Wisdom as an investment.

As we continue our study of Proverbs, we find that wisdom is an investment. Dictionary.com defines investment as "the investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value." In other words, an investment is something you spend money (or something else) for that you hope will be worth even more later. Let's read from Proverbs 3.

¹³ Blessed is the one who finds wisdom. Blessed is the one who gains understanding. ¹⁴ Wisdom pays better than silver does. She earns more than gold does. ¹⁵ She is worth more than rubies. Nothing you want can compare with her.

Proverbs 3:13-15 (NIrV)

Discussion

• What are some things that you have spent your own money (or gift cards) on?
• What are some things that you want to save your money for?
• People sometimes invest in precious metals such as gold and silver. Over time, they become more valuable. Which is more valuable: Wisdom or silver?
• What about wisdom or gold?
• Another valuable thing people invest in are precious gemstones like diamonds and rubies. Which is more valuable: Wisdom or rubies?
• Can you think of one thing that you really, really want?
• Which is better: Wisdom or the thing you really, really want?
• Do you think you've been learning wisdom from our study of Proverbs?
• Do you think it is a good investment?

More benefits of wisdom

As we continue our study of Proverbs, we are still learning of the benefits of wisdom.

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. ⁸ This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. ⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. ¹¹ My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, ¹² because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Proverbs 3:7-12

Discussion

• In verse 7, "Do not be wise in your own eyes" is almost a restatement of "Lean not on your own understanding." We are reminded to "fear the Lord" which we know is the "beginning of wisdom" and to "shun evil" or not to walk in the paths of sinners.
• In verse 8, we read how wisdom brings health and nourishment. This helps emphasize that we need wisdom in all areas of life including eating and excercising.
• Verses 9 and 10 show us another area of life where wisdom comes in handy - wealth and possessions.
  • When we write our tithe check, we are doing so to honor God with our wealth.
  • The "firstfruits of all your crops" were how the Israelites provided for the priests (God's servants) before providing for themselves.
  • We don't give produce to our pastors, but our giving to the church is done faithfully regardless of any other bills we have to pay.
  • Though we don't have an overflowing barn or big vats of wine, most of the material blessing I have in life (house, cars, guitars) have come after I got serious about honoring God with my money.
  What are some other ways that you can think of that we could honor God with our wealth?
• Verses 11 and 12 speak of the Lord's discipline.
  • We've seen the Hebrew word for discipline - muwcar - before. It means discipline, chastening, correction.
  • The word for rebuke is towkechah which means rebuke, correction, reproof, punishment, chastisement.
  • Correction for when we do wrong is a good thing.
  • From the two words here translated discipline and rebuke, it seems to me that discipline is the more gentle of the two and rebuke is the more intense of the two.
  • Either way, we know that God does this because He loves us and that's a good thing!

Trust in the Lord

Today, in our study of Proverbs, we come to what is to me a very memorable passage. Let's read it and look at it in depth.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Discussion

• The Hebrew word translated trust is batach which means to trust or to have confidence in or to be secure in. We can trust in the Lord being confident that He will do what He says He will do. We can trust in the Lord knowing that we are secure as His children and that nothing can separate us from His love.
• The Hebrew word translated all is kol which all of, everything, the totality of. We are not to trust God just a little, but completely. After all, if we can be confident of and secure in Him, why shouldn't we trust Him completely?
• The Hebrew word translated heart is leb which means inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding. We are to trust God with all of our feelings (heart), our thoughts (mind), soul (inner man), decisions and desires (will) and our knowledge (understanding).
• The Hebrew word translated lean is sha`an which means to lean on for support or to trust.
• The Hebrew word translated understanding is biynah which means understanding, discernment, and intelligence. This Hebrew word has already popped up a number of times so far in Proverbs. We are not to lean on or trust in our own understanding but to trust in the Lord. That may seem a little strange since everything we've been reading so far is about passing wisdom and knowledge on from a father to s son. But we need to remember that wisdom comes from God and if our knowledge and understanding don't come from God, it can't be trusted.
• "In all of your ways," the Hebrew word kol pops up hear again and the Hebrew word translated ways is derek which we've seen before in Proverbs (even if I haven't pointed it out before). Derek can be translated way, road, distance, journey, manner. In other words, in every way we go, every road we travel, every distance we move, every journey we take, every manner we act in...
• The Hebrew word translated acknowledge is yada which means to know, to perceive and see, to distinguish
• "In all of your ways acknowledge Him" means that in every thing we do, every move we make, recognize that the God we can trust completely is there and act like it.
  • Do you sometimes do things when nobody is watching that you wouldn't do otherwise? Like play with something you've been told not to play with or eat a piece of candy you were told to save for later or take something that wasn't yours just because you wanted to play with it
  • If we acknowledge God in all of our ways, then we recognize that there is never a time when someone isn't watching us. Does that make you want to think different in times like what we've just discussed?
• The result of this is that He will make our paths straight
  • In Proverbs 1:15 we were told to not set foot on sinner's paths
  • In Proverbs 2:13 we saw how the wicked left the straight paths
  • In Proverbs 2:15 we saw how the wicked's paths are crooked
  • In Proverbs 2:9 we saw how wisdom leads us to what is right and just and fair - every good path
  Thus, if in all of our ways we acknowledge God, He will lead us away from sinful, wicked paths and lead us to what is right and just and fair. This sounds like a good way to go doesn't it?

Further benefits of wisdom

During our study of Proverbs, we are not going study every verse. As we continue on with the theme of a father passing on wisdom to his son, we skip to the beginning of Proverbs 3.

