The Proverbs of Solomon
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. Solomon's great choice. It was in Gibeon that the Lord appeared unto Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, "Ask what I shall give thee." We read that Solomon replied: "Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee."
Then Solomon continued: "And now, O Lord my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people which Thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this Thy so great a people?"
When the Lord heard the request of Solomon, He was pleased because Solomon had not asked for himself long life, neither riches, nor the life of his enemies, but had asked understanding to discern judgment. God therefore said: "I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour."
(1) Solomon acknowledged his own weaknesses. This, to us, is the beginning of wisdom and of strength, and of successful service. It is those who have not, but are willing to have, that God blesses. Solomon was called to a great task and he knew that he was not able in his own strength or wisdom to undertake. Do we not feel the same way?
Do we not often feel our own weakness, our lack of wisdom? Let us then ask wisdom of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and we shalt receive.
(2) Solomon showed his wisdom by asking for wisdom. Many of us might have asked for material things, such as silver and gold, food and raiment, because of these things we have need. We might have asked for popularity and power with the multitude, for winsome ways and pleasing manners, but Solomon asked for wisdom.
2. God's remarkable answer. God immediately pledged to give to Solomon that which he asked, but to give him more than he asked. Does not God always give exceeding abundantly above all we are able to ask or to think?
3. Our precious privilege. How marvelous it is that we are permitted to sit at the feet of the wisest of men, and study the Proverbs which he has given to us. Out of all of his experience, and the riches of his wisdom, the Holy Spirit caused Solomon to write down just such things as He wanted us to know. These things are recorded in Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, and Proverbs.
I. THREE GREAT QUESTS (Proverbs 1:1-4)
1. The first quest: " To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding."
Shall young people spend their time in frivolity and foolish pastime, living as though life were a matter of pleasure and madness and folly, or shall they seek to know God in all of the wisdom of His Person, and of His Words and work?
If we seek these better and higher things, let us remember that unto us is given the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding in the knowledge of Him.
2. The second quest : "To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity." Do we have an open mind that we may receive the things which are freely given us of God? There are so many who have eyes that see not, and ears that hear not. The wisdom of God is given only unto those who walk in the Spirit, inasmuch as the natural man receiveth not the things of God, neither can he understand them. It is written, "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord."
We humbly ask the young people if they are truly ready to receive the instruction of wisdom, of justice, of judgment, and of equity. Do they want to know the things which are freely given them of God?
3. The third quest: " To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion."
Let all God's people attempt great things for God and expect great things from God.
II. THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM (Proverbs 1:5-7)
1. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning. The mind is a wonderful gift from God. Yet how little does the infant know as he lifts his wondering eyes upon the world about him. He seems, intellectually, as well as physically, about the most helpless of the newly born. To watch the babe as he lies there looking at his fists, in his first sense of self-consciousness is most striking.
Little by little the infant grows to childhood, then to youth and then to manhood. As he grows, knowledge daily increases.
Everybody who wants to know God should hear and increase in wisdom.
2. A wise man will attain to wise counsel. He will seek to associate himself with men of wisdom and understanding. He will select his friends from among those who see life as more than a passing show. He will seek to understand a proverb and its deeper meaning its interpretation.
"Give attendance to reading" is a splendid advice to young men, who, Timothy-like, want to know God's deeper things. Daniel as a youth was a student and as he grew in wisdom and in knowledge, he diligently searched the Scriptures to learn more of the "times and seasons" with their mysteries, which belonged to the purposes of God. He wrote, "I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet."
3. A wise man knows that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Do we speak of the "fear of the Lord" as of one who is afraid of God? Not altogether. He may be, and he is, afraid to disobey God. However, "the fear of the Lord," which is "the beginning of knowledge," is the sense of the greatness, the glory, the power, the righteousness, the justice, the works of God.
The one who fears God is the one who stands in awe, with his head bowed in hallowed reverence, as he worships at His throne. Such an one has reached the "beginning of wisdom."
III. THE DIVINE ADMONITION TO SONS (Proverbs 1:8-9)
1. My son, hear the instruction of thy father. Fatherhood has its responsibilities; so does sonhood. It is the duty of the father to "teach these things diligently to his children." It is the duty of the son to hear what he is taught. It is the duty of the father to bring up his child in the way he should go; it is the duty of the son to obey his father's instruction.
2. My son, forsake not the law of thy mother. This second admonition not only exalts the glory and responsibility of Christian motherhood, but it exalts the law which she inculcates on the child.
In the twentieth century home, the foundations are crumbling under the god of this world who is steadily robbing the youth of the land of those holy mothers of yore, who gave their life and their all to the instruction of their children. Side by side with this is the tottering of those sons who used to all but worship at the feet of the one who gave them birth.
God give us mothers with the Law of the Lord on their lips; and sons with the spirit of loyalty and devotion to her tutelage.
3. The ornaments of youth. "For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck." Here are jewels which are most rare, in the sight of God. Let young people seek to excel in spiritual graces. Let these be their chief adornments. Hearing instruction from fathers, and walking in the law of mothers is an adornment to the brow, and to the neck. They are costly and yet free to obedient children.
IV. THE POWER TO SAY "NO" (Proverbs 1:10)
1. Wisdom's warning. Wisdom is not ignorant of the many wiles which beset the young. It seems to us that Satan was never so active in preparing nets for the feet of our youth as he is today. Pitfalls of every kind and description abound at every turn of the way. These places are painted in most roseate colors; they are made to appear beautiful without, while within they are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness.
