Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro
 
"To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.  "O naive ones, understand prudence; And, O fools, understand wisdom. Proverbs 8:4-5

I find it fascinating to know that when God speaks of wisdom - that He represents wisdom calling out to men.  But in order for us to be a candidate for wisdom, we must consider ourselves in need of it.  This presents an interesting challenge for guys.

Being a member of the male side of the species I think I can speak with some authority on the issue of guys and pride.  My experience here is not just through book-learning - it actually comes from way too much experience with pride in my own life.  Men hate to express two things in life.  First, they don't like to express a need for direction in life.  Most guys want to have a sense that they know where they are going.  I've even heard tales of men refusing to ask for directions when they are lost - and everyone knows it.  The second thing about guys is that they don't like to admit weakness.  They want to at least appear strong - even if that appearance is betrayed by the facts later.  So, when God lets us know that wisdom calls out to us - and only asks that we admit that we are naive, simple, and fools - who would think that men would resist?

Here is the problem though - God is calling out to us every day.  He is trying to get our attention so that we can hear what wisdom has to say to us.  There is a lot that God would like to tell us - if we would only listen.  Thus, the whole thing of listening is where we tend to short-circuit.  There is a statistic that speaks of how women speak twice as many words as men.  Most women would tell you that part of the reason for that is that they have to repeat themselves when they talk to their husbands.  Our history as a gender betrays the truth that we don't exactly listen as well as we should.  It is to our advantage that we listen - and fortunately God Himself has wisdom calling and lifting her voice to get our attention.  That much is to our benefit.  Whether we actually listen or not is up to us. 

God calls to the "naive ones" when he calls.  To be naive means to be simpleminded and foolish.  This condition is one where a person does not understand the complexities and challenges of life.  He is inexperienced and lacking insight - which God tells us comes from His words and laws.  We are simpleminded as men - needing God to give us a proper understanding of how complex decision making can be.  We often don't grasp the challenges that are before us - and how often these challenges are exacerbated by bad decisons that we make when we don't consult the Lord prior to making them.  Live long enough and you will come to grasp much more clearly that you don't have the insight into the current or future that you are about to choose.  But if you will admit that you are not the end-all of wisdom at the moment - that you are not all-wise and all-seeing - and you will turn to the Lord in the midst of making decisions about where you are going and what you plan to do.  He sees all things and knows the right way to choose and to go.  Turning to Him is wisdom indeed.

The second thing God points out about us and our need for wisdom is that we can be fools.  Making choices according to our own foolishness will really hurt us in the end.  We've learned already that the fool is the dullard - the stupid man and that left to ourselves we will not live out our lives in practical success that will bring us into God's favor and blessing.  Some reject this idea and join with other men in proclaiming that they know how to live and what to do.  Funny, they also state loudly later that the world is messed up and that people are constantly making really stupid choices.  It is the classic mistake of saying everyone else is a dullard - but I've got it together. 

The truth is that we need to listen every day to what the Lord is saying - not just in a time we set aside each morning to seek God, but just as importantly, when we are walking through life.  Gos is calling to us - wisdom is trying to get our attention.  The real question is whether we will take the time to listen - admitting openly our lack of wisdom; or whether we will stumble on our way - and prove by our choices that we never had it.
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My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you. Proverbs 7:1

Why is it so necessary for a son to watch over, protect, and treasure the words of his father?  Well, first it is because a godly father speaks wisdom to his son.  Second, it is becasue a godly father speaks contrary to a fallen society - and because of the nature of this world - the messages the son will receive from the world, far outnumber those his father will be able to speak to him. 

The father here tells his son to "keep my words."  This word "keep" is the Hebrew word "shamar" and it has the idea of keeping and guarding.  In one context this word actually means to stand as a bodyguard.  Other places the word means a gatekeeper, a guardsman and always has that idea of watching over something with a mindset of keeping it safe and secure.  When you look at the context of what this father is about to say, this becomes very clear.  The father is about to speak to his son about women - but not just any kind of women - about harlots and loose women. 

There is a reason the son should guard these words - and that is because as he grows up - he will be sorely tempted in this area.  His own fallen desires and the changes he will experience in his own body are reason enough to do this.  The second reason he should act this way about his father's warnings is because at least in today's world - we live in a sexually charged world.  The amount of sexual temptation available has exploded in just the last 10 years.  There is available to a young man sexually explicit material in a multitude of forms - from the computer to even his cell phone.  He better listen to his dad on this one because there is trouble and bondage on the horizon for those who do not listen.

The father calls his son also to "treasure my commandments within you."   This term "treasure" means that the son is hiding these things away - storing them up - and putting them in a secret place in his heart.  He is keeping them there like treasure - because he knows that they will be needed later in life.  It used to be a normal thing for children to be taught the value and the treasure of their virginity and sexuality.  These things were considered as gifts to be given to God first - and second to one's husband or wife.  The commandments that the father would give to his son consisted of what the Word of God said about sexual matters.  Oh, that we would treasure such things - knowing that God only wants to protect us from evil - from problems - and from ruining ourselves in the end.  These commandments are not given to keep us from pleasure and joy - they are given to maximize it.  Following them not only keeps us from trouble and pain - but they also will bring about blessing for those who keep them.

Oh that two things would happen once again in our society.  First, that fathers would take the time to teach their sons and daughters the things of God.  That they would take the time to present the biblical standards and protections given to us by God.  Second, that children, having heard such things, would treasure them and keep them in their hearts to offer protection and to grant great joy to their hearts in following the Lord all the days of their lives. 
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There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Proverbs 6:16

God hates things?  This seems so strange to some people who do not know God's holiness and justice.  Their view of God is of a loving, tolerant, indulgent father who would never do anything mean - and certainly does not hate anyone or anything - except maybe what they hate.  The Bible teaches differently than this. 

Note here that Jehovah speaks of six "things" which He hates.  The word for hate here is "sane" which means to hate, detest, to dislike or be hostile to something or someone - to loathe.  Wow, that's a strong word isn't it.  The thought that God actually hates and loathes something may be new to you - but let's go on to see just what it is that He loathes and hates. 

Next we read that there are not just six - but seven things which are an abomination to Him.  Abomination is "toebah" and means something patently offensive - something which God loathes and dislikes to the extreme.  In the Old Testament this word applies to such things like idolatry, child sacrifice, intermarriage by Israel with the wicked nations around them, the false religious activities of the wicked, and homosexuality.  God is holy and is completely separate from sin and wickedness.  We must grasp His essential nature of holiness or such passages as these will not make any sense to us.  More than this they will tend to offend us - if we do not grasp the truth of God's nature and that things sinful are offensive to Him.

Wisdom is realizing that though God is love - He is also a holy God who hates sin.  Those who fail to consider God's holiness and hold fast only to a nature of love wind up justifying and accepting sin in the end.  I know that it is difficult to consider and think of God in this way - as a God Who is angry - to the point of hate and considering things an abomination.  Yet doing this can be very helpful to us.  It will help us in the area of seeing sin as utterly sinful - and seeing outright rebellion and perversion of what God desires as very dangerous.  Remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  It is a good thing to look at certain sins and just simply be scared of committing them - because we know our holy God hates them intensely.
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My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding;  Proverbs 5:1

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears."  This was the way Shakespeare began the speech of Mark Antony in Julius Caesar.  It was a cry for people to listen and to pay close attention because something very important was going to be said.  Proverbs has its own soliloquies as well - but they come from the mouths of mothers and fathers to their sons and daughters.  This is how the father begins his speech to his son - by calling him to listen and to pay close attention to what he is going to say.

Give attention, pay heed, pay attention, listen is what the father is saying to his son.  But he is not calling him to attention to just anything - he is calling his attention to the wisdom that the father shares with him.  Wisdom is the familiar word "chokmah" in the Hebrew meaning which means not just seeing or knowing things from God's perspective - but having a skill and experience in using this wisdom to make moral and practical decisions.  We are not to turn the education and en-wisening of our children over to others.  That is what western culture has done too often.  We turn our kids over to the school - even to their Sunday school teachers and youth leaders.  Let them teach our children wisdom - that's what they're for right?  WRONG!  They are there to only add to and embellish the core teachings that should have come from us.  When we do not do our jobs as parents - believe me - no one else can make up for it. 

The father calls his son to bend his ear close when he speaks and when he instructs.  "Incline your ear" is like Shakespeares, "Lend me your ears," comment.  It is saying to the son that he needs to stretch out his ears - bend them toward what the father is saying.  He is to extend and lean his ears to what is being said - but even more to that - to understand his father's words and see how they apply to all of life!  We talk about how the younger generation is leaving the church.  They are leaving because they see very little relevance to their lives from what is being taught.  They see the Bible as stories told when they were little - as an antiquated book that no longer applies to today's world.  Why?  Because they did not hear from dad - nor see in dad a daily pursuit of the truth - as well as a daily understanding of how that truth applies to making decisions in the everyday life that he leads.  Of course they are going to think it is of little value.  Oh, but when a father teaches his children these things - calls them to listen and bend their ear close as he instructs them.   When dad reveals to them a life lived from the perspective of God and of Scripture - that - dear brothers and sisters is a life that will call a son to follow.  That child will value what he has heard and SEEN in his father.  He will listen because he has SEEN how important this book - the Bible - is to how his father lives.  That, my brothers is how we recapture this generation.  We do so by living according to God's wisdom - then calling our sons to listen as we recount time after time when that wisdom guided us through the minefields of life. 
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  Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, And give attention that you may gain understanding,    Proverbs 4:1

Today I listened again to a radio commercial that bashed fathers as being ignorant, disobedient, deceptive, and untrustworthy.  The children were painted as smarter and more morally astute than their dad - who was represented, as usual, as a buffoon.  Some of this treatment is deserved, because too many men are very self-centered and self-absorbed.  They don't really offer much to their families in the way of moral training or moral direction.  They are the buffoon who sits on the couch after a day of work - beckoning for more beer as they watch television - usually sporting events which now run nonstop on the various ESPN channels.  But this is not how things are supposed to be - Scripture has a different model for us to follow.

"Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father . . . "  Here is where things are radically different in the way of biblical instruction.  The father is the one calling to the sons and daughters - and he calls with a desire to offer valuable "instruction" to them.  This word instruction acutally means to discipline, chasten, correct, warn, and instruct.  This is not your garden variety "Father Knows Best" talks - this is serious stuff!  This dad is not merely trying to teach his children something - he is committed to doing it even if it means that chastisement and correction are involved.  Here is a dad that seriously wants his children to walk in the ways of wisdom.  He desires for his kids to follow the Lord. 

Any man who desires this knows that it will mean discipline and correction will be necessary.  Children don't just go in the right direction automatically.  In fact, because of the fall of man, you can be assured that they will NOT follow God as a natural course of living.  They will need to be taught God's ways - and they will also need to be disciplined and chastised so that they learn to reject their flesh and embrace wisdom.  Do not let us be like Eli, who offered a half-hearted rebuke to his sons.  We need to correct and train for righteousness - preparing our children for the ultimate teacher, the Holy Spirit, to convict and bring them to the Savior.

The godly father also commands his children's attention in these matters. This is not something we can forgoe in life - it is a matter of life and death for our children.  We must call them to listen and to know and understand as a result of what we do in disciplining them.  It is only this way that they will get the discernment and truth that they will need to walk with God and follow as they should in His way.

Far from being the local buffoon, the man of God is called to a high calling.  He is called to direct and discipline his children in the ways of the Lord.  To do this will require us to give ourselves to the Lord and His ways.  It will require us to reject the image of men in today's society - ignore the insults and caricatures of weak men - and instead forge ahead in the way God would have us live.  It is my hope that from examples like this - people would see men - see fathers as indispensable to a goodly society that knows the right and rejects the wrong.  Because whether our soceity knows it or not - they are absolutely vital to its success!

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For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you. Proverbs 3:2

This is the continuation of verse one.  It answers the two questions, "How long am I to be obedient to God's commandments," and "What will be the result?"

We are to hold fast our parent's teaching - and obey the commandments for length of days and years of life.  This is a Hebraism that means - forever.  First we have the picture of days - for the length of each day - which is the unit of life that we experience - well - every day.  But then as days add up they become years.  We are to be obedient to God for the "years of life."  We begin by choosing to follow the Lord daily - but then as we do this we wind up following Him and doing what pleases Him for years and years.  This is how to build a godly lifestyle - first by walking through days - no matter how hard they are.  We are to walk with God whether things are good or bad - whether they are happy or sad.  What matters is doing that which pleases the Lord.  Then we are to follow over the years.  This is where we enter into seasons of life.  There are the early years of youth where we are to be learning from those older and wiser.  Then we move into marriage and early adulthood.  Then we have children and begin the arduous, yet wonderful task of rearing them for Christ.  Then as the children move out of the nest we refocus our lives on God's will in raising up disciples outside our home while still being a source of wisdom for our children as they move into adulthood.  Finally, we move into the autumn of our lives when our strength wanes and we learn to be a wise sage toward those who need counsel and wisdom.  Through the "years of life" we walk with God and live our lives according to wisdom.  That is how life should be lived - may God bless us so that we will not get off course.

Why should we live this way?  Because not only will wisdom help in the present - but it will add peace to you.  I know that every time I choose to depart from God's will peace is not the result.  The devil may offer something we think is good - but trust me - it is not in the end.  What he offers will not add peace to your life.  It will add trouble and turmoil.  Look anywhere in Scripture where men or women stepped outside of God's Word and will and you will find there is no peace there.  Look at life today and you will see the same things.  It is wonderful to know that God will forgive and restore - but often the consequences of our actions will linger and will not leave peace.  That is why it is best for us to never leave the ways of God.  Do what verse one in this chapter says.  Don't forget the teaching - let your heart hold fast the commandments - and the result will be that peace will be added to your life and the grace of God will prevail in all that you do.
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For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; Proverbs 2:3

What do you do when you just don't seem to have the wisdom and the understanding to deal with a situation?  Simple . . . you cry out to God for it. 

Proverbs tells us that we need to "cry for discernment."  The word "cry" here is the Hebrew word that means to call out or to summon.  Now, we cannot summon God - but we can request His presence and His ability to see things.  This is the best thing to do when you don't know what to do.  Cry out to God for the ability to determine the difference between things.  That is what discernment is - the ability to distinguish between two things that are different.  Some times this is not as easy as it is on Sesame street when they ask which things are different.  Some times there is a subtlety to our choices - and often that subtlety is there by design of the devil, who desires to deceive us.  That is why we need God's discernment to know the difference between things - especially when it is between settling for what we want - and striving for God's best. 

The second thing we are told to do is to "lift our voice for understanding."  Lifting your voice here means to "give" it for the sake of understanding things.  We give our voices for a number of things in life - but do we give it for understanding.  The word for understanding here means "insight into things."  It is one thing to just take the world as it comes to us - but it is another to begin to gain insight into what is happening in our own lives as well as the lives of others.  That requires grasping the purposes and plans of God - as well as His commandments.  When we look at things through His prism - suddenly what seemed to be merely white light - is broken into numerous components.  We see motives - we see the problem of our own heart - we see a world fallen and sinful.  Understanding means that we see things far better than when we approach them with our human wisdom alone.  There is the problem that often besets us - we are approaching things from our own perspective rather than from Gods perspective.  That is the reason why we need to call out to Him and give our voice to asking questions and seeking answers from His mind - from His Word - from His heart.  When we do this - then we are living according to wisdom.

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The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: Proverbs 1:1


This first verse of proverbs is there to let us know who wrote this book.  It was Solomon, son of David, the king of Israel.  There is a reason why God chose this man instead of anyone else to write this book.  It is because of an encounter that he had with God at the start of his reign as the king of Israel.

In 1 Kings chatper 3 God appeared to Solomon in a dream.  During that encounter God told Solomon, "Ask what you wish Me to give you."  That is quite a question for a man to be asked.  If there was ever a moment when truly the sky was the limit - this was it.  What is even more interesting is the way that Solomon answered the question. 

Rather than asking for power or money or any of the other things that most men would ask - Solomon asked for wisdom with which to rule the people of God.  He confessed that he was just a child who was ascending the throne of a great people who could not be numbered or counted.  He grasped his need for wisdom and for understanding to discern between good and evil. 

This is why this book is filled with wisdom beyond any other written today.  It is because God, when He heard Solomon's request, was delighted with it.  God declared that He had given to Solomon a "wise and discerning heart . . ."  so that the following would be true.  "There has been no one like you before, nor shall one like you arise after you."  This was the way God answered Solomon's prayer request to the Lord. 

Proverbs is the wisdom of Solomon - but not just the wisdom of a man.  The reason this is such an amazing book filled with wisdom that has never been surpassed, is because it is the wisdom of God.  God is the One Who gave Solomon the discernment and wisdom so that he could write such a book.  So, as you approach this book remember two things. 

First, remember that the wisdom you are reading is the wisdom of God.  This is not what Solomon thinks - or has learned.  This is the wisdom of Almighty God that He placed within Solomon's heart.  Second, be reminded of Solomon's heart - and also remember the promise from James chapter 1 - if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives generously at all who ask, without finding fault - and it will be given to him.  Need wisdom - ask God!  He is more than willing to pour wisdom out on those who admit their lack and who turn to Him for it. 
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