¹ My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, ² for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Proverbs 3:1-4

Discussion

• Again in the passage, we see Solomon adressing his son and reminding him to pay attention to wisdom.
• When we read in verse 1 "do not forget" the Hebrew word shakach can also be translated as to ignore. Thus, this admonition to not forget does double duty. Do not ignore wisdom now and don't forget it later. It's not just a one time thing, it's a continuing thing.
• When he says "keep my commands" that implies guarding them, watching over them, preserving them. You don't just keep a command and then be done with it, you keep it with you.
• When he says in verse 2 wisdom will bring you prosperity, the Hebrew word here is shalowm which means completeness (in number), soundness (in body), welfare (including health and prosperity), peace (including contentment and friendship).
• In verse 3 "love and faithfulness" refers to God's love and faithfulness. They will beautify your life (bind them around your neck) and you are to commit them to memory (write them on your heart).
• In verse 4, we see the ultimate result of being wise, favor with God and with man.
• Tomorrow, we are going to look at a passage that we would do well to write on our hearts.

Wicked men and wisdom

¹² Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, ¹³ who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, ¹⁴ who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, ¹⁵ whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

Proverbs 2:12-15

We continue our study of Proverbs and we come to a passage which is a warning about wicked men. Though not worded as a warning against associating with wicked, we are told that wisdom will save us from such men. Let's look at what the passage says about them.

Discussion

• When it says "Wisdom will save you" it implies snatching you away from or rescuing you from these wicked men. It seems to me to be an active verb. Picture, if you will, someone pulling you out of the way of a car that would otherwise have hit you. This is what it means here in saying wisdom will save you from the ways wicked or evil men. It's not just that these men are evil, but the way they live their life is evil.
• We also see in verse 12 that what they say and promise to people is perverse or foolish or deceitful.
• they leave the straight paths or the upright paths. In other words they if there's a right thing to do and a wrong thing to do, they don't do the right thing.
• They also walk in dark ways - they like to keep what they are doing hidden from others. This makes me think of the number of times we've read about the Hardy Boys being attacked by men who were hiding in dark places.
• In verse 14, we see that these men delight in doing wrong - doing evil things make them happy!
• They rejoice in the foolishness of bad things.
• Their paths are crooked - twisted, distorted - not the right way to go.
• They are devious is their ways. Devious implies that their ways are bent or turned away from the way they should go.
• Even at your age, I'm sure you can see evidence of other people making choices like the men describe here. Can you think of any examples?
• Do you think it's good to spend time around people like this?
• If wisdom saves you from the ways of these people, do you think you should spend time around people like this?
• In light of what we've read earlier about how wisdom calls out and they have rejected, what should we do for people like this?
• How can we pray for people like this and how can we pray for wisdom to save us?

The Lord gives wisdom

We continue with our study of Proverbs and today read how the Lord gives wisdom.

⁶ The Lord gives wisdom. Knowledge and understanding come from his mouth. ⁷ He stores up success for honest people. He is like a shield to those who live without blame. He keeps them safe. ⁸ He guards the path of those who are honest. He watches over the way of his faithful ones. ⁹ You will understand what is right and honest and fair. You will understand the right way to live. ¹⁰ Your heart will become wise. Your mind will delight in knowledge. ¹¹ Good sense will keep you safe. Understanding will guard you.

Proverbs 2:6-11 (NIrV)

Discussion

• It starts out with the obvious "The Lord gives wisdom."
• Where do knowledge and understanding come from? His mouth
• Where can we find record of what has come out of God's mouth?
• We also read of other things the Lord does for us:
  • He provides for us
  • He protects us
  • He guards us
  • He watches over us
• What does verse 9 tell we will understand?
  • what is right and honest and fair
  • the right way to live
  Are these things important to know?
• What will happen to our heart? it will become wise
• what will we delight in? knowledge
• What will keep us safe? Good sense
• What is that?
• What will guard us? understanding
• What is that? What we have learned/what we have come to understand

Wisdom: Hidden Treasure

We continue our series on Proverbs and come to a passage on asking and receiving wisdom. Let's read.

¹ My son, accept my words. Store up my commands inside you. ² Let your ears listen to wisdom. Apply your heart to understanding. ³ Call out for the ability to be wise. Cry out for understanding. ⁴ Look for it as you would look for silver. Search for it as you would search for hidden treasure. ⁵ Then you will understand how to have respect for the Lord. You will find out how to know God.

Proverbs 2:1-5 (NIRV)

Discussion

• This passage is structured like a big if - then argument. If you do this, then you this will happen.
• These are the if things mentioned here
  • accept my words - the Hebrew word translated accept means "to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away." With such a broad range of meanings, there's a variety of ways you might accept wisdom. What matters is that you make it yours!
  • Store up my commands inside you - this implies not just storing up, but hiding and treasuring God's commandments
  • Let your ears listen to wisdom - don't just listen to wisdom, but pay attention to wisdom
  • Apply your heart to understanding - means to stretch out, extend, or bend your heart. Perhaps even make changes to your heart for wisdom's sake
  • Call out for the ability to be wise - implies asking out loud for wisdom.
  • Cry out for understanding - again implies using your voice to ask for wisdom
  • Look for it as you would look for silver - silver was valuable as is wisdom. You are to look for wisdom as if it's something you require.
  • for it as you would search for hidden treasure - How would you go looking for a hidden treasure? You might use a treasure map. When you get to the spot marked "X," you might pull out your shovel and start to dig. You would dig until you found the treasure.
• If you do these things, "Then you will understand how to have respect for the Lord."
  • The fear (or proper respect) of God is the beginning of wisdom - it brings you wisdom
  • If you do all these things to seek after wisdom, you will respect God
  • which will bring you wisdom
  • which will cause you to seek more wisdom
  • which will...
  All of this goes in a circle which brings you more wisdom and more fear of God
• Which ultimately leads to knowing God better and better.
• How do you want to seek wisdom?