When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, Proverbs 4:3
Where did Solomon get all the wisdom that he passed on to us in the book of Proverbs? Well, first and foremost, he received it from God who promised him this when he first became king. But there is a person God used greatly in Solomon's life to pass such wisdom to him. That person was David. Solomon writes here remembering the times when his father would speak to him.
David, the man after God's heart, was also, because of this, a repository of wisdom to his son. This is fascinating to me because in some ways Solomon resulted because of one of David's greatest mistakes and sins. He was the son of Bathsheba - but the son who was born after David repented. Our society too often sees someone fall greatly and therefore writes them off forever. God is not this way. The child that David and Bathsheba had after his repentance was a child God said he loved! Solomon had two names - the second was Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:24-25) because the Lord told David that He loved this son. What a great comfort this must have been to David and Bathsheba. Their first child was taken due to their sin - and they must have faced tremendous guilt over their actions. Yet God, in an effort to comfort their hearts, spoke of His great love for this second child.
Solomon could have grown up with a stigma the size of a mountain - yet God did not do this to him. He made sure Solomon/Jedidiah knew that God loved him. Thus the man who was after God's own heart spoke of the things of the Lord to a child who knew God loved him. David did so with a desire to help his son move from a tender, only child loved by his mother - to becoming a man who led God's people and received His wisdom over an entire lifetime.
There are several lessons here for those of us who are fathers. First of all, don't let your failures define your relationship with your son - let God's grace do this. Second, to pass wisdom on to your sons - be a man after God's own heart. Third - make it your desire to see your son move from being a tender child loved by his mother - to a man ready to take his place in God's work and plan for him. May God give you grace to do this - and to do it with all your heart!
Where did Solomon get all the wisdom that he passed on to us in the book of Proverbs? Well, first and foremost, he received it from God who promised him this when he first became king. But there is a person God used greatly in Solomon's life to pass such wisdom to him. That person was David. Solomon writes here remembering the times when his father would speak to him.
David, the man after God's heart, was also, because of this, a repository of wisdom to his son. This is fascinating to me because in some ways Solomon resulted because of one of David's greatest mistakes and sins. He was the son of Bathsheba - but the son who was born after David repented. Our society too often sees someone fall greatly and therefore writes them off forever. God is not this way. The child that David and Bathsheba had after his repentance was a child God said he loved! Solomon had two names - the second was Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:24-25) because the Lord told David that He loved this son. What a great comfort this must have been to David and Bathsheba. Their first child was taken due to their sin - and they must have faced tremendous guilt over their actions. Yet God, in an effort to comfort their hearts, spoke of His great love for this second child.
Solomon could have grown up with a stigma the size of a mountain - yet God did not do this to him. He made sure Solomon/Jedidiah knew that God loved him. Thus the man who was after God's own heart spoke of the things of the Lord to a child who knew God loved him. David did so with a desire to help his son move from a tender, only child loved by his mother - to becoming a man who led God's people and received His wisdom over an entire lifetime.
There are several lessons here for those of us who are fathers. First of all, don't let your failures define your relationship with your son - let God's grace do this. Second, to pass wisdom on to your sons - be a man after God's own heart. Third - make it your desire to see your son move from being a tender child loved by his mother - to a man ready to take his place in God's work and plan for him. May God give you grace to do this - and to do it with all your heart!
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