Be Wise
Proverbs
June 23, 2019
Start with a slapstick video of The Three Stooges
Any ideas what were talking about today? Usually when someone calls us a wise guy - it means they’re not happy with us. We’ve done something to get them upset by giving some kind of a smart alec / sarcastic response. Well . . . amazingly, that’s the goal of this series! I want you to BE WISE GUYS and WISE GALS
That’s right be a wise guy or a wise gal. That’s the title of this new summer series. For the next several weeks, we’re going to be looking into the book of Proverbs to gain a better understanding of God’s wisdom. The end result will be lots of better things if we can put God’s wisdom into practice. We’re going to be diving into lots of areas of life where we can and need to apply wisdom.
Here’s my challenge for you . . . From today through the end of August, I would like you to read the book of Proverbs at least 2 times. Proverbs has 31 chapters, so very simply it’s 1 chapter per day. You’ll be amazed at the amount of wisdom you’ll gain and the number of times wisdom is used in this book.
A quick background to the book of Proverbs - - about 3,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote the majority of this book. I’d say about 25 out of 31 chapters are attributed to him. So, how did Solomon get to be so wise? Great question!! We find the story in 1 Kings 3 - -
5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father,
because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you.
And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.
7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.
8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude.
9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people,
that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself
long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,
12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind,
so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
So, Solomon gained this wisdom from God, along with honor and riches. Which led him to share that wisdom with us. At that point in his life, Solomon realized a few things about wisdom.
When you have wisdom, you can have just about anything else.
If you have wisdom, you'll not only be able to make money, you'll know how to keep it.
If you have wisdom, you'll be able to develop lasting friendships.
If you have wisdom, you'll know what to say and when to say it.
If you have wisdom, you'll know how to make good and right decisions.
If you have wisdom, you'll be able to sleep at night, because you won't be dreading the consequences of your actions.
So, where do you get wisdom? Obviously, you know what I’m going to say. . . Read the Bible, that’s the best source.
When you get your wisdom from the Bible, it will prove to be right every time. In fact, the Bible draws a clear distinction between God's wisdom and human wisdom. In Proverbs 14:12, we read - -
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. – Proverbs 14:12
Our natural tendency is not toward wisdom, it’s towards foolishness. If you follow your natural instincts through life, we tend to find that many of things that seem like a good idea at the time prove to be not so good decisions in the end.
In order to succeed in life, we need wisdom. Proverbs shows us how to get it, and how to apply it to our lives. Sometimes, it’s pretty straight forward. In fact, most of the time it is. Have you ever read a book which is a best seller . . . and when you’re done, the book really didn’t teach you anything new, but the author was able to say it in a way which made sense - - - and then we think, “man I could have written that! That was pretty obvious!” Well, when we’re done, you may be thinking the same way. Some of what Solomon tells us is obvious, but sometimes we need to be reminded of the obvious.
So, we’re going to look at Proverbs for a number of weeks and use some other passages to fill in the blanks. The cool thing is that we won’t be going over some deep theological, mysterious passages. It’s really practical wisdom.
Today, I want to look at what wisdom is and how it gets working in our lives. So, what is wisdom? In my opinion, wisdom is the ability to make good decisions and take action on those decisions.
It’s important to understand that knowledge and wisdom are not the same. You can have knowledge, yet have no wisdom. We’ve heard the expression that some people are book smart, but have no common sense. That’s kind of what this is.
Knowledge is about having information. It’s knowing facts and ideas. It may be someone is really smart, and gets great grades.
Wisdom is the ability to discern and judge which aspects of knowledge are true, accurate and most importantly are in agreement with God’s Word and teaching.
With wisdom, we can make good decisions based on the facts we’ve learned. We know what to do and what not to do; what to say and what not to say; when to take action and when to stop.
Solomon tells us how we gain wisdom –
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. – Proverbs 9:10
Solomon is not talking about being afraid of God like He’s a big tyrant who’s going to punish you if you mess up. The word in Hebrew is more about having reverence and piety towards God. That means we revere God. It means we have devotion and worship towards God. It’s not being afraid, it’s having an awe struck view of God.
Solomon tells us in Proverbs 2 –
1 My child, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of His saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil, from people of perverted speech,
Do you know what one of the most important words in this passage was? It’s not wisdom, or any word you may think. In fact, it’s a small and easy word to miss. It’s in verse 1, it’s when Solomon said - -
1 My child, IF you receive my words . . .
You see, that’s a big IF. Sometimes we just don’t want words of wisdom. Because they remind us of what’s right and what’s wrong. And sometimes we’re more inclined to follow our own ways, and we choose not to listen to wisdom, we choose not to treasure it in our hearts and to seek after wisdom on a regular basis.
So, as we begin this process of looking at wisdom. It’s knowing that sometimes we make choices that are not the best. We choose something other than what God wants for us and we end up in trouble.
It’s also important to understand that while Solomon also said in verse 6, that God gives wisdom, from God’s mouth comes knowledge and understanding. That’s pretty much everything we need in life.
Solomon reminded us in verse 4 we need to seek after wisdom as if we were seeking a precious jewel or treasure. Because sometimes wisdom is like a hidden treasure and finding it doesn’t always come easy. It’s for those who want it from God.
We also need to remember we can gain wisdom from one another. But we also need to make sure the wisdom of the world; or in fact the wisdom from anyone is not contrary to God’s word. And we will talk about that later in this series.
There really is so much wisdom and knowledge I want to share with you, but that’s going to get us going more and more next week. As we prepare to close, I want to share some of the benefits if wisdom - -
Knowledge becomes a good thing, it’s not painful. - Proverbs 2:10
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. - Proverbs 2:10
We move further from sin. - Proverbs 2:12, 3:23
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men... 23 Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble.
Wisdom can lengthen your life.
1 let your heart keep my commandments, 2 for the length of days and years of life and peace will be added to you. - Proverbs 3:1-2
Along with a longer life, comes wealth and honor. - Proverbs 3:16
16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
You may also gain a little peace.
17 Her (wisdom’s) ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. - Proverbs 3:17
Along with peace, may come a little extra security or protection too.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. - Proverbs 4:6
Wisdom helps us to walk on the straight path. So that we’re not hurt or stumble.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. - Proverbs 4:12
Wisdom will help us gain greater discretion or good sense, maybe we could say common sense.
12 I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence. I possess knowledge and discretion. - Proverbs 8:12
So, think about it - - peace, confidence, longer life, wealth, honor, understanding, better discretion and a better sense of direction. Wisdom is definitely worth seeking!!
