We begin the study of Proverbs in the
third chapter of 1st Kings.
Before the temple and the palace and the wall around the great city were
built, Solomon went to Gibeon, the most important high place of that time and
he made many sacrifices.
God came to Solomon in a dream and
asked this new king what he desired.
Solomon was forthright. He said I
am a kid ruling more people than I can count.
I’m not my dad. I need help. I need wisdom. I need a discerning heart.
God was pleased that Solomon didn’t
ask for wealth or to destroy his enemies or other self-gratifying things. Solomon desired to rule with wisdom.
God granted his request and much more.
He made Solomon the wisest man in the history of the world. He said that none wiser would come after him.
Solomon did not hoard his wealth of
wisdom. He authored over 3000 proverbs and chose to share about a third of them in
this collection. The Proverbs are the
product of much of that wisdom. Solomon
is not the author of all the proverbs, but he is surely the editor of godly
wisdom when other proverbs are included in this collection.
The Proverbs as we know them today
were likely not completed until 200 years later.
For some, this will be your second
journey through Proverbs with this congregation. For those of you who have been down this road
with me before, much will be familiar, but I am certain much will be as if you
have encountered it for the first time.
For those embarking upon this voyage
for the first time, I will cut to the chase.
I won’t bury the lead. I will
give you the answer to the test question upfront.
There is God’s way and there is everything
else.
Proverbs is about wisdom. In the
course of our journey, wisdom will be described as a lady. Wisdom will note its presence at the foundation of the world.
Wisdom is desired by all who earnestly seek God.
Wisdom walks in broad daylight unlike
those who despise it and work in secret. You might think that all would desire
wisdom, but that is not the case.
The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
In Hebrew literature—most noted in
Psalms and Proverbs—there is parallelism in many forms. The coupling of lines often entails stating
one thing directly and then again less directly or defining an idea or concept
using opposites. Here is a homespun
example.
You must walk on the right. You must not walk on the left.
The Hebrew authors finessed their
words a bit more, but you get the concept.
We see such definition in this
proverb.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The person who fears God seeks
knowledge but the person who can’t stand wisdom, discipline, and instruction is
a fool. Thus, the person of God fears
God and receives knowledge and concurrently desires wisdom, discipline, and
instruction.
Those who don’t want to do things
God’s way are labeled fools.
There are the wise and there are the
foolish.
There are the righteous and there are
the wicked.
There are the industrious and there
are the lazy.
There are those who live in the light
and those who scheme in the dark.
These are not statements of a
deterministic nature. They don’t say
that your genes or your environment determine your life. Consider the beginning of the Proverbs and
this chapter.
The Proverbs are for gaining
knowledge, understanding, prudence, and wisdom.
They are not a smorgasbord of choices, but a complete offering. What is
the whole here?
There is God’s way and there is everything
else.
For some reason—surely rooted in our
sinful nature—some will reject God and his wisdom and plot against those who
seek him and his gifts. This chapter
speaks to the futility of opposing God. Nothing is hidden from God. God sees the heart.
Those who are young should be brought up in the way of the Lord and the way of his wisdom. Those without understanding can benefit from
instruction in wisdom. Those already on
the road to wisdom will grow even more, but some will reject the Lord’s offer
to be generous with his wisdom.
There is God’s way and there is everything
else.
Solomon—the wisest man in the history
of humankind and author of this first section—used another literary
tool—personification. He presented
Wisdom in the form of a person. Listen
now to wisdom’s personified account.
Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
on top of the wall she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
“How long will you who are simple love your
simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.
But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes
you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
“Then they will call to me but I will not
answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,
since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
For the waywardness of the simple will kill
them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
The Forrest Gump summary is Mama
always said, stupid is as stupid does.
Solomon has introduced us to a
lady. Her name and her persona are
wisdom. She will not be ignored or
scorned without consequence—harsh consequences.
Though less stylish than Solomon's words,
the take-home nugget of my composition for this message is simple.
There is God’s way and there is everything
else.
We have been introduced to Lady
Wisdom. Let’s get to know her better
over the coming weeks.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment