions for success and for happiness and fulfillment in life. We have more helps available today than society has ever seen.

And yet on the other hand—and here’s where the irony seems to come in—our society has more need for these kinds of helps than any society in history. Despite the abundance of helps available, the need for these helps keeps growing. We have a remarkable inability to find contentment. We have a remarkable inability to find fulfillment. We have a remarkable ability to mess up our lives, whether it’s with drugs or problems with self-esteem or discontent or broken families and whatnot. We seem to have more trouble than ever just coping with life generally. And it doesn’t take a prophet’s insight to recognize that our society seems increasingly adept at ruining itself. From the individual level, to the family level, to the society level, in many respects, it seems we’re falling apart at the seams. Or bringing it into the context of Proverbs now, simply put, we don’t seem to have the wisdom to live life successfully.

Defining Wisdom

So let’s talk about this word “wisdom.” You’ll notice that it’s the very purpose of the book of Proverbs to give wisdom. Verses one and two again: “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight.” So the purpose of the book is to give wisdom. It is giving us these proverbs so that we may know wisdom and instruction.

Now the word “wisdom” in the Old Testament means simply a skill. In fact, the word is translated that way several times in the Old Testament. You’ll find the word, for example, describing the skilled craftsmen Pastor Boyd has been talking to us about recently in Sunday evening service in Exodus chapter 36, I think it was. Bezalel and Aholiab; these two guys were skilled craftsmen. That’s our word, “wisdom”—wise craftsmen. The various ones who constructed the Old Testament tabernacle, the various ornate furnishings, these were skilled craftsmen. That’s the word here: wisdom.

More generally then, wisdom has to do with the skill of living successfully. The skill of living successfully. So it has to do with understanding God’s world, understanding the way of life that works, understanding different situations in life so that you’re able to make right decisions, so that you’re able to avoid certain bad consequences, so that you’re able to do things that are faithful to God and live in a way that brings blessing and contentment. In short, wisdom is the skill of living successfully under God—getting the most out of life, avoiding its problems, avoiding its heartaches.

And as Proverbs 3 will show us, wise living is living in such a way to find favor with God and with men. It’s living in a way that pleases God, that brings personal fulfillment and joy. Again, wisdom is the skill of living successfully under God. It’s living in a way that we realize and experience God’s blessing and favor. The idea of happiness is involved, but the idea is bigger than that. Wise living results in blessing, favor with God and men, and fulfillment.

A significant portion of the Old Testament gives us and in fact is given to teach us wisdom in that sense. It’s called the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. Wisdom literature proper is Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, but many of the Psalms are wisdom Psalms as well. The book of Song of Solomon is often considered wisdom literature also. They’re giving us wisdom with regard to the marriage relationship and so on. So it comes as no surprise to us that scripture is given in large part to teach us how to live and how to live wisely.

Now I always like to point out in connection with Proverbs a connection that’s very important. The Bible’s wisdom literature offers us something that’s unique. And here another contrast: we like to say, “Live and learn.” And by that we mean we learn from experience. Usually it means we learn from our mistakes. And that of course is well and good, and it’s certainly true to life. We live and learn. We learn from experience. We learn from our mistakes. But what scripture’s wisdom literature offers us is just the opposite. It does not come to us and say, “Live and learn.” It comes to us and says, “Come learn and live.” It offers us upfront the wisdom that is needed to live life successfully, to avoid mistakes that displease God and that mess up our lives. Come learn and live, avoid those mistakes and learn to live well, learn to live successfully.

And of course that’s the Bible’s claim throughout: that because it is given by inspiration of God, it’s sufficient to teach us, to reprove us, to correct us, to train us for righteousness and to equip us fully for every good work, as Paul tells us. And it does this as part of the gospel promise to transform us and make us to be all that we’re called to be. You’ve heard me say it a thousand times that the gospel makes that twin promise of justification and sanctification: acceptance and transformation. And this wisdom literature is given us in large part to help transform us and to make us to live wisely. So that’s the promise that the book of Proverbs holds out for us.

Now I should make a distinction there: proverbs are not promises. They’re not the same. And sometimes there’s been some confusion on that because somebody will point out an exception: “I did what the proverbs said and it didn’t turn out good,” or whatever. Proverbs are not promises. They’re simply pithy sayings that condense general principles for wise and fruitful living. In directing us to live wisely, however, it does hold out a happy prospect.

The Purpose and Structure of Proverbs

So notice again, verses one to four, notice the purpose clauses. Why is the book of Proverbs given to us? Verse one: “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel”—there’s a title of the book. And now the purposes: “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.” So there’s the purpose of the book of Proverbs and why it is given: to give us wisdom for right living. That’s the prospect. Its stated purpose is to equip us for life.

And as we will see, it offers wisdom for every dimension of life. It’ll tell us how to think best, how best to talk, how to have a happy home, how to have a happy marriage, what is a good friendship and a right friendship, principles of work and finance and all kinds of things. Wisdom for all of life it offers us. It’s been observed, and I think it’s a helpful observation, that if you want a devotional life that pleases God, read the Psalms. If you want a life that is successful and pleases God, read Proverbs.

