Wisdom Wednesday: Wisdom of Solomon – Part 5
Solomon’s Proverbs
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“[Solomon] also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.” (1 Kings 4:32) NASB 95
“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.” (Proverbs 1:1) NASB 95
The book of Proverbs includes the compilation of some of the proverbs of Solomon (1:1, 10:1, 25:1), Agur (30:1), and King Lemuel (31:1). The purpose of the compilation is focused on wisdom, and is described in the opening in chapter 1, verses 2-4:
- For attaining wisdom and discipline.
- For understanding words of insight.
- For acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair.
- For giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young.
This sequence moves from knowing what is right (wisdom is knowing the will and ways
of God) to doing what is right. The means of achieving this purpose of the book is asserted in the following 2 verses:
- “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—
- for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.” (Proverbs 1: 5-6)
Solomon explained that the means of attaining wisdom is through the humility of listening, and the discipline of learning to understand the meaning of parables, sayings and riddles (the proverbs). The importance of listening to God’s law to gain wisdom and to know how to live is similarly emphasized in a Psalm, believed by some to have been written by Solomon’s father, David:
“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word” (Psalm 119: 97-101).
Proverbs is a practical book of instruction that emphasizes the contrasts in making the
moral choices in life and the consequences of those choices. It is focused on instructing
the young man (“my son”, See 1:8, 10, 15; 2:1; 3:1, 11; 5:1, etc.) but benefits both young men and women as it presents the crucial choices of life. The book virtually presents life itself as a moral choice: we are each beckoned by two voices:
- Wisdom is introduced as a woman that “calls aloud in the street, she raises her
voice in the public squares…” beckoning young people to listen to her message. (See 1:21-33; 8:1-9:10)
- Folly is also introduced as a woman who, “… is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by who go straight on their way. (9:13-15)
From these two women, Solomon described we are presented with two choices: the way of the wise that lives a life of righteousness, or the way of the fool that leads to unrighteousness – the behavior that displeases God and rebels against His character.
The wise are those who listen and learn in humility (the reverent fear of the Lord). They are those who respond to the message of wisdom by saying, “Yes, God.”
The way of foolishness on the other hand is described using different words to represent the several degrees of rejecting God’s way (summarized in the following table).
The first nine chapters of the book form the introduction that precedes the collection of
Individual Proverbs (wise sayings or statements of principles of life) in the succeeding chapters. The structure of the introduction (above) follows a sequence that appeals to the son to follow a life characterized by wisdom; in the process the chapters introduce personalities and metaphors. The key to the warning is to listen to the words of wisdom, and “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). How does the son do this? By keeping the instructions of parents bound in the heart, the son will be assured security from danger:
“When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.” Proverbs 6:22
Theologian J.I. Packer has summed up the practical concept of the wise life in these terms: “The basic acts of wisdom – in humans and in God – are to choose good and praiseworthy goals along with honorable means of pursuing them.” [1]
Wisdom is inextricably tied up in life’s goals and the means to achieve them – resulting life paths that honor (glorify) God.
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[1] Packer, J.I. and Soderlund, S.K., The Way of Wisdom, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000, page 7.