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Ray Ortlund

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Herausgeber: Crossway
Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
Serie: Preaching the Word
Sprache: Englisch

Beschreibung

How exactly does one become wise? Pastor and teacher Ray Ortlund points out that the wisdom of God does not stand aloof, as if it were unattainable. Instead, he shows that wisdom graciously moves toward us, into our real world where we live and struggle day by day. Wisdom offers us her very best, if only we will listen. After all, "Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice," and, if wisdom troubles herself to yell, there must be a reason to listen and a means to hear. Ortlund unpacks the book of Proverbs in twenty-one straightforward sermons, providing a biblical worldview that opens up the higher meaning of money, sex, and power, as well as that of the daily routines of an average life. Drawing relevant parallels from ancient culture to present day, he helps the reader understand how the book of Proverbs is practical help for normal people going through everyday life. Most importantly, Ortlund shows how the Proverbs point to Jesus and his counsel for the perplexed, his strength for the defeated, his warning to the proud, his mercy for the broken. With careful treatment of the Scriptures and uncomplicated language, Proverbs: Wisdom that Works fills the vacuum between the layman's experience and the exegetical depth of many commentaries. Part of the Preaching the Word series.

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“I simply cannot say enough about Ortlund’s treatment of the book of Proverbs. There is depth here—scholarship disguised as pastoral advice. There is breadth here—quoting diverse people from Descartes to Sherlock Holmes. There is heart here—the heart of an evangelist, a pastor, a friend, and one who truly understands the Word. Proverbs: Wisdom that Works shines God’s light on your day in every area of life.”

Woodrow Kroll, President, Back to the Bible; author, Proverbs: God’s Guide for Life’s Choices

“Ortlund not only speaks wisdom, he models how to speak it. He not only lights the way on how to preach Proverbs, but on how to walk in wisdom—and he makes me want to do both! Almost immediately I had two reactions: ‘Why am I not preaching Proverbs right now?’ and ‘Why am I not wiser by now?’ Turn here not just to hear about wisdom, but also to taste it. You’ll find the savor reverently worshipful, theologically rich, and relentlessly practical.”

John Kitchen, Senior Pastor, Stow Alliance Fellowship, Stow, Ohio; author, Proverbs: A Mentor Commentary

“Proverbs: Wisdom that Works models powerful, profound, relevant expository preaching. The expositions are God-centered, Christ-centered, practical, evangelistic, life-changing, and life-giving. For Proverbs 1–9, each exposition digs deeply into the meaning of the passage in its original context, connects it with the New Testament (especially with Jesus Christ), and demonstrates astutely its contemporary relevance with illustrations and quotations. The last seven chapters bring together various proverbs under seven topics: the tongue, humility, family, emotions, friendship, money, and life and death. The oral style provides easy reading for deep, wise insights. A superb source for preachers preparing a series of Christian sermons on the book of Proverbs and for Bible study groups interested in studying biblical wisdom.”

Sidney Greidanus, Professor of Preaching Emeritus, Calvin Theological Seminary; author, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

“The strength of Ray Ortlund’s study of Proverbs is its Christ-centeredness. The wisdom of Proverbs loses none of its practical value, but rather is given its ultimate fulfillment as an expression of the wisdom of Christ.”

Graeme Goldsworthy, Visiting Lecturer in Hermeneutics, Moore Theological College; author, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture

“For the pastor who desires to preach Proverbs, this book will prove to be an important tool. Ortlund’s scholarly giftedness and his pastoral passions combine to create an accurate, readable, and Christ-centered guide to Solomon’s great book of ‘love and faithfulness.’”

George W. Robertson, Senior Minister, The First Presbyterian Church, Augusta, Georgia; author, Deuteronomy: More Grace, More Love

PROVERBS

PREACHING THE WORD

Edited by R. Kent Hughes

Genesis: Beginning and Blessing

Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory by Philip Graham Ryken

Leviticus: Holy God, Holy Peopleby Kenneth A. Mathews

Numbers: God’s Presence in the Wilderness by Iain M. Duguid

1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader by John Woodhouse

Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters by Philip Graham Ryken

Isaiah: God Saves Sinners

by RayOrtlund

Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope by Philip Graham Ryken

Daniel: The Triumph of God’s Kingdomby Rodney D. Stortz

Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, 2 vols

Luke: That You May Know the Truth, 2 vols

John: That You May Believe

Acts: The Church Afire

Romans: Righteousness from Heaven

2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness

Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ

Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel

Colossians and Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ

1 & 2 Thessalonians: The Hope of Salvation by James H. Grant Jr.

1 & 2 Timothy and Titus: To Guard the Deposit by R. Kent Hughes and Bryan Chapell

Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul, 2 vols

James: Faith That Works

1 & 2 Peter and Jude: Sharing Christ’s Sufferings by David R. Helm

Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches by James M. Hamilton Jr.

The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom

Unless otherwise indicated, all volumes are by R. Kent Hughes

Proverbs

Published by Crossway 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Jon McGrath, Simplicated Studio

Cover image: Adam Greene, Illustrator

First printing 2012

Printed in the United States of America

Italics in Biblical quotes indicate emphasis added.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture references marked NEB are from The New English Bible © The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970.

Scripture references marked NLT are from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Ill., 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NRSV are from The New Revised Standard Version. Copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.

ISBN-13: 978-1-58134-883-5 ISBN-10: 1-58134-883-5 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3104-0 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3105-7 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3106-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr.

Proverbs : wisdom that works / Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr.

p. cm. (Preaching the Word)

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN 978-1-58134-883-5 (hc)

1. Bible. O.T. Proverbs—Commentaries. I. Title. II. Series.

BS1465.53.O78 2012

223.7077—dc23 2011020710

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

TS 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Dr. Bruce K. Waltke

learned mentor, beloved friend

A Word to Those Who Preach the Word

Preface

1 Why the Book of Proverbs Matters

2 Let’s Begin (1:1–7)

3 Violence !(1:8–19)

4 A Storm Is Coming (1:20–33)

5 How We Can Grow (2:1–22)

6 The Wisdom That Helps Us (3:1–8)

7 Wisdom at the Extremes of Life (3:9–12)

8 Why Wisdom Matters, What Wisdom Creates (3:13–35)

9 The Only Path into Life (4:1–27)

10 Bitter Honey and Sweet Water (5:1–23)

11 Responsibility, Opportunity, Unity (6:1–19)

12 Why Our Sexuality Matters to God (6:20—7:27)

13 The Worldview of Wisdom (8:1–36)

14 It’s Decision Time (9:1–18)

15 The Tongue (18:21)

16 Humility (22:4)

17 Family (22:6)

18 Emotions (15:30)

19 Friendship (18:24)

20 Money (10:22)

21 Life and Death (12:28)

Notes

A Word to Those Who Preach the Word

There are times when I am preaching that I have especially sensed the pleasure of God. I usually become aware of it through the unnatural silence. The ever-present coughing ceases, and the pews stop creaking, bringing an almost physical quiet to the sanctuary—through which my words sail like arrows. I experience a heightened eloquence, so that the cadence and volume of my voice intensify the truth I am preaching.

There is nothing quite like it—the Holy Spirit filling one’s sails, the sense of his pleasure, and the awareness that something is happening among one’s hearers. This experience is, of course, not unique, for thousands of preachers have similar experiences, even greater ones.

What has happened when this takes place? How do we account for this sense of his smile? The answer for me has come from the ancient rhetorical categories of logos, ethos, and pathos.

The first reason for his smile is the logos—in terms of preaching, God’s Word. This means that as we stand before God’s people to proclaim his Word, we have done our homework. We have exegeted the passage, mined the significance of its words in their context, and applied sound hermeneutical principles in interpreting the text so that we understand what its words meant to its hearers. And it means that we have labored long until we can express in a sentence what the theme of the text is—so that our outline springs from the text. Then our preparation will be such that as we preach, we will not be preaching our own thoughts about God’s Word, but God’s actual Word, his logos. This is fundamental to pleasing him in preaching.

The second element in knowing God’s smile in preaching is ethos—what you are as a person. There is a danger endemic to preaching, which is having your hands and heart cauterized by holy things. Phillips Brooks illustrated it by the analogy of a train conductor who comes to believe that he has been to the places he announces because of his long and loud heralding of them. And that is why Brooks insisted that preaching must be “the bringing of truth through personality.” Though we can never perfectly embody the truth we preach, we must be subject to it, long for it, and make it as much a part of our ethos as possible. As the Puritan William Ames said, “Next to the Scriptures, nothing makes a sermon more to pierce, than when it comes out of the inward affection of the heart without any affectation.” When a preacher’s ethos backs up his logos, there will be the pleasure of God.

Last, there is pathos—personal passion and conviction. David Hume, the Scottish philosopher and skeptic, was once challenged as he was seen going to hear George Whitefield preach: “I thought you do not believe in the gospel.” Hume replied, “I don’t, but he does.” Just so! When a preacher believes what he preaches, there will be passion. And this belief and requisite passion will know the smile of God.

The pleasure of God is a matter of logos (the Word), ethos (what you are), and pathos (your passion). As you preach the Word may you experience his smile—the Holy Spirit in your sails!

R. Kent Hughes

Preface

“Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice” (Proverbs 1:20). The Wisdom of God does not stand aloof, as if she were too good for us. She graciously moves toward us, into our real world where we live and struggle day by day. She offers us her very best, if we will only listen. With the overwhelming flood of information and opinion in our times, much of it a mixture of spin, sound bites, and trivialities, it is a relief to turn back to the Bible. It is a relief to slow down and pay close attention to deep insights that have stood the test of time.

As we come to the book of Proverbs, God does not intend to crush us with layer upon layer of demand. He intends to help us. The book of Proverbs is practical help from God for weak people like us stumbling through daily life. It is his counsel for the perplexed, his strength for the defeated, his warning to the proud, his mercy for the broken. The book of Proverbs is the gospel—good news for the inept through the wisdom of Another. We have every reason to receive it with a whole heart.

Thank you for picking up this book. May God use it to bless you as you study the wisdom of his ancient sages. The book of Proverbs is one of the “many ways” God has spoken to us (Hebrews 1:1). It leads us to Christ. If you look for him here, you will find him.

I am happy to acknowledge a special debt of gratitude to the commentaries of Bruce Waltke, John Kitchen, and Derek Kidner. In addition, I was helped by the preaching of Tim Keller on Proverbs. The influence of these outstanding scholars and pastors is pervasive throughout this book.

I thank Dr. Kent Hughes for the privilege of contributing this Proverbs volume to his Preaching the Word series. I thank the wonderful people of Immanuel Church, Nashville, for sharing in my eagerness to grow in the wisdom of Christ.

It gratifies me deeply to dedicate this book to Dr. Waltke. From 1971 to 1975 he was my esteemed Old Testament professor in seminary. His professional training and personal influence marked me for life. I feel a debt of love great beyond any possibility of repayment.

Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.

Immanuel Church

Nashville, Tennessee

1 Why the Book of Proverbs Matters

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

PROVERBS 9:4, 16

Everyone is on a path. Everyone is going somewhere. When we feel stuck, even when we feel trapped, the truth is, we are still in motion. Life is a journey, and the end of it all is not just a place but also a condition. We are becoming the end of our journey, wise or foolish, and every moment takes us closer there.

God cares about that. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Bible is the voice of God inviting us into his eternal life. During the Old Testament era God standardized his speaking to us in three ways. The priests taught his law, the prophets declared his word, and the sages or wise men gave his counsel (Jeremiah 18:18). Both the commands of the Law and the thunderings of the prophets spread out before us the gigantic truths of God, the metanarrative that makes sense of everything. But we need more. We live day by day in a world where “there are details of character small enough to escape the mesh of the law and the broadsides of the prophets, and yet decisive in personal dealings.”1 So God gave us more than the Law and the prophets. He also gave us wise counsel.

For example, Proverbs 27:14 in the NLT says, “A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!” We don’t find that in the Ten Commandments or in Isaiah or Jeremiah. But a well-intentioned but ill-timed greeting can backfire, and that’s worth knowing! God thinks so. He cares about our understanding of the massive truths of our existence. But he also cares about the nuances that make a difference in our relationships and experiences every day. Even if we do seek the holiness of the Law, and we do, even if we are inspired by the visions of the prophets, and we are, we can still make a mess of our lives, our families, our churches, our workplaces, our communities if we are unwise. We need God’s help moment by moment, down at the level where there are no hard and fast rules to go by. What kind of woman or man should I marry? Which career path should I take? How can I endure this suffering I can’t escape? How should I spend my money? Through the book of Proverbs, God coaches us in the wisdom we need throughout the long and complicated path of our everyday lives.

It’s the practicality of the book of Proverbs that some people underestimate. This book is indeed practical, but it is not simplistic or moralistic. What God is going after through this book is change deep inside our hearts. His wisdom sinks in as we mull over these Biblical proverbs slowly and thoughtfully. We need multiple exposures over time. This book is not a quick fix. It is ancient wisdom from long human experience endorsed by God himself. If we’ll pay close attention, God will graciously make us into profound people.

The book of Proverbs is a gospel book, because it is part of the Bible. That means the book of Proverbs is good news for bad people. It is about grace for sinners. It is about hope for failures. It is about wisdom for idiots. This book is Jesus himself coming to us as our counselor, as our sage, as our life coach. The Lord Jesus Christ is a competent thinker for all times and all cultures. He is a genius. And he freely offers us, even us, his unique wisdom. Do you remember how he concluded his Sermon on the Mount? He defined the gospel as a call to wisdom: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. . . . And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand” (Matthew 7:24, 26). Jesus is our priest and our prophet, but in the book of Proverbs we encounter Jesus as our mentor. Do you see him that way? You can have him that way—the universe’s greatest expert on you. He alone is qualified to have that kind of say in your life.

Let’s not patronize Jesus Christ as a nice man who gives us warm religious fuzzies while we turn to the “experts” (whoever they are), the seriously qualified people, for the challenges of real life. Jesus Christ is the shrewdest man who ever lived. No one ever outthought him. No one ever surprised him or cornered him in debate. He was always out ahead of everyone, both his friends and his enemies. Jesus Christ is the best counselor for all people in all seasons of life. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be anointed with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, so that he would not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear (Isaiah 11:2, 3). In other words, our Messiah is not fooled by appearances or swayed by hearsay, like other leaders, even brilliant leaders. No one will ever pull the wool over his eyes. The Bible says that Jesus has eyes like a flame of fire, seeing through everything (Revelation 1:14). And God has given this super-smart expert to us as his best gift of amazing grace. The gospel says that Jesus is wisdom from God (1 Corinthians 1:30). It’s why he surprises us. When he taught in his hometown synagogue, his neighbors were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom?” (Matthew 13:54). Solomon had been the wisest man in history. But when the Pharisees tested Jesus and he reminded them that the Queen of Sheba came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, she was so eager to learn, Jesus said to them, “Behold, something greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42). They didn’t have to travel any distance. Wisdom incarnate was standing right there. But they were too sure of themselves to listen.

Let’s not underrate what we have here in the book of Proverbs. Biblical wisdom is more than what we find in a fortune cookie. It is more than an optional add-on for people who want to upgrade their lives from, say, 4 to 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. This wisdom from Christ is a matter of life and death: “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death” (Proverbs 13:14). What if we have many advantages in our lives but not wisdom? If we have love but not wisdom, we will harm people with the best of intentions. If we have courage but not wisdom, we will blunder boldly. If we have truth but not wisdom, we will make the gospel ugly to other people. If we have technology but not wisdom, we will use the best communications ever invented to broadcast stupidity. If we have revival but not wisdom, we’ll use the power of God to throw the church into reverse gear. Jonathan Edwards wrote during the First Great Awakening, “When the devil finds he can keep men quiet and [complacent] no longer, then he drives them to excesses and extravagances. He holds them back as long as he can; but when he can do it no longer, then he will push them on and, if possible, run them upon their heads.”2 But wisdom knows how to spread the gospel with no embarrassing regrets.

Wisdom is the grace of Christ beautifying our daily lives. Paul said that God has “lavished” his grace upon us “in all wisdom and insight” (Ephesians 1:7, 8). God’s grace is smart grace. The Bible says that in Christ are hidden “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). The wise way to live is not always obvious or intuitive or popular. It is hidden. Here’s where it is hidden: “We preach Christ crucified . . . the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24).

We must understand that there are two kinds of wisdom, and they are competing for our trust. The Bible calls them “the wisdom from above” and “the wisdom that . . . is earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (James 3:15, 17). Do you remember what Jesus said to Peter when Peter urged him not to go to the cross? Peter was saying, “Look, boss, there’s another way to go about this. Crosses are not a smart formula for success.” But Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! . . . For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:21–23). How did Peter earn that stunning rebuke? Not by setting his mind on the things of Satan but just on the things of man—natural, understandable things, like survival. Peter was being wise with the wisdom that is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. Our natural wisdom panders to our pride and makes losing unthinkable. But J. R. R. Tolkien’s Ring Trilogy reminds us that our golden rings of power only make us weird, like Gollum. The key to life is not getting more of these golden rings but throwing them decisively away into the fires of Mount Doom. That humility is “the wisdom from above.”

Ah! God is other than we think, his ways are far above,

Far beyond reason’s height and reached only by childlike love.

Then learn to scorn the praise of men, and learn to lose with God,

For Jesus won the world through shame and beckons thee his road.3

That is the wisdom of the cross. That wisdom frees us from the distortions of our pride and opens the way to resurrection and new life. In The Pilgrim’s Regress, C. S. Lewis says the path of wisdom leads through a valley: “‘And what is this valley called?’ ‘We call it now simply Wisdom’s Valley; but the oldest maps mark it as the Valley of Humiliation.’”4

There is irony here. The wisdom of Proverbs started out historically for the training of leaders in ancient Israel.5 It was written by kings and others in the royal court for young men in their teens and twenties whose future was bright with nobility. But we rise to that greatness and leadership and influence not our way, not by our natural strategies, but God’s way, through the cross, through humility. An old poem says:

When God wants to drill a man And thrill a man And skill a man When God wants to mold a man To play the noblest part

When He yearns with all His heart To create so great and bold a man That all the world shall be amazed, Watch His methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects Whom He royally elects! How He hammers him and hurts him And with mighty blows converts him Into shapes and forms of clay Which only God can understand

How He bends but never breaks When his good He undertakes How He uses whom He chooses And with mighty power infuses him With every act induces him To try His splendor out— God knows what He’s about.

Wisdom is the gospel of Christ reshaping us for royalty, as God places us on his anvil and we trust him enough to stay there until his work is done.

Here is how the book of Proverbs is designed. It is an anthology—that is, a collection of writings from several authors. Solomon is listed as the author, because he contributed the most and because he’s the famous one. But after the title in 1:1—“The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel”—then the purpose of the book is stated in 1:2–6. That’s where we find out what God will accomplish in us through this book. The theme or motto of the book is famously stated in 1:7: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Then the rest of chapters 1—9 is a series of poems selling wisdom to us, motivating us to get into the book and receive its teachings with an eager heart. Chapters 1—9 make the case as to why we should care. Then look at 10:1, where we read, “The proverbs of Solomon.” This is where the proverbs as such begin. Chapters 1—9 are all introductory. They are connected discourses, rather like psalms. But when the proverbs themselves begin in chapter 10, the style changes. Instead of lengthy, unified sections, each verse is its own tiny unit. So after chapters 1—9 I will bring together various proverbs that address wisdom-issues in our lives—for example, how to use money, how to be a family, how to use words, and so forth. All the proverbs from 10:1—22:16 come from Solomon himself. Then in Proverbs 22:17 we read, “Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise.” Proverbs 22:17—24:22 is the next collection within the anthology. This section is known as The Thirty Sayings of the Wise. Then in Proverbs 24:23, the next collection begins: “These also are sayings of the wise,” and that brief section runs through verse 34 of that chapter. Then in 25:1—29:27 we have more proverbs of Solomon: “These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied” (25:1). The last two collections in the book are “The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle” (30:1–33) and “The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him” (31:1–31). So there are seven major sections in the book of Proverbs—the introduction in chapters 1—9, followed by six collections of proverbs by Solomon and other divinely inspired geniuses.

