How Life Works: Wisdom Living from Proverbs
02/11/2001 - Pursue Wisdom
If you've been in a bookstore lately you've probably seen a whole section of Dummie books, the ones with the bright yellow cover. They're everywhere. There's "The Internet for Dummies" and "Law for Dummies" and "Taxes for Dummies," "Bird watching for Dummies" and "Fishing for Dummies," "Beer for Dummies" and "Marriage for Dummies," "Sex for Dummies" and "Parenting for Dummies." In fact, over 35 million people have bought at least one of the more than 300 titles in the Dummie series. The books have become a phenomenon.
And the secret to their success is their ability to slash through all the technical jargon, all the computerese and legalese and tax lingo and make the complicated easy to comprehend. One satisfied customer said, "I buy these books because whatever the subject matter, they spell it out to me in simple terms. They make the complex understandable. They take the intimidation out of the learning process. Even a regular guy like me can get it." I like that, "Even regular guy like me can get it."
Well there's a book of the Bible that could fit well into the Dummie series. It's already a best seller, been read by millions of people around the world, and could easily be called "Life for Dummies." The book's found in the Old Testament and its called Proverbs.
The book of Proverbs takes the timeless, priceless wisdom of our all-knowing God and puts it on the bottom shelf so that it can be accessed and understood by regular people like you and like me. You don't need a Bible College background or a seminary degree, you don't need to have grown up in the church to understand it. It's just practical, down to earth, hard core truth about "How Life Works." And over the next two months I hope you fall in love with the wisdom of God as recorded in Proverbs and apply it to your everyday life. It will help make your life work well.
Life isn't working well for a lot of people these days. Some of us are in deep financial trouble because of poor choices we've made. And we can't see any light at the end of the tunnel of debt. Some of us have a history of fractured relationships and just can't seem to maintain friendships very long. Some of us are struggling in our marriages, we feel distant from our spouses and wonder why our marriages aren't working very well. Some of us are battling habits and addictions that we just can't seem to break and we feel horrible and guilty about them. Some of us feel like failures as parents and are looking for somebody to tell us how to raise our kids so they'll turn out right. Some of us just can't seem to find contentment anywhere, on the outside it looks like we have everything, but on the inside we're empty and miserable. Some of us can't control our tongues and our words are constantly getting us in trouble.
The book of Proverbs address all these things and much more with guaranteed, kid tested, mother approved wisdom that can help make our life work. And during this series I want to encourage you to enroll in the school of wisdom and read through the book of Proverbs for yourself. It's only 31 chapters long and each chapter is less than a page. One way to go through it is to read a chapter a day, the chapter that corresponds with the day. So on February 11 you read chapter 11 and on the 12thchapter 12. That would get you through the book twice in two months and fill you with a lot of wisdom on how life works. Don't worry if you don't understand everything, just keep reading and get well acquainted with wisdom living.
For the most part the Proverbs are short, pithy sayings packed with truth about life. I found a collection of proverbs this week that a teacher gathered from her first grade class over the years. They made me a chuckle so I thought I'd share them with you. "Better be safe ... than punch a 5th grader. Don't bite the hand ... that looks dirty. You can't teach an old dog ... new math. It's always darkest ... before daylight savings time. An idle mind ... is the best way to relax. A penny saved ... isn't much."
Those aren't from the Bible, they're from first graders. Most of the proverbs we'll be looking out were written down by the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon. If you know any about the history of Israel the name Solomon might ring a bell. Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba and he ruled over Israel about 1,000 years before Jesus Christ was born, at a time when Israel was at the zenith of its power. During his reign Solomon was the most powerful person on the planet and the wisest person as well. He had the kind of smarts that would bankrupt the Game of Jeopardy.
The secret to his great wisdom is found in 1 Kings 3. If you have a Bible turn with me to 1 Kings 3. Shortly after his inauguration as King, one night God showed up in Solomon's bedroom and made him the offer of a lifetime. He said in 1 Kings 3:5, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." Blank check Solomon, fill in the amount! Door #1, Door #2, Door #3. You choose. It's all yours.
Think about that. What would you ask God for if he said to you, "I'll give you anything you want." Wealth? Power? Fame? Long life? Weight loss? Cosmetic surgery? Look how Solomon responds in verse 7, Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this people of yours? 10 And the Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for-both riches and honor-so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life. I think Solomon chose the right door. God was so pleased with his request that he not only gave him wisdom, but threw in wealth, fame, and a long life too!
Now turn over to 1 Kings 4:29-34 and see how God made good on his promise. God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 30Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite-wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. 32He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. 34Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
God answered Solomon's prayer in spades. He gave him tons of wisdom, over 3,000 proverbs. He also became a songwriter and a botanist and a zoologist and a marine biologist, not bad for a full-time king. And like the Wizard of Oz, people followed the yellow brick road from all over the globe to hear his wisdom. And he's still speaking to us today, 3,000 years later, as powerful and as relevant as ever. Now turn to the book of Proverbs (p. 449), right in the middle of your Bible, just after the book of Psalms.
In the thirty-one chapters of Proverbs we have a few hundred of the proverbs that God gave to Solomon. We also have wisdom from other writers like Agur, King Lemuel and the men of Hezekiah. If you page through the first nine chapters of the book you'll see they are discourses given by a father to his son. And then in chapter ten the individual proverbs kick in and go through chapter 29. Chapter 30 is the sayings of Agur and 31 contains the sayings of King Lemuel. The Proverbs have lots of variety.
The Proverbs are colorful. Proverbs 17:1, Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. In other words, better to go to McDonalds and eat a happy meal by yourself than have a Thanksgiving feast in your dining room if there's arguing around the table.
The Proverbs are revealing like Proverbs 13:7 , One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. Today we would say, "Looks can be deceiving. Or you can't tell a book by its cover."