So then that brings us next: what is a proverb? As I mentioned a second ago, a proverb is a pithy saying that condenses general principles for wise living. Proverbs are not unique to the Bible. The ancient world had their own proverbs. We have proverbs in our own day also. Usually they’re one-liners: “A stitch in time saves nine,” or “A penny saved is a penny earned.” These little sayings are distilled wisdom or condensed experience. As I say, our proverbs tend to be one-liners, but the Hebrew proverbs are usually two-liners.

So let me give you a couple of examples. “A slack hand causes poverty” (this is Proverbs 10, verse four). “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” So we have two lines. Slack hand causes poverty; the hand of the diligent makes rich. If you’re a sluggard, you’re not going to get ahead. If you want to get ahead, you’ve got to work at it. That’s the proverb.

Proverbs 10, verse 19: “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.” Again, the meaning is pretty obvious, but there’s a two-line proverb. You talk a lot, you’ll sin a lot. If you’re wise, you’ll hold your tongue.

Proverbs 13, verse 20: “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” So the biblical proverbs address all the dimensions of life, and they offer us wisdom to navigate through life successfully.

Some proverbs are especially sharp and to the point, and they hit the mark immediately. And the message just kind of bursts out on you before you even can raise a defense. Like Proverbs chapter 13 and verse three. Before you even finish hearing this, it’s got you: “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” When I was a kid, my dad had me memorize that verse. Of course, that was in the King James Version: “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.” I can’t to this day understand why he thought I needed to memorize that verse, but he thought that was particularly appropriate for me. I memorized it well, and there’s the wisdom: keep your mouth, keep your life. Talk a lot, you’ll get in trouble.

Proverbs 18, verse 13: “If anyone gives an answer before he hears it, it’s a folly and a shame to him.” You see how that one just, before you even finish the second line, you’ve got the point. Uh-oh, he that answers the matter before he hears it, it’s a folly and a shame to him.

Or Proverbs 21, verse nine: “It is better to live in the corner of a housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.” Evidently Solomon felt the need for that because that one’s repeated again in Proverbs 25, verse 24.

Some of the proverbs are very picturesque. Like, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.” Well, it’s very vivid. The picture is pretty clear. I can’t imagine having a dinner of just herbs or just vegetables—that’s just not right. But I would rather have a dinner of broccoli at a table where there’s love than a good steak at a table where it’s filled with hate.

And some of the proverbs even make their point with a touch of humor, like Proverbs 11:22: “Like a gold ring in a pig’s nose is a beautiful woman without discretion.” Just imagine a gold ring in a pig’s nose. What a waste. So also is beauty to a woman without discretion.

Some of the proverbs, as we may get to, require time and patience and careful thinking before the punchline really sinks in. In fact, it is not always best simply to read through a chapter of Proverbs at a time. That’s very helpful. But often it’s better to take a given proverb and think it through. As a rule, your greatest profit will come if you take your time with them, read carefully, think on it, memorize it, mull it over, think of specific life applications, and take time to consider the proverbs prayerfully.

All right. So proverbs are compressed wisdom teaching us how to live successfully before God. Some of them hit us up short, sometimes with a kind of shock value. Some use vivid pictures, metaphors, and illustrations, and some have an almost annoying refusal to explain themselves. But all of them are intended to make us think—to think about life. And they’re intended by that to teach us how we can live well. Come, learn, and live. That’s the point.

I’ve given you on the handout that I emailed to you a brief outline of Proverbs. I won’t take time to expand on it here, but just point out the major divisions so you can see where we’re going and understand how it’s divided up as you read through it yourself. You’ve got the title of the book in verse one. You’ve got a kind of prologue in verses one to seven, telling us the purpose of the book. And then verse seven, the motto of the book.

Then chapters one to nine, which we’ll look at I think next time, we have a series of lectures that the wise man is giving to his son. So you have this sage talking to his son and you’ll see the various divisions of it marked out: “Hear, my son,” or “Listen, my son,” “My son, my son.” Each of those marks out a new lecture that the sage is giving to his son to teach him wisdom. And each of them zeros in on some specific area of application and so on. We’ll work our way through those as we continue to meet together. But you would do well to look through those chapters one to nine—those lectures to his son—particularly you who are parents with children at home. These are wonderful models for parental instruction, taking the son into various areas of living and life and telling him how a wise life will navigate through it well.

Chapter nine, we have a kind of epilogue to the lectures. And then finally, chapter 10 in verse one begins the proverbs proper. And here we’re given a list of these pungent, pithy sayings. And they’re grouped up then, as you see on your outline: Proverbs of Solomon, and then Proverbs of other wise men, and so on. And it ends up in chapter 31 with the acrostic poem of the virtuous woman. Through all of that then, God is offering us wisdom for living. We have the lectures at the beginning, exhorting us primarily to the value of wisdom, and then giving us the proverbs that teach us the wisdom for various aspects of life and living.

All right, let me wrap this up. That all has been kind of big-picture introduction to the book of Proverbs. But I want to make two further observations before we give it up.