2. Wisdom's plea. Wisdom is pleading to the youth, saying, "Consent thou not." Wisdom sees the end of the way which concludes pleasure's path. Wisdom knows that the wine cup, be it ever so red as it stirs itself, will at the last bite like a serpent. Wisdom knows that the movies, be they ever so alluring to the eye, will, at the last, implant loose morals and wrong ideals. Wisdom knows it all, and knowing, says, "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."
3. Where is the power to say "No. " Has youth lost the will power which is necessary to sustain rectitude? Shall youth be carried about by every wind that blows? Shall it submit to every evil that entices? Shall the youth live with such a wail as this on its lips, "When I would do good, evil is present with me"; and, "The good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do"?
God pity us if we are slaves to sin, driven on and on against our better self, until we cry out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
Is defeat a necessity with the young man? Never. If we walk in the Spirit we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, "Sin shall not have dominion over you." "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." Thank God there is a place of victory. God will prepare a way of escape in every hour of temptation. Thus we will ever thank God who giveth us the victory in Christ Jesus.
V. THE WAYS OF THE WICKED (Proverbs 1:11-12)
1. The way of destruction to others. Here is the voice of the sinners who entice: "Let us lay wait for blood." This sounds like highway robbers, and thugs, the worst of the wicked. It is not necessarily so, at all. Sin spoils everything it touches. To go in the way of evil men, is to slay the hopes of others. The wicked all lay in wait for blood.
2. The way of death. Here are the words: "Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit."
If physical death were all, that would not be so bad; but to those who follow the wicked, the second death awaits them. How true is the word, "the wages of sin is death" yes, death from every viewpoint. Death to hopes, and to health; death to happiness and to honor; death to peace and to power with God: death to everything.
Sin shortens one's physical life on the earth. All kinds of diseases lurk in the way of the one who spends his life in sin and shame. The woman of the streets soon passes away, and is not. She dies early and dies without hope for in the hereafter, and only to be forgotten on the earth. Yes, sin takes the light out of the eyes, the color out of the cheek, the quickness out of the step. Sin hurries up the casket that will bear the sinner to his grave.
There is also a second death a death that has no hope of life forevermore. Existence? The wicked have not the life of God. They are forever shut away from His face. They are committed unto the blackness of darkness forever. They go where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched; for death and hell shall be cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.
VI. FOLLOWING A MIRAGE OF FALSE PROMISES (Proverbs 1:13-14)
Proverbs 1:11 and Proverbs 1:12 display the real intent of the sinners who entice. Proverbs 1:13 and Proverbs 1:14 display their false promises to the dupes who follow them in their ways.
1. Here is the first false promise : "We shall find all precious substance." With what roseate hues do the wicked, who tempt the unwary, paint the future. The god of this world is an adept in flourishing scenery. He and his know how to make the world appear beautiful. However, when one gets into the heart of the world's territory, he finds it filled with horror a veritable chamber of misery and disappointments.
Suppose that the deceived follower does, for the while, get all precious substance. His substance will fade as fades a summer day. Suppose he becomes rich. His riches will but pierce his soul through with many sorrows. Suppose he does get all precious treasures. He will get them only to leave them to those who shall be after him. He will get them, and say to his soul, "Thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry," only to hear the Lord say, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided."
2. Here is the next false promise: " Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse." That is the cry heard on every hand today. Let us not listen to any promise on the part of the wicked, for their promises are only baits and snares to entice the helpless.
VII. A CALL FOR SEPARATION (Proverbs 1:15-19)
1. "Walk not thou in the way with them." An unholy companionship is always to be feared. It is said you cannot play with fire without being burned. Certainly you cannot walk with evil men without being evilly influenced, and marred in character.
If we make evil men or women our associates, we will soon be like them in their evil ways. Thus has God said, "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men." Let us refrain our feet from their paths. The New Testament, like the Old, is filled with warnings on this line, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."
2. "Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird." Does the Lord mean to intimate that a man will walk into a plainly spread net quicker than a bird? Or does He mean to say that if a bird will not fly into a net, plainly spread in its very sight, how much less should we walk into a net spread, and confessedly spread, to catch us?
How many are the nets, the pitfalls, the traps laid out for us! There are the present-day moving picture show, the game of cards, the dance, the drinking saloon, the gilded house of shame, the groups of filthy story tellers, etc., etc.
All of these are for no more than "catches" for the youth of our land. It is sad, indeed, to see the throngs of people standing at the picture show and rushing into the nets laid to catch them and carry them away from God and from their Christian integrity.
3. "So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain." The lure of gold, as well as the lure of pleasure, presents a great temptation. Of course all is not gold that glitters, but many a youth thinks it is. "The love of money" is still "the root of all evil." God help us not to covet after these things.
AN ILLUSTRATION
God keep us from becoming soiled with sin.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15).
Walking along a business district, an observer noticed a suit of clothes hanging in the breeze at the side of a window. It was marked, "Slightly soiled, greatly reduced in price." "What a text for the young people!" he thought. A young man or woman's mind becomes "slightly soiled" by reading a coarse book, by seeing a vulgar show in a theater, by allowing little indulgences in dishonest or lustful thoughts. Just slightly soiled! But in course of time it will be found that these young people are greatly reduced in value. Their charm, their strength, their influence has vanished. War Cry.