Use Solomon's Wisdom to Evaluate Mine (Proverbs 1:1-6)
In the opening words to Proverbs, King Solomon gave a number of reasons why his book is important. Within the first six verses, we see that the purposes for His proverbs include:
“To know wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:2a).
The word “wisdom” describes knowledge that gives skill for living in the fear of the Lord, especially since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (cf. Prov. 9:10, Exod. 28:3). The word “instruction” refers to corrective discipline that produces character (cf. Deut. 4:35-36). Quite simply, the book provides godly knowledge for living to those who would otherwise live foolishly.
“To receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice, and equity” (Prov. 1:3).
Particularly for those in positions of leadership, Solomon’s wisdom gives guidance needed to govern over people with principles that promote general welfare, godliness, and proper rule of law. More specifically, “righteousness” refers to being in line with God’s Law, “justice” refers to embracing and affirming the judgments of God’s Law, and “equity” refers to comparing a situation to the standard of God’s Law.
“To give prudence to the naive, to the youth knowledge and discretion, a wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel” (Prov. 1:4).
Not only does Solomon give wisdom to the immature so that they aren’t tricked (cf. Eph. 4:11-12), but he also refines the wisdom of the mature so they become even wiser. Solomon is the iron who sharpens iron—for people of any age.
Based on those purposes, Proverbs offers short, pithy statements of truth with which our lives ought to be aligned. But that’s not all. According to Solomon, two other purposes found in his introduction are:
“To discern the sayings of understanding” (Prov. 1:2b).
To “discern,” using the Hebrew word bin (meaning “to perceive,” “to distinguish,” or “to consider”), Solomon’s words were intended to help his readers test the ethical validity of principles—regardless of whether the source of those principles are directly from Scripture or elsewhere.
“To understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles” (Prov. 1:6).
Using the same Hebrew word bin, translated as “understand”, this book was also intended to help readers dissect difficult situations or conundrums presented by others (“the wise”), so they could separate truth from error to get to the root of an issue. When presented with “riddles” (the Hebrew word chida), Solomon’s wisdom can help solve it.
In other words, the book of Proverbs—Solomon’s God-given wisdom written and preserved—was compiled in order to help his hearers evaluate the wisdom of others. This book helps cut through the proverbial (pun intended) fog of others. And the reason Solomon knew it was important to be able to evaluate the sayings of others is because he lived that reality.
After being blessed by God, Solomon’s wisdom “surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt” (1 Kings 4:30). His fame was so widespread that “men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:34). Thus, as you can imagine, he spent a great deal of time engaging in diplomacy and international affairs (1 Kings 3:1)—and perhaps even more than he otherwise would have without such famed wisdom. Leaders, sages, and wise men were regularly coming and going, interacting with this king of Israel who had extraordinary wisdom, and comparing their wisdom with his. In fact, on one occasion, the queen of Sheba had heard of his wisdom and “came to test him with difficult questions” (cf. 1 Kings 10:1). The Hebrew word for “questions” in the account is chida—the exact same word found in Proverbs 1:6 where it’s translated as “riddles.” When she set difficult sayings or puzzling statements before him, he was able to unpack and untangle them based on the knowledge God gave him. In the end, she was astounded by his ability to evaluate her words (cf. 1 Kings 10:4-10).
All this to say, Solomon relied on his divinely granted wisdom in order to evaluate and discern the wisdom of others. And thankfully, he recorded some of that wisdom in the book of Proverbs so that we could do likewise. After all, people pass around all kinds of pithy statements that are intended to be nuggets of wisdom. “Look before you leap.” “Birds of a feather flock together.” “All good things come to those who wait.” How do we know whether or not these statements are constructive, let alone true? The book of Proverbs (along with the rest of Scripture!) gives us what we need to sift between the helpful and the harmful.
To that end, the following are a handful of short thoughts and pithy phrases that I’ve composed over the years. Take a look and evaluate them.
A Handful of Pithy Phrases
Don’t ever buy something that you’ll be tempted to love more than God or others.
Your calendar, companions, and credit card tell me whether or not this world is your home.
Those who sacrifice the well-being of their families for the well-being of the church ultimately benefit the well-being of neither.
Moms, what you do within the walls of your homes will echo within the walls of the New Jerusalem.
Many parents say they would do anything for the spiritual well-being of their children. Few give up their dual income, leave their unbiblical church, or study God’s Word in order to teach them.
The point of spanking is to leave a lasting impression on the soul, not the skin.
Don’t be a slave to other people’s lack of sanctification. Love them where they’re at, but don’t join them there.
Hang out with clowns and you’ll wind up in the circus.
Pastor, downplaying doctrine in order to placate immature churchmen is not an authentic expression of biblical love.
Since truth is in the minority, your theology will be handicapped until your desire to be accurate exceeds your desire to be liked.
The cost of truth is paid in the currency of relationships.
People who don’t like correction often label it division.
Those who despise rebuke in general need it in particular.
One of the best ways to know when a person is truly repentant after being excommunicated is that they agree they should have been excommunicated.
God’s grace encompasses not only the granting of forgiveness, but also the granting of the repentance and faith that leads to forgiveness.
The first step in repentance is noticing all the evil in the world. The second step is admitting that you’ve contributed to it.
Those who believe they exercised their own free will in order to be saved apparently think that their will is one aspect of themselves that doesn’t need to be.
If you’re trusting in Jesus you will never lose His love. In fact, if you’re trusting in Jesus, it’s because you already had it.
In my experience, most men in the church are good at building mansions, motors, and muscles, but not mature Christians.
The problem with self-esteem is not the lack of esteem, but the abundance of self.
Safeguards may keep a man from viewing pornography, but it takes a new heart to keep him from wanting to.
The Christian life is lived by faith and not by sight. It shouldn’t be a problem, then, for those with new hearts to pluck out their old eyes.
Better to fall into a pit and lose your life than fall into adultery and lose your marriage.
Many books can change your mind, but only one can change your heart.
The reason the world hates us is because we preach Jesus not only as Savior, but as Lord of all. He is not only the Messiah, he’s the Math-maker. We call upon men not only to submit their sins to Him, but to submit their science to Him.
College students, beware: those universities that are turning you into babies are also the same ones that promote killing them.
Follow Christ even if you’re the only one in your entire family. The holidays will be worse, but the judgment seat of Christ will be better.
Make the Call
Well, how did I do? Are my own “proverbs” helpful expressions of biblical truth? Use Solomon's book of Proverbs (and the rest of Scripture!) to make the call.