What then is at stake for you and me in the book of Proverbs? Why does this book deserve our endless fascination? T. S. Eliot spoke to our times when he asked these questions:

Where is the life we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?6

In our chaotic lives of constant stop-start-stop-start short-attention-span mental habits, with an endless stream of momentarily visible Twitter-feed fragments of information, we have been reduced to one splinter factoid after another, and we are trying to patch together some kind of elegant whole worth living. That is difficult. But the problem is not just that we are fidgety and distracted; it’s that our information, however much we have, is no basis for a life. We need Jesus to rescue us from our information and even from our knowledge. We need Jesus to counsel us with a new (and yet ancient) wisdom that comes from him. Then we can live. That is what is at stake here—our living rather than our dying. And Christ speaks to us for our living calmly, patiently, lovingly, seriously through the book of Proverbs.

This book works when we deliberately slow down and listen and think and journal and pray. For many years Billy Graham read one chapter of the book of Proverbs every day in order each month, because there are 31 chapters in the book.7 We need that too. In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr helps us to see how we are being changed and therefore how we need to change back:

As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.8

It is time to get off our information high, pick up the Bible, and go deep. But the biggest challenge is not in our surroundings. It is internal to ourselves. We bring a precondition into our counseling sessions with Jesus.

The book of Proverbs uses a certain Hebrew word to describe us as we start out. It is the word petî.9 It shows up in our English Bibles as “simple” (ESV), “naive” (NASB), “ignorant” (JB). We do not like being told we are simple, naive, and ignorant. But we can put away our feeling of insult and be glad, because the Bible does not idealize us. The Bible sets the bar low, where beginners like us can get traction and succeed. I am reminded of my sixth grade report card from Allendale Elementary School, Pasadena, California, 1960-61, which I have before me now. Mrs. Karpé was my long-suffering teacher. How was I doing? Reading, C. Math, C-. Social Studies, D. Art, C. Work and Study Habits, C-. Mrs. Karpé’s written comment was:

Buddy is not working up to grade level requirement. He has a tendency to procrastinate, lose his work, then panics. He has a promising “potential,” but I would like to see him exercise it, do something about it.

In response to which my dad wrote in the following space for the parent’s comments:

Buddy is going to take a far greater interest in all of his work at school. Please give us a progress report in one month. We will contact you. Thanks for your interest.

I was a petî. And the proof of it was not my age or even my performance but just that I didn’t much care. But in God’s mercy I had a teacher and a dad who did care. I am thankful because “No one left to himself ever arrives at wisdom.”10

This word petî is related to a Hebrew verb that means “to be open.” A petî keeps his options open. He is uncommitted. He may even see himself as above commitment. But it gets him into trouble: “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it” (Proverbs 22:3; 27:12). Why does a petî keep doing that? Because he does not want to make up his mind and commit himself: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?” (Proverbs 1:22). Martyn Lloyd-Jones drills down into our problem:

You will never make yourself feel that you are a sinner, because there is a mechanism in you as a result of sin that will always be defending you against every accusation. We are all on very good terms with ourselves, and we can always put up a good case for ourselves. Even if we try to make ourselves feel that we are sinners, we will never do it. There is only one way to know that we are sinners, and that is to have some dim, glimmering conception of God.11

Until we come alive to God, it seems cool to stand aloof and laugh at everything. It feels superior. But it is foolish, because we are not neutral. We do not have our little devilish nature sitting on one shoulder tempting us and our little angelic nature sitting on the other shoulder restraining us. We have no angel. We have only a devil of a heart telling us we are angels, and we believe it. That guilty naiveté about ourselves is how we are born. It’s why we hate correction. Theologians call it Original Sin, and it is very real. We need Jesus to save us, first and foremost, from not needing to be saved.

