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A Study of Proverbs 1 - 3
March 18, 2007
One of our members requested a study of Proverbs. The opening chapters describe and discuss knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. In the context of this study, knowledge denotes information--the acquisition of facts. Understanding means knowing how that information may be used. Wisdom indicates that one knows when it should be used.
Bernie Parsons
A Study of Proverbs Chapters 1 - 3
by Bernie Parsons March 18, 2007
After he had read this book straight through, a brother at the Globe Church of Christ asked me to do a study of Proverbs. He was amazed at the gems of wisdom contained therein. Supposing that this might be a good study, I have agreed to do it.
Proverbs 1:1: “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, and judgment, and equity;
4: To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5: A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
This book of wise sayings is intended to impress upon youth the importance of knowledge coupled with wisdom. We live in an age in which the socialists and leftists of this country attempt to separate our youth from the instruction of their elders. Proverbs reminds us of the necessity of our young listening to their elders.
A wise person seeks to increase knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. In other words, what is true, what does it mean, and how best can I apply it to my life? The young mind does not always understand the wisdom behind the proverbs. It is not enough to learn the proverbs, but one must also understand what they mean, and how they are to guide us.
Proverbs 1:8: “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
Parents love their children in a way that no one else does. As I have already mentioned, it is imperative that children heed the teaching of their parents.
Proverbs 1:10: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11: If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17: Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18: And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19: So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.”
Be careful of the company that you keep, lest you become one of the company. What one person will not do on their own, they often will do to be accepted as “one of the crowd.”
1 Corinthians 15:33: “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
34: Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.”
Proverbs 1:20: “Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22: How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23: Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24: Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25: But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27: When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28: Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31: Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32: For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33: But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”
Wisdom reproves you when you are wrong. If you ignore wisdom, you call down trouble upon your own head. Once you have destroyed yourself, it is too late for wisdom to help you undo what you have done. Those who ignore wisdom choose to do what seems right in their own eyes.
Jeremiah 10:23: “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
Ephesians 6:1: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2: Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
3: That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
4: And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Proverbs 2:1: “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2: So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3: Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4: If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5: Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6: For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7: He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8: He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9: Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.”
James 1:5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Proverbs 2:10: “When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11: Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
12: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13: Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14: Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15: Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:”
Wisdom will keep you out of the company of mischievous and evil men, who intend harm to the innocent. Their pathways lead to trouble for you, as well as for your victims.
Proverbs 2:16: “To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17: Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18: For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19: None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20: That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21: For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22: But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.”
Forsaking wisdom may lead a young man into the arms of a woman of ill repute. She wishes him no good, and does him no good. She will only bring shame and sorrow.
Proverbs 3:1: “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
2: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
3: Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
4: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
5: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6: In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7: Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
8: It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.”
1 Peter 3:10: “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.”
Proverbs 3:9: “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
10: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
11: My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
12: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”
Hebrews 12:5: “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
If we will listen to the Lord, He will correct us and keep us in His wisdom and truth.
Proverbsx 3:13: “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
14: For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
15: She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
16: Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
17: Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
18: She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.”
Wisdom is a far greater treasure than silver, gold, or gemstones. The pursuit of riches often leads to sorrow, while the pursuit of wisdom can lead to riches. When we live in wisdom, our lives might well be long upon this earth.
Proverbs 3:19: “The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
20: By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.
21: My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:
22: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.
23: Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
24: When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
25: Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.
26: For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.”
1 Peter 3:13: “And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
14: But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
15: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”
1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
We cannot live in fear. Perfect love of God casts out fear.
Proverbs 3:27: “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
28: Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
29: Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
30: Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
31: Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
32: For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
33: The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
34: Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
35: The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”
James 2:15: “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16: And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Matthew 5:42: “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43: Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
We must be just and righteous, forsaking the destructive ways of the wicked.
