A young man was searching for the secret of wisdom and heard that there was a guru high in the Himalayas who knew how to find it. So he set off to find the guru, going through much hardship and travail until finally, high in the mountains, he found the guru sitting on a rock.
“Tell me, oh Master!” he cried. “What is the secret of wisdom?”
The Master replied: “Good judgment.”
“But how do you get good judgment?” asked the young man.
The Master replied: “Experience.”
“And how do you get experience?” the young man persisted.
“Ah,” said the Master: “Bad judgment.”
Unfortunately, that is often how we find wisdom. We learn from the results of bad judgment and poor choices. For some of us, unfortunately, we need to make the same poor choices over and over before we find wisdom. It can be a rough way to acquire wisdom.
When I was in high school, my youth pastor had a sign on his door that said this:
TEENAGERS! HURRY! LEAVE HOME TODAY…WHILE YOU STILL KNOW EVERYTHING!
I’ll be honest. The first time I read that on his door, I was a little offended. I thought how dare he suggest that teenagers are arrogant and think they know everything. What a jerk! What does he know?
Of course, the irony is, as I look back, he was absolutely right, and he was talking about me. I thought I knew more than I did. I saw myself as wise and savvy, but as they say: You don’t know what you don’t know.
That is why if you talk with someone who has been there and done that (an old person) they will often tell you that the older they get, the more they realize they don’t know. And that is one of the paradoxes of wisdom.
Whether we acquire wisdom through learning from our own mistakes, learning from the mistakes of others, or learning from people who are wiser than we are, acquiring wisdom is important if we want to be successful in our relationships, work, or life in general.
This is as true today as it was true during the reign of King Solomon.
In 1 Kings 3, Solomon is a young king, just having inherited the throne of Israel from his father, King David. One night God comes to Solomon in a dream and asks Solomon if you could have anything from me, what would you want?
Solomon responds by asking God for wisdom to govern. Listen to God’s response to Solomon’s request.
1 Kings 3:10-12 (CSB)— Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice, I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.
Eventually, Solomon had children of his own and wanted to pass his wisdom on to them, so somewhere around 950 BC, he wrote what we today call the Book of Proverbs, often referred to in the Latin Bible as the Book of Wisdom.
During June and July, we will spend some time in the Book of Proverbs exploring some of the different themes and topics that King Solomon addresses. The name of our series is Proverbs: The Way of Wisdom.
We are going to glean from the wisest man to ever live, who was moved by God to give us wisdom about how we should live, how we should treat relationships, and how to develop good judgment when making decisions that have a tremendous impact on our lives.
So what is a good definition of a biblical proverb? A biblical proverb is “a short saying that expresses a general truth for practical, godly living.” The Hebrew word translated “proverb” comes from a root word meaning “to be like”; thus, the book of Proverbs is full of comparisons showing us how various images illustrate the fundamental truths of life.
The purpose of a proverb is to present wisdom in a short, memorable format. Proverbs are simple but profound. Many proverbs deal with everyday things yet clarify the deepest realities of life.
Here is something to understand about the Book of Proverbs: Proverbs are not always to be taken literally, and they are not promises; rather, they are an acknowledgment of a common reality. For example,
Prov 24:24-25 (CSB)—Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him; but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a generous blessing will come to them.
Experience (especially lately) tells us that sometimes a corrupt judge will actually gain more power and prestige, instead of being cursed. But this is the exception, not the rule. The proverb’s point is that, in general, judges who allow the guilty to go unpunished will be seen as unjust and as a detriment to society.
There are lots proverbs in the Bible found outside the book of Proverbs, in both the Old and New Testaments. In the New Testament, Jesus is the master of using parables, which you could think of as expanded proverbs.
Jesus had many catchy sayings that have become common proverbs like:
- “turn the other cheek,”
- “go the second mile,”
- “not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing,”
- “casting pearls before swine,”
- “you cannot serve two masters,”
- “removing a speck but ignoring a log in your own eye,”
and, of course, the Golden Rule from the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 7—”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Solomon begins his teaching on wisdom, what we call the Book of Proverbs, this way:
Prov 1:1-6 (CSB)—The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings; for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity; for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man—let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance—for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles.
In verse 5 Solomon says
Wisdom comes to those who listen.
He says it again in verse 8:
Prov 1:8 (CSB)—Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,
In order to find wisdom, to find true wisdom you have to listen.
But listen to what? If finding wisdom requires a willingness to listen, it begs the question, who and what are you listening to for your wisdom?
There are so many voices in our culture that claim to be the voice of wisdom. But the problem with the world’s wisdom is the goal of that wisdom. Where are you wanting wisdom to take you? As followers of Jesus, the goal of our lives is to bring honor to God. The lens that we view our lives through gives us a bigger picture.
Our lives are not just about meeting our own needs or finding our own success. The goal of our lives is so much greater than those things. The goal of our lives is to bring glory to the God who created us, loves us, and sent His Son to die for us.
1 Cor 3:19-21 (CSB)—Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he can become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness; and again, The Lord knows that the reasonings of the wise are futile.
There are so many choices in our lives that require wisdom. If you want to acquire true wisdom, that kind of wisdom has its source in God and His Word.
Prov 2:6 (CSB)—For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
If you want that kind of wisdom and understanding from God, you may have to reject so-called wisdom from other sources. Those with worldly thinking will always advise against true, godly wisdom. For example, saving sex for marriage, avoiding drunkenness, and being generous all appear foolish to the worldly wise.
