You can go ahead and open your Bibles to the Book of Proverbs. And we'll jump kind of right into our study today of this book. The Book of Proverbs is truly a majestic tome of wisdom from the wisest man who has ever lived. What do I mean when I say something like majestic tome? Am I just using lofty words for the sake of doing so? No, it really is a royal book of wisdom. It really is a royal collection of sayings from, again, the wisest man who ever lived. The book of Proverbs is most closely associated with King Solomon. You actually see in Proverbs 1.1, the Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. And we know from earlier studies, not just in this class, but really hopefully in a lifelong study of God's word, that Solomon, to God's honor and glory and to God's pleasure, when God offered to give him anything that he desired, what did Solomon pray for at the very beginning of his reign? He prayed for wisdom. And this greatly pleased the Lord. And I'm gonna read for us just a section of 1 Kings 4, beginning in verse 29, just to kinda think through just who this Solomon was. And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand of the seashore. Again, I've used this illustration a lot, but the seashore is full of sand. Lots and lots, copious amounts, a cornucopia of wisdom was bestowed on Solomon. The breadth of it, meaning his knowledge of subjects was as diverse, as wide, as spread out as could possibly be imagined. And then in each of those categories, he was an expert. So that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezraite, and Haman, Kalkol, and Darda, the sons of Mahalon. And his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five." In other words, not only did God bless Solomon with wisdom for his own sake, blessed Solomon with wisdom for the sake of his people. Solomon spoke, according to his wisdom, over 3,000 Proverbs, some, give or take, 800 of which are actually recorded for us in this book. But in the same way that David didn't just sit down and write the first book of Psalms or the second book of the Psalms or whatever, Solomon did not just sit down and write the book of Proverbs. Rather, these were compiled edited together later into the volume as we know it today. And you can actually see the seams of this editing throughout the book. So you see Proverbs chapter 1 verse 1 says these are the Proverbs of Solomon the son of David the king of Israel. And then you can see if you look at Proverbs 22 we're told that the speaker changes. In Proverbs 22 beginning in verse 17 the book says Incline your ears and hear the words of the wise and apply your heart to my knowledge and so now we've got a group of people collectively known as the wise or the wise ones and they are Steering the ship as it were for chapters 22 and 20 through 24 then if you flip over another page in chapter 20 or another page or two into chapter 25 What is 25 one set? also the Proverbs of Solomon. Which? The men of Hezekiah, King of Judah. So Hezekiah, is that close to Solomon or after? By a long time, it's after. So they compiled these sayings in chapter 25 to 29, well after the days of Solomon. And then in chapter 30, you see, we get some more Proverbs. These are the words of Agur, the son of Jache, the oracle. And then in chapter 31, we get the words of King Lemuel, who is not a king of Israel, who's not an Israelite at all. And yet he had an oracle given to him that was compiled and preserved in our book of Proverbs. So there is some editing that goes on. This was not just a free flow of thought, a long extended poem, though portions of it are, rather it was collected and edited into the volume that we have as it is today. And just like the book of Psalms was, edited and arranged in a very particular and distinct way, which we saw last time. You could actually trace through the royal psalms, the kingship psalms that are at the seams of each of the book, and you can follow the story of the Messiah. Straight through and we talked about that last week and that that's recorded and put up on there's actually a podcast feed that has all these so if you want to go back and see that you can or if you just want my notes there they're welcome to you But but the book of Proverbs is similarly ordered as we'll see today To teach us some important lessons the book of Proverbs as we know it existed in its final form at the time of the writing of the New Testament. So I bring this up just to say that some people may be uneasy with the fact that the last two chapters are from guys that we know almost nothing about. And some people may be uneasy with the fact that we don't know who edited and compiled this volume. We don't But the important thing is, it existed as it is today at the time of Jesus and the disciples, and they quoted it authoritative as if it were scripture. Would somebody please read James chapter four, verses five and six? James chapter four, verses five and six. Miss Duncan. Or do you suppose it is to the world. Oh, sorry. No purpose. The scriptures say he yearns jealously over the spirit that he made to dwell in us, but he gives more