Proverbs 1-3    Listen

A few words about Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs was written, at least mostly so, by King Solomon. Proverbs are short statements of conventional wisdom, often based upon the Mosaic Law. The Hebrew word ("mashal") for proverb(s) is translated as such 22 times, but it is translated parable(s) 18 times. So, these proverbs/parables are pithy sentences of ethical wisdom. Some proverbs come in handy for complimenting the actions or words of others, while others serve well as rebukes. When armed with an adequate arsenal of memorized proverbs, one can succinctly speak one's mind...and all your doin' is quotin' scripture.

Solomon is uniquely qualified to author such a book inasmuch as God had granted his request for wisdom to "judge my people." For more information about Solomon's special wisdom, click here to see the summary on I Kings 3:5-15 and II Chronicles 1:7-17. Please allow me to state the obvious about Solomon: He would have done well to have adhered closely to his own wisdom sayings in the entire course of his life. It is obvious from scripture that Solomon violated his own proverbial principles. By the way, that makes them no less true statements of applications based upon the Mosaic Law, and the fact that Solomon writes them down perhaps attests to lessons learned the hard way. The actual proverbs do not begin until chapter 10. The first 9 chapters of Proverbs are dedicated to explaining and promoting wisdom and discouraging foolishness, although many of those verses sound proverbial as well.

The reason for the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 1:1-7)

1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
4 To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
5 A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Solomon states simply the purpose for writing down these wise sayings in verse 2, "To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding." Many of these wise sayings may be intuitive, but there's nothing like writing down the obvious for driving a point home. I memorized 1:7 back in the early part of my ministry, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Heed these instructions (Proverbs 1:8-9)

8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.

Verse 8 paraphrased: "Father knows best...and so does mom!" We are encouraged to take the wise counsel of our parents.

A warning against running with the crowd (Proverbs 1:10-19)

10 My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
13 We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
14 Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
16 For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
18 But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

Wicked peers - stay away from them! These verses rebuke those who value gain over life itself. Paul quotes from verse 16 in Romans 3:15 (see notes).

Wisdom taunting the foolish (Proverbs 1:20-33)

20 Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
21 She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
23 Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30 They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

In these verses, Solomon contrasts the foolish man (who rejects God's wisdom) with the man who embraces God's wisdom. I particularly liked and memorized 1:24-33 one day as I walked the streets of Iwakuni, Japan back in 1971. In those particular verses wisdom takes on a persona, and it is as though wisdom is talking to those who have rejected wisdom; they're thought-provoking verses. If you are not careful, you might jump to the incorrect conclusion that God is the one talking in those verses rather than a personified wisdom.

Wisdom will provide deliverance (Proverbs 2)

1 My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
4 If you seek her as silver,
And search for her 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 uprightly;
8 He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.
10 When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
11 Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
16 To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
19 None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
20 So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

God's wisdom will keep you in favor with God and protect you from the enticements of evil, especially seductive wicked women. Notice verse 16, "To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words." Solomon commits a significant number of verses in Proverbs to warning against seductive women. When you review the life of Solomon, you realize that Solomon himself fell prey to the enticements of women. These warnings reflect a good bit of personal experience with wicked, seductive women. This is not conjecture; it is stated clearly in I Kings 11 (see notes).

Trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3)

1 My son, do not forget my law,
But let your heart keep my commands;
2 For length of days and long life
And peace they will add to you.
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
4 And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
8 It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.
9 Honor the LORD with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor detest His correction;
12 For whom the LORD loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
And her gain than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies,
And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand,
In her left hand riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who retain her.
19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.
21 My son, let them not depart from your eyes—
Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
22 So they will be life to your soul
And grace to your neck.
23 Then you will walk safely in your way,
And your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
26 For the LORD will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
“Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.
29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
For he dwells by you for safety’s sake.
30 Do not strive with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.
31 Do not envy the oppressor,
And choose none of his ways;
32 For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD,
But His secret counsel is with the upright.
33 The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the home of the just.
34 Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.
35 The wise shall inherit glory,
But shame shall be the legacy of fools.

Solomon begins here by emphasizing the importance of the Law of Moses when he says in verse 1, "My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands." As previously stated, these proverbs are based upon the principles of Mosaic Law. As a matter of fact, a promise is given in verse 2, "For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you." Solomon's counsel here is that keeping the Law of Moses lengthens one's life. That's a Jewish concept, but one might justifiably extrapolate that obedience to God's Word increases one's quality of life - even to those of us who are Gentiles saved by the grace of God.

Verses 5-6 are very familiar to us regarding the Lord's direction. When we trust God for direction, he provides it. That process is explained by Paul in Philippians 4:4-8 (see notes). Then we see a couple of verses on giving in 9-10, "Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine." God blesses those who give to the Lord of their financial resources. Paul specifies that giving should be done "not grudgingly" in II Corinthians 9:6-15 (see notes), and that it should be done regularly and proportionally in I Corinthians 16:1-4 (see notes).

A principle of God's discipline for those whom he loves is found in verses 11-12. Paul refers to these verses in Hebrews 12:6-8 (see notes) concerning chastisement of the disobedient Believer. We see several verses in this chapter which seem like proverbs, but they're really still part of the introduction to the actual proverbs which begin in chapter 10. Many of these verses emphasize a positive relationship with others. Solomon again recommends wisdom. What about those who heed his advice? Verse 33 says, "The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the just."

And finally, to the husbands reading this, I admonish you to memorize verse 30, "Do not strive with a man without cause, If he has done you no harm." Quote that...see how that works out for you.