Those who want wisdom from God must be prepared to be misunderstood by the rest of the world (John 15:18).
Trust God’s perspective instead of trusting our culture’s perspective for wisdom. Listen to what God has to say.
Trust the one who knows you better than you know yourself. Trust the one who knows your secret motives, who knows all of your needs and loves you with an everlasting love.
Listen to what God has to say because He is the source of all wisdom.
Next, in Proverbs 1 Solomon says that
Wisdom comes to those who fear the Lord.
Prov 1:7 (CSB)—The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.
He says it again here:
Prov 9:10 (CSB)—“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs tells us that fearing the Lord is a good thing, it leads to wisdom, but then look what the Apostle John tells us:
1 Jn 4:18 (CSB)—There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.
Is that a contradiction? No. We talked about this in our series, Strategies of the Enemy, but I think it is worth revisiting.
In that series, this topic came up, and I shared an imperfect illustration that I think gives you the basic idea of what Solomon is talking about when he says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Most of you know we have horses which means I have been kicked by horses, bitten, stepped on, run over, bucked off, tossed through a fence, and fallen on top of by horses. Horses can do a lot of damage in not very much time.
One of my buddies, who was also a farrier, was trimming a young colt one day, and he wasn’t paying close enough attention when he walked behind the colt and that colt kicked him square in the chest with both feet. It didn’t kill him, but it was a while before he was shoeing horses again. That is a great example of getting wisdom the hard way.
A little over a year from now, Olivia will be competing in the longest horse race on the planet. Its called the Mongol Derby. It extends 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) through the Mongolian Steppe. The race course recreates the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan in 1224.
Now, as you can imagine, there are a few things to be concerned about here. A young woman traveling alone in a country that borders Russian and China, what could go wrong? Honestly, that’s not my biggest fear. My biggest fear is that she will be riding semi-wild Mongolian Horses. Because I know what kind of damage a domesticated horse can do, little alone the damage a semi-wild horse can do.
The one thing that assuages my fear is that I know Olivia has a healthy fear of horses. Not fear in the sense that she worries that the horse may end her, but she is mindful of the power of a horse’s strength, size, and speed. She has a very healthy respect for the power of a horse. That healthy respect I know, will keep her alive and out of a Mongolian hospital.
Our Father in Heaven is all-powerful. He is all-knowing, and He is always present. Through His power He spoke the universe into existence and created the earth and everything in it, including us. His power gives sight to the blind, heals sickness, and brings the dead back to life.
We who are small and fragile should fear that kind of power. We should stand in awe when considering who God is and what He has done. When we see the beauty of a sunset or hold a newborn baby, we should honor and worship Him because He is worthy. He is powerful and should be feared.
The horse illustration is imperfect because the horse will use its power to protect itself. The horse uses its strength, size, and speed for self-preservation, even if that means mowing someone down.
My Heavenly Father, on the other hand, uses His power to protect me.
The greatness of God rouses fear within us, but His goodness encourages us not to be afraid of Him. To fear and not be afraid–that is the paradox of faith.
A.W. Tozer
If you want wisdom, you must fear or respect God’s power and who He is, even though He is for you and His power is working for you.
Lastly, Solomon says that
Wisdom comes to those who search for it.
Prov 2:1-3 (CSB)—My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,
Here in chapter 2, he says that we are to call out for understanding. In Matt 5:6, Jesus said it is when we hunger and thirst for righteousness that we are filled. It is when we cry for understanding that it will be found.
Prov 2:4-5 (CSB)—if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.
To know God and to understand Him requires a certain amount of effort and work. Solomon compares the process to a miner searching for gold, silver, and precious stones. If you dig in and get serious about your pursuit of wisdom, wisdom will be yours.
But it doesn’t come easily. There’s a price to pay for wisdom: digging into God’s Word day after day.
In 1 Tim 5, Paul says Pastors or Elders who are good leaders do this.
1 Tim 5:17 (CSB)—The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
The Greek word Paul used for “work hard” means “to work to the point of perspiration.” Why do we have to work hard? Why do we have to mine for wisdom like gold?
Because what I mine is mine. That is, what I learn through the grace of God as I dig in and wrestle with scripture becomes His Word spoken to me personally. And what is mined stays in the mind. I never forget it.
—Jon Courson
The story is told of a young man who came to Socrates and said, “Give me understanding, wisdom, and knowledge.” Socrates said one sentence: “Follow me.”
As the young man followed the great philosopher, Socrates walked through the city until he came to the edge of the ocean. He walked out waist-deep in the ocean, grabbed the young man by the neck, and thrust him beneath the water.
Finally, the young man fought his way up for some air and gasped, “Master, what are you doing?” Socrates said, “When you want knowledge and wisdom and understanding as badly as you wanted that breath of air, that’s when you begin the journey.”
Solomon is saying the same thing. It will be yours when you really want to dig in and commit yourself to that process. Work hard in the Word. Moisten God’s Word with the sweat of your brow. And God will meet you in that place and reward you with hidden treasures, with real gems. He will reward you with what Solomon calls the knowledge of God or the wisdom of God.
Who does the wisdom of God come to?
It comes to those who are listening for it, to those who fear God, and to those who seek and search for it.
As we end today, let’s read out loud, together, one last thing Solomon says to us about wisdom:
Prov 8:10-11 (CSB)—Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.
Wisdom is God’s treasure, and He offers it to you. Seek it with all your heart, and He will give you His understanding.
My challenge to you: Read one chapter of Proverbs a day during this series.
Chris Hankel 
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