Wisdom and Folly

First of all, we should be very careful to highlight the nature of wisdom and folly. That’s the contrasting characters and ideas in Proverbs. We should be careful to highlight the nature of wisdom and folly in relation to right and wrong. Wisdom and folly on the one hand; a contrast of right and wrong. You’ll notice in Proverbs that the descriptive terms, “the wise” and “the righteous,” are used rather interchangeably. To be wise is to be righteous. To be righteous is to be wise.

This is just enormously important to recognize: that following this divinely given wisdom is both right and wise. It is both right and it’s good for you. To be righteous is to be wise and to be wise is to be righteous. To reject wisdom is foolishness. It’s folly because it is both wrong and it’s bad for you. To pursue wisdom is to pursue what is right and it is to pursue what is in your own best interests. God will be pleased and you will be happier for it. To reject wisdom displeases God and will only bring unpleasant consequences for you.

So these ideas—that wisdom is both right and in your own best interests—are so bound together in Proverbs that it’s difficult to separate them at all. The wisdom that Proverbs offers is designed to result in a life that is blessed. I said it earlier, you’ve heard me say it many times, you’ll hear it again, that the gospel promises both justification and sanctification: acceptance before God and transformation of life. And it’s that latter concern, transformation of life, that Proverbs addresses. “Come, learn and live,” it offers us. And as you listen to the call of wisdom and as you heed the call of wisdom, it reminds us over and again: not only will you be doing what is right, you will be better off for it. You can be the fool and you can reject the call of wisdom. But as we do, we will incur God’s disfavor and we’ll mess up our lives in the process. Or we can heed the call of wisdom. And as we do, God will be honored and we will have a life that is meaningful. To be wise is to be righteous. To be righteous is to be wise. And so our study of the book of Proverbs ought to be guided by that happy prospect. Here we can learn to please God and men and have a life that’s rewarding. That’s real wisdom.

Wisdom in Whole Bible Perspective

All right, then finally, one more observation. We just must learn to view all of this in whole Bible perspective. I’ve hinted at it already with the gospel’s twin promises of justification and sanctification. But in the Bible’s biggest picture, we should see that all of this directs us to the Lord Jesus, who himself is wisdom incarnate. There’s actually been a lot of scholarly discussion about the subject of what’s called wisdom Christology—how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament theme of wisdom and how the Old Testament figure, as she’s called, Lady Wisdom or Sophia, points to Jesus. A measure of that discussion has been a little bit skewed, but the New Testament writers very obviously do pick up on the theme of Jesus and wisdom. You have some more subtle connections where Jesus positions himself as the sage, the teacher of wisdom; like wisdom in Proverbs, Jesus calls us to learn from him and so on.

But we also have some of the more obvious connections. Perhaps I think the most famous is in Colossians where Paul makes the connection several times over. For example, in Colossians chapter two and verse three, the apostle Paul tells us that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” In Christ are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And the idea there in context has to do with the all-sufficiency of Christ. If we have him, we have everything we need. And no human philosophy can ever exceed it or ever improve on it. In Christ are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

And then another example, 1 Corinthians 1, Paul gives us a sustained contrast between the wisdom of God, which is crystallized in the gospel of Christ crucified—the wisdom of God, which is Christ crucified—and then on the other hand, the wisdom of the world. And the world in all of its flaunted wisdom calls the wisdom of God foolishness. And yet, it is by this foolish wisdom that we are in fact brought to know God. It is only by Christ crucified for sin in our place that we can be saved and be restored. There’s no other way but through Christ crucified, even if the world calls it foolishness. And so we’re finally driven to see that the foolishness of God proves wiser than the wisdom of man. That’s 1 Corinthians chapter one.

The bottom line of all of that is that we cannot know God and we cannot have genuine wisdom or skill for living except as we are related rightly to Jesus Christ. I mentioned this recently in one of our midweek Bible studies or prayer group. Once in a while—it doesn’t happen often, but once in a while—someone from outside the church, completely unrelated, will call wanting counsel or help. Usually it’s because they’re desperate in some awful life situation. And well, it’s become time to call the preacher and they want help. And your heart goes out to them. You want to help because usually by the time they call you, it’s just a severe kind of mess in their lives. And of course, what they’re wanting you to do is press a button and turn a switch and fix it all for them in a moment that they’ve spent a lifetime ruining. And you can give them certain little points that’ll help and tweak this or that or the other. But in those kind of situations, you’re thinking—and at some point you have to tell them this as well—that all of this is just symptomatic. What you lack is something deeper. You need something more fundamentally life-changing. What you need is Jesus.

As Martin Lloyd-Jones has said, the Bible has nothing whatever to offer the world except a message of condemnation and a message of hope that if it will come to Jesus, it may be rescued. Well, in the book of Proverbs, we hear the sustained call of wisdom: “Come, learn, and live.” And what that finally means—and this should not surprise us—what that finally means is that we must come to Christ and learn from him, come through him to know God, and by his transforming power, live to his honor and to our fulfillment. It is in Jesus that wisdom is found.