WISDOM’S BEAUTY
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Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for your Word and for what it teaches me. Help me to receive what it says and apply it to my life—not just to benefit me, but to be used by you to benefit others.
Read PROVERBS 1:1–19
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.
Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.
10 My son, if sinful men entice you,
do not give in to them.
11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,
let’s ambush some harmless soul;
12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
14 cast lots with us;
we will all share the loot”—
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into evil,
they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they ambush only themselves!
19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the life of those who get it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:4 The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs denotes a person who is gullible, without moral direction and inclined to evil.
- Proverbs 1:6 Or understanding a proverb, namely, a parable, / and the sayings of the wise, their riddles
- Proverbs 1:7 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote a person who is morally deficient.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
As we begin a week of thinking about wisdom, reflect on some wise people you know or have known in your life.How do we grow in wisdom? And why would we want to? These are some of the questions Solomon begins to deal with in this appeal to his son.
Some of the ‘how’ is encapsulated in today’s key verse: by paying attention to the teachings of your parents (v. 8). This is a counter-cultural statement in the twenty-first century when expectation is often that young people must find their own path and embrace the truth they find inside themselves. People of older generations tend to be considered out of touch, unable to understand the pressures on young people today.
Verse 7 pulls no punches when it declares, ‘fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ No one wants to be thought a fool, surely. Then verse 9 adds some ‘carrot’ to verse 7’s ‘stick’: instruction and teaching from the wise will beautify you. They will adorn your life like fine jewelry and garlands of flowers. Wise people often are attractive in character, aren’t they? Their wisdom permeates everything they say and do, including the ways they interact with others. It makes them a pleasure to be around. Solomon wants us to recognize that beauty and desire it. This will be an antidote to the enticements to folly he outlines in the rest of the passage.
Apply
Where have you seen the wisdom that God gives expressed in the experiences of your life?
Closing prayer
Loving Father, thank you for the wise guides you have used to instruct and inspire me. Help me to grow in the beauty of wisdom, to grow in my ability to walk more faithfully with you so that I can better encourage others in their faith journeys.
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