As we launch our study of Proverbs, let’s so humble ourselves that we are enthusiastic about Jesus saving us from ourselves. We are born proud and defensive. It makes us negative, whiny, suspicious, unsatisfiable, squandering our opportunity in life. But then we are reborn by grace into newness and repentance and freedom as we listen to our Wonderful Counselor who loves us better than we love ourselves. That new humility is “the fear of the LORD” and “the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). That is how we begin our journey into wisdom, and it remains a lifelong, moment by moment attitude adjustment:

Believers may not often realize it, but even as believers we are either centered on man or centered on God. There is no alternative. Either God is the center of our universe and we have become rightly adjusted to him, or we have made ourselves the center and are attempting to make all else orbit around us and for us.12

Even in the small things of everyday life, Christ wants to be our true center. Then we learn to be wise. Then we really start to live.

In Proverbs 9, the elegant Lady Wisdom and the seductive Woman Folly are standing on either side of the road calling out, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” (Proverbs 9:4, 16). What happens to us if we turn toward Folly? We start down a path from being a petî to becoming hardened into a “scoffer” who cannot come back. “A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain” (Proverbs 14:6).

What happens to us if we commit to Wisdom? “The path of life leads upward for the wise; they leave the grave behind” (Proverbs 15:24, NLT). True wisdom is walking further with Jesus than we’ve ever gone before, further than we’ve ever dreamed of going. It is not risky. All we leave behind is the grave. All we leave behind is our stupidity and futility and ultimate damnation. But his path is marked by promise every step of the way. Here is his promise to every fool who chooses the way of his cross: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Let’s walk his way together.

2 Let’s Begin

1:1–7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

PROVERBS 1:7

In our daily lives we need more than rules. Sometimes life is too complex for a simple rule. We need wisdom to fill in the blanks moment by moment, and God gives us his wisdom in the book of Proverbs. But we need wisdom for another reason. It is possible to live by all the rules and be ugly about it. We have all known people who were blameless, in their way, and we disliked them. But wisdom “will bestow on you a beautiful crown” (Proverbs 4:9). We want Jesus to place that crown on our heads, for his sake. Wise Christians and wise churches become radiantly attractive. The Bible says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders” (Colossians 4:5). How? More people are won for Christ by beauty than by rules.

We begin our journey deeper into God’s wisdom at Proverbs 1:1–7. The word “beginning” is seen in verse 7: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Everyone needs a new beginning with God. That is why we go to church and pray and receive the gospel. We want what only God can do for us, and the fear of the Lord is how we receive it. The fear of the Lord is both a doorway and a pathway. It is a new beginning, and it never ends. You can begin afresh with God today. You can say to him, “Lord, I know the rules fairly well. But the beauty of wisdom takes me much further with you. I want to go there.” You can walk through that doorway and get going on that pathway. The only price you will pay is letting God be God to you.

Proverbs 1:1–7 opens up the whole book. It divides this way: first, the title of the book, in verse 1; second, the goals of the book, in verses 2–6; third, the threshold of the book, in verse 7.

The Title

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. (Proverbs 1:1)

Two things stand out here: one, how this book communicates; two, where this book comes from.

One: how this book communicates: “The proverbs.” Proverbs are the literary strategy of this book. What is a proverb? In English a proverb is a short saying of practical truth that’s easy to remember, like “Look before you leap” or “A stitch in time saves nine.” Biblical proverbs are sound-bite-ish too, but they offer a lot more than common sense.

What then is a Biblical proverb? The Hebrew noun “proverb” is related to a verb that means “to represent, to be like.” So a proverb is a little model of reality, a little verbal representation of some aspect of our daily lives. And by picking a proverb up and turning it over and over and looking at it from all angles, we can see something about our lives before we step out into the actual reality. The world says, Live and learn. God is saying, Learn and live.1

Think of a proverb this way. When the Wright brothers flew their airplane for the first time in 1903, they knew it would take off. How did they know? They had built a wind tunnel where they tested different wing designs before they risked their necks in actual flight. That is what the proverbs are for. We can explore a real-life situation within the virtual reality of a proverb. We can know in advance what is going to fly and what is going to crash. Biblical wisdom tells us what life is really like.