The Proverbs are graphic like Proverbs 26:11, As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly. Today we might say, "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me." Fools make the same mistakes over and over again. They don't learn for the consequences.
The Proverbs can be funny like Proverbs 27:14, If anyone loudly blesses a neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse. The next time you see your neighbor pulling out of the driveway at 6 in the morning it's probably not a good idea to shout in the dark, "Hey Joe, it's a great day isn't it? Jesus loves you!" Not wise.
Above all, the Proverbs are practical. Like Proverbs 24:27, Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house. In other words, get a job, have an income, before you take out a mortgage and buy a house.
The book of Proverbs is all about living wisely. The Hebrew word used most often for wisdom in the book is hochmah and it means skill. In other places its used of the skill of craftsmen, sailors, singers, administrators and counselors. But in Proverbs being wise means living a skillful life, a well managed life, a life that we can one day look back on and be pleased with. Wisdom isn't the same as being smart or having a having a high IQ or doing well on your SAT's. There are plenty of smart people with high IQs who live foolishly and waste their lives. Wisdom is applying the Word of God to everyday life. It's the ability to cope with life in a God honoring way. And it's worth everything to pursue it.
Turn to Proverbs 3:13 and let's look at the payoff for pursuing wisdom. Proverbs 3:13-18, Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, 14 for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. 16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
Solomon says if you arrange your life around the pursuit of wisdom, the payoff will blow your mind. Getting wisdom is better than inheriting a fortune, it's better than hitting the lottery. Getting wisdom produces a long life, honor, esteem, wealth and peace. And who can refuse that? The question is, do you believe it? Do you really believe it?
Let's think about that for a minute. Scroll down through the people you know. Do you know any wise fathers? Any Dads who are raising their kids well? Not just working hard so their kids will have everything they want, but who really spend time with their kids and are involved in their lives and in touch with how each child is unique. Dads who know just when to encourage and when to discipline and when to speak tenderly and when to be firm. Dad's who know when to listen and who know when to teach and when to let life and its consequences be the teacher? How much is that worth? Put a price tag on that.
I've met a whole bunch of people along the way for whom life isn't working very well. And it's not because they're not smart or aren't trying hard, but they've been handicapped by the legacy of a foolish father, by a Dad who spent too much time at the office or at the church or at the bar or who neglected or abused or deserted his kids. And the children grow up and pay the price for that the rest of their lives. Proverbs 17:6 says, Parents are the pride of their children. At the end of the day, children benefit for a lifetime having grown up under the influence of a wise Dad, a dad the can be proud of. That's worth more than a fortune.
The same can be said for the influence of a wise mother. There's a classic text in Proverbs 31:28-29 that says, Her children arise and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. You can't put a price tag on a wise mom either.
Now let's turn it around and let me ask parents how much is it worth to you to raise wise sons and daughters. How much money is that worth? Proverbs 15:20 says, Wise children bring joy to their fathers, but the foolish despise their mothers. When Jennifer and I pray for our kids we pray that they'll grow up to be wise followers of Jesus Christ. We don't care if they grow up to be well known, live in nice houses or pull big checks. That doesn't mean anything to us. What we do care about deeply is that they invest their lives wisely and live them well in obedience to Jesus Christ whether they get married or stay single, whether they go to college or not, whether they wear a white collar, a blue collar, or no collar at all. Wise children bring joy to their parents and there's no price tag for that. The apostle John said it this way in the 3 John 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Do you anybody who works wisely? Anyone who's diligent and skillful, consistent and conscientiousness in the marketplace? Proverbs 22:29 says, Do you see those who are skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before obscure people. Generally speaking, those who work wisely and skillfully over the long haul get promoted and are respected by their peers and rewarded richly for their work. It's just the way life works.
That's what the book of Proverbs is about. Whether it's parenting or working at the job or marriage or personal finances or taking care of your body or of your spiritual life, wisdom pays big dividends, beyond our wildest imagination. So go after it. Get wisdom, it's better than gold.
Now, how do we enroll in this school of wisdom? How do we get wise? Let me close by suggesting four ways.
First, by entering into a personal relationship with God. Proverbs 9:10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom starts by realizing there's a God out there who is head over heels in love with each and every one of us. And he's extended his hand of forgiveness and grace to us through his Son Jesus Christ. And he says, "Take that hand and I will help you make your life work." And it starts when we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior. The one who said, "I am the Way, I am the Truth, I am the Life."
Second, by asking God for wisdom. James 1:5, If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all. God still loves to answer prayers for wisdom, just like he did for Solomon. Ask for wisdom at work when you're facing a business decision. Ask for wisdom at home when you're working through marital conflict or a parenting issue. Ask for wisdom at school when you're taking a test (that you studied for). Ask for wisdom over and over and over and over again and God will give it to you generously.
Third, read the Proverbs, "Life for Dummies." Get acquainted with the book on wisdom. Put yourself on a schedule to read it through once or twice during this series. Find the ones that speak to you. Write them down on a 3 x 5 card, hang on the frig, put them on the dashboard or on your desk at work and cling to the path of wisdom with white-knuckle tenacity.
And fourth, hang out with wise people. Proverbs 13:20 says, Whoever walks with the wise grows wise. Wisdom living is not done in isolation, it's not a solo sport. Wisdom living is done in community and the crowd you hang out with makes all the difference. That's why we talk so much around here about being in community with other believers. People you can share with and talk with and pray with and process life with, who will encourage you in your walk with God. That's what our small groups are about. Little platoons of people who are trying to live wisely and make the most of their lives. If Valley View is your church home, please get connected. It's not just about finding friends to socialize with, that's important, but it's about growing wise.
So that's what it takes to go to school on wisdom. Let's all enroll for the spring semester and grow wise together.