grace. Therefore it says God opposes the problem. It gives grace to the humble. And, um, does your, does your, do you have a footnote that says that what that's a quote of? Yes. What's it say? Proverbs three, three, four. Right. So, so James is saying the scripture doesn't say you make an innocuous statement, but rather it, bring back to the scripture says this, and he calls scripture Proverbs chapter, I believe that was three, uh, and, and that citation. So, uh, while we don't know all the ins and outs of how it came into its present being, we know it's the word of God because the new Testament says so. Okay. Uh, so now with all of that said, um, the editing of this book actually helps us to divide it into appropriate sections. And this outline will actually help us to avoid a lot of the misunderstandings and misapplications of the truths of this book, which we'll see in a second. So let me give you the outline for those of you that keep track of these sorts of things. The first section runs from chapter one all the way through chapter nine. And this is a prologue and instructions. a prologue and instructions. The next major section runs from chapter 10 to chapter, all the way through chapter 22, 16. And this is the Proverbs of Solomon. Now all of the sections of Solomon, well, one is a specific instructions. And then another is just a collection of sayings of Solomon. Okay. And that can be divided into two parts as well, which we don't need to get into now because time is already fleeting. Section 3 is the Words of the Wise. This is 2217 through the end of 24. Section 4 is more Solomonic Proverbs. That's S-O-L-O-M-O-N-I-C, Solomonic Proverbs, gathered by Hezekiah. And then Sections 5 and 6 are Chapters 30 and 31, respectively. Section 5, the Oracle of Agur. and section 6, the Oracle of Lemuel. Now, we're going to spend a fair bit of time here on the beginning of the book because it is, in some way, instructions for how to read the book. The beginning is the beginning for a reason. It tells us what it is that makes the whole book work. And so this opening poem is going to give us a good idea about how to approach the rest of the book of Proverbs, because there are several Proverbs that in isolation, divorced from context, will seem to teach, if you do good things, you will get rich. Like the health and wealth guys, aren't not using the Bible at all, they're just not using it well. Does that make sense? There are passages like that, and we wanna say, well, yes, but in what sense, in what way, how does that work, okay? So I just, this is how to make sure that we're interpreting things in context. So let me read for us the beginning section. The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, 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, that's those who are uneducated, and knowledge and discretion to the youth. This book is uniquely written for you guys. Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. What's the whole point? The fear of the Lord It's the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. That's the grid through which we're going to see the book. This is all about living a life in the fear of the Lord. Derek Kidner writes, this is also the motto of wisdom writings in general and reappears in substance. He says in chapter nine, verse 10, chapter 15, verse 33, Job 28, 28, Psalm 111, verse 10, It's all over the place in the wisdom literature, this idea of the fear of the Lord being the starting point, the beginning of wisdom, the beginning by which he means the first and controlling principle rather than a stage which one leaves behind. In other words, it's not in the beginning as if you start the race at the beginning and then you run past that. Rather, this is the beginning in the sense of the first thing you build when you build a house is a foundation and everything is built on that thing. Does that make sense? The beginning, the founding principle of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. It's not merely a right method of thought, but a right relationship. Meaning, it's one thing to think according to the ethical grid of the Bible, and we want to do that. That's good. But at a deeper level, we want to say, I think according to the ethical grid of the Bible, which is a term I just made up, but I think you know what I mean? Because God is right. And whatever I think that's different than that is wrong because I want to serve God with all aspects of who I am. It's not just a right method of thought, but a right relationship. Knowledge then, in its full sense, is a relationship dependent on revelation and inseparable from character. And this is the key factor that will make the difference between the two ways that Solomon really unfolds for us through the rest of this opening section. There's two ways. I asked Mary Grace to play for us Psalm 1 that we could sing this morning because it speaks of the two ways. There is the way of the one who walks with sinners and stands in their way and sits in the scoffer's chair. And then there's the way of the one who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. And so there's these two ways, and we know the two ends of those ways. One ends in blessing and eternal life, and one ends as chaff being blown into the wind and ultimately destroyed. And that's really what Solomon unfolds for us in the rest of these opening chapters. He speaks of the enticement of sinners. That is, those who would try to lead you astray in chapter one. There will be those who will come to us with words that sound plausible. They sound reasonable. Plans that sound like they will benefit you. And in the short run, they might, to varying degrees, bring gratification and success. But at the bottom line, he's saying, do not follow that because ultimately its end is destruction. And you would be a fool to go that way because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In other words, our relationship to God is our determining factor, not the desires of our heart. We want our desire of our heart to be God, and then we can follow it. But only if the fear of the Lord is our starting point. And by the way, this is something we all need. As one scholar wrote, the prologue invites the simple and the young, which is you, and at one point was me, I'm old now, to set out for wisdom and then those advanced in wisdom to increase in it. He's calling us to pursue wisdom, and then those who are on the path already, which is hopefully most of you, to also then increase that wisdom. Wisdom is variously styled and personified in the book, sometimes in the form of a father instructing a son, sometimes in the form of a character called Lady Wisdom who's calling us to faithfulness. But from the outside of the book, Proverbs is telling us to keep a perspective on God and giving us a great incentive, such as Proverbs chapter three, beginning in verse two. And I'm going to read this for us. Proverbs chapter three. I don't know why my note says verse two. I'm just going to back up to one. My son, do not forget my teaching. but let your heart keep my commandments. For length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart so you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first things of all your produce. Then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be wary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights." So this whole perspective is on fear of the Lord and honoring him with all that we have. And then there's also this great incentive that's given in verses 13 to 18. Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit is better than gold. She, that is wisdom, is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand, and her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Now, verse 18 is very important. What's it say? She is the tree of life. To those who lay hold of her. Anybody know when the last time the Bible used this term or talked about this expression, the tree of life is? Genesis three. It's what Adam lost for us in the garden. And we won't see it again until Revelation 22. And so when it's spoken of, something that bookends the whole of the Bible, very key chapters, we do well to pay attention. The path of wisdom, the path of following the Lord, is the way back to the tree of life. So we want to keep an eschatological perspective, to use a big fancy theological word. We want to focus on the end goal, which is a return to the tree of life that's purchased for us, uh, in and through Christ. And that really, um, unfolds, uh, throughout the rest of the book. I'll, I'll skip onto the next section though. Uh, the more Proverbs of Solomon that begin, uh, in chapter nine, just for the sake of time. I want to point out to you guys just to help make you more, uh, careful readers, uh, of the scriptures. Actually, this starts in chapter 10. These Proverbs of Solomon are sometimes called contrastive sayings or antithetical Proverbs. And the reason for that, would somebody that's not on the front row tell me, what word do you see at the beginning of the second line of every one of these Proverbs? Almost every one. If you look in a chapter 10, it's a long list of Proverbs that say one line. And then the second line begins with the same word, but right. It's a contrasting statement. They're all contrasting statements. There is a way that appears wise to man and it ends poorly, but there's this other way that's honoring to God and ends well. Now, these are passages that are ripe for misunderstanding if taken to be absolute promises based on the outcome of the here and now. For example, chapter 10, verse 1, a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is sorrow to his mother. That didn't work out for me, right? I made the wise choice to obey God's calling on my life. and to pursue gospel ministry. And that did not make a glad father for me. These are not necessarily guaranteed to work out in the here and now. It actually cost me my relationship with my dad. And that's okay. Because these are not guarantees on here and now. Rather, they are basically true now. And they're ultimately true in eternity. Because it is a delight to my Heavenly Father when I obey His wise calling on my life. You guys see the difference there? You have to keep in mind these are generally true now and ultimately true in glory. Generally true now and ultimately true in glory. Let's just skip on down to the last section for the sake of time. This is really important. Proverbs 31, beginning in verse 10. Hopefully you all know this passage well. Men, remember this passage for when you get married and want to write a nice note to your wife. This will be very, very important for you. Proverbs 31, 10 and following is in some ways the climactic illustration of the book. Right? The book has been building. on the steam of the fear of the Lord, and what's the big climax? It is the value, the excellency of a good and faithful wife. Ladies, you are the pinnacle, according to the book of Proverbs, of what wisdom looks like embodied. That's a high compliment. One commentator says, This poem is skillfully crafted. It is both an acrostic, which means in the Hebrew, each verse begins with a successive line of the Hebrew alphabet, so it's poetically arranged in that sense, but it's also chiastic in structure, which is, again, a fancy word meaning basically the structure of it goes like this. It goes to a point and then comes back down in the center, and that would look better if this marker worked. The point is, In Hebrew poetry, oftentimes the center point of the poem is the main point. And everything builds up to that main point, and then there's an inverse picture of it on the other side. So you have this one mountain peak, and then you have parallels on the way up on both sides, building to this one crescendo. So for example, if you look in 3110, you'll see the high value of a good wife. Then if you look in 31, 30, and 31, which is the end of it, you'll see the high value of a good wife. In verses 11 and 12, you see that the husband is benefited by the wife. In verses 28 and 29, again, the opposite end of the mountain peak, you'll see that a husband and children praise the wife. In verses 13 to 19, you'll see that the wife works hard. In verse 27, the wife works hard, and on you can go. As you're building to, the center point, which we'll get to in a moment. But before we get there, I just want to say, as an aside, one of the big attacks on the Bible in our day is that it's somehow anti-woman, anti-female. It looks down on women. I want you ladies to know that's an absolute lie. That it could not be more false. I think it actually says a lot about, given the time in which this was written, when the whole world was exceedingly patriarchal. This pinnacle of wisdom is a godly wife. And just as inside, don't ever let anyone tell you that the Bible doesn't treat women with dignity and wisdom. You are actually the picture of that, according to this book. You care for your family. You are to be the object of much praise by them. But notice the center of the poem. It's verse 23. What's the high watermark? Her husband is known in the gates. The center of this poem about the godly wife suggests that the key factor, the key determining thing is that her husband is well thought of and well respected by the outside world. Now some may twist this and say, see, everything that I just said that this thing says that's good about ladies is actually all in service to exalting a man. That's a shallow interpretation if I've ever heard one. What's the very purpose that the Bible gives us for the creation of the woman? That she would be a help to her husband, right? And before you think that that's an insulting term, know that that same word for help is used most frequently, actually, of God himself. Psalm 121.1, I look to the hills, from where does my help come? Help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. It is not a lesser role by any stretch to be a helper. The point, though, is this. If that's the point for which God designed marriage, And that's the point for which God designed the wife in the marriage, to help the husband. If he is well thought of and well respected, that means the Lord is blessing her work. The Lord is prospering what she is doing. But even more deeply than that, even more deeply than that, what is marriage ultimately a picture of? Everybody here should know this. Christ and his church, Ephesians 5. And so the key sign of a wise Christian, the, the emblem of what it looks like to live in the fear of the Lord is that the church corporately and us individually, this applies to not just ladies, but all of us would be those who would lift up the name of our Lord, who would lift up the name of the Lord Jesus. So the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. As we're told at the beginning of the book, and it's best exemplified by the people of God, lifting up the gospel of God, proclaiming Christ to every tribe and tongue. This may be foolishness to men, but in God's sight, it is the wisdom of God. Let's pray. God in heaven, there is so much more that could be and should be said about the book of Proverbs, but I pray, Lord, that you would help us to be those who would live in the fear of the Lord as we propagate and promote the truth of your word. In Christ's name, I pray.