Two: where this book comes from: “. . . of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.” One of the fascinating things about the book of Proverbs is that it does not often connect with the history of God’s people. Over and over the Bible calls us back to Abraham and Moses and the exodus and so forth. But the book of Proverbs does not do that. Not only so, but Proverbs 22:17—24:22 does parallel aspects of “The Instruction of Amenemope” from Egypt.2 This is why some scholars perceive the wisdom of Proverbs as accessible without God. They see this wisdom as available to everyone in the same way—by being smart enough. And indeed we can learn from the best practices of smart people who do not claim Jesus. But the wisdom of Proverbs comes from “Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.” Right up front, the book tells us it stands in the flow of Biblical history, which leads us to Jesus. Here is the point: The fear of the Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning of this wisdom.

What did Solomon understand that made such a difference? He connected the Lord with real life, all of it. First Kings 4:29–34 tells us that Solomon was a Renaissance man. He was fascinated by everything. He studied plants, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of a crack in a wall. He studied animals. He composed music. He did not compartmentalize God. He understood that everything is connected with our Creator, and therefore everything is interesting. Solomon was like Jonathan Edwards, who saw divine glory all around him. Here is how Edwards perceived reality:

God had created lower things to be signs that pointed to higher spiritual realities. The universe, then, was a complex language of God. Nothing in it was accidental. Everything pointed to a higher meaning. Scripture . . . was the key to reading the true meaning of everything else.3

The Biblical worldview opens up the higher meaning of money and sex and power and everything across the landscape of our lives. And we “get it” not by outsmarting someone else but by fearing the Lord. Solomon did. So can you, by God’s grace. Just let God be God to you.

The Goals

To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,

to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity;

to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth—

Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance —4

to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles. (Proverbs 1:2–6)

God has two goals for us in the book of Proverbs. Verse 2 states them. One is deep character, and the other is straight thinking. “To know wisdom and instruction”—that’s deep character. “To understand words of insight”—that’s straight thinking. Verses 3, 4 tell us more about deep character, and verse 6 tells us more about straight thinking. Verse 5 is a parenthesis, urging even wise people to keep growing. Everybody can take a new step with the Lord—the simple, the youthful, the wise. Everybody can be on a growth edge together. We can be a community of growing people.

What about God’s first purpose for us—deep character? “To know wisdom and instruction,” verse 2 says. We haven’t defined wisdom yet, so now is the time. What does the sage mean by “wisdom”? Wisdom is more than brains. It is more than morals. We could memorize the whole Bible, and mean it from the heart, without wisdom. Wisdom is skill, expertise, competence that understands how life really works, how to achieve successful and even beautiful results. We see a picture of wisdom in Exodus 35:31, where the word translated “wisdom” in Proverbs 1:2 is used for the skill of an artist adorning the tabernacle. We see wisdom in Jeremiah 10:9 where the expertise of goldsmiths is called “the work of skilled men,” or wise men. We see wisdom in Psalm 107:27 for the know-how of sailors, who use the winds and tides to make their way through the sea to their destination. Whether craftsmanship working with the materials of life or seamanship steering through the currents of life, so to speak, wisdom understands how real life can work well. Wisdom knows better than to walk onto the football field and hope the game will go well somehow; wisdom draws up a game plan that will score more touchdowns than the opponents because that plan takes into account not only the rules of the game but also psychology and timing and strategy and everything it takes to win. That is wisdom.

This is seen all through the Bible. Perceiving wisdom asks the hard questions about life and understands God’s answers. Acting wisdom guides us in our practical conduct every day. Communicating wisdom educates us in the school of the sages, as we see here in Proverbs 1:2–6.5 We are being invited into the counsels of the best and the brightest.

Now if wisdom is so desirable, and it is, then why isn’t everyone running toward wisdom? Why is it rare? Because of the next word in verse 2: “instruction.” It is also translated “discipline” (NLT