And the wisdom that God gives to us through it. We look to the redeemed God’s word, though, if you would please join with me in prayer. Christ our God, we ask that you set our hearts on fire with love through your word. Lord, that in it we would love you with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our strength, and our neighbor as ourself. For that by keeping your Commandments, Lord, we would glorify you who are the giver of every good and perfect gift. We bless you for the words recorded that you have given to us for life in you. We pray and ask this all in Jesus name. Amen. Getting in verse one, Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction. Pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching, for I too was a son to my father, still tender and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me and he said to me, ‘Take hold of my words with all your heart. Keep my commands and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding. Do not forget my words or turn away from them.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you. Love her and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this. Get wisdom. ‘ Though it costs all you have. Get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you. Embrace her, and she will honor you. She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown. ‘ The word of the Lord. Working in a lumber mill, a co-worker, he had arranged his life around monthly payments. What he could afford was what he could pay month by month. And much of what he owned was from a rent to own store. You could buy furniture that way. It was usually used, but you could rent it until you paid for it. The markup was very high. It was way more expensive than just simply buying it. And he was really proud one day that he had gotten this used stereo system. The speakers were on the verge of going out, but it was his, or,, he had to pay for it. And the reality was that if he just would have actually just saved up some money for a few months.
He could have bought it outright, a brand new one. And that idea really never occurred to him because why wait when you could have it now? Instead, he paid three times the price for a questionable used one. And that was how he lived his life. Ready, fire, aim. Everything he did was like this. And in the break room, there’d be some older guys who try to give him some advice. Never listened. He was a fool, and he paid for it in all kinds of ways. Now, the world is filled with people like this. We see it all the time. We read of people getting hurt, getting selfies with a Buffalo outside of Yellowstone Park. You’re like, why would you think that was okay? And the point is, they don’t think. That’s why they continue to do things like that. The world is filled like this. Again, wisdom is not about your IQ. Wisdom is about being connected first and foremost to God. You live in God’s world in a way that fits. It coheres with it. And the great joy of living like this is that the wisdom you walk in will watch over you.
It’s far more than just practicality. It’s how you see yourself fitting into the world that God has made at every level that you get to enter into. And because the Lord calls us to live with understanding in this world, we must all pursue and seek wisdom. Here in chapter 4, God’s instruction to his people is given Solomon instruction to his son, Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction. Just a note on how the Bible uses that word son. In the ancient world, if you call someone a son, it meant that you had all the legal rights and privileges given to you. And in the Bible, unlike the other cultures, women were given that right as well. God’s wisdom, God’s saving covenant, God’s promises were given to all of God’s people. To be called a son was very much like being called a citizen. Modern translations will sometimes just simply say children. It’s interchangeable. And that’s what the wisdom of Proverbs is for. It’s not trying to spoon feed us application. It’s meant for us to read and to understand and apply through various ways. Just as a note, particularly for you men, Proverbs 31 isn’t just about a virtuous wife.
How often it can be almost rubbing the nose in women’s faces. Just stop quoting me Proverbs 31 because it can be used so much as like, Oh, you should be like this. Proverbs 31 tells men and women how they are to be. When it talks about an argument of wife or a foolish man, those are interchangeable. And that’s what wisdom looks like. You read something that is telling you to one person and you go, Oh, this is how I apply that very same thing to my life. Because wisdom is for everyone, and it is given to us in particular for us to draw from in our own life. That’s what makes wisdom, wisdom. Solomon continues, Pay attention, gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. And this is a plea to pay attention because of the love that is there, the love that a parent would have for their child. And now he brings his own life and grandpa into it, wisdom being multi-generational. He says, For I, too, was a son to my father, still tender and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me, and he said to me, Take hold of my words with all your heart.
Keep my commands and you will live. ‘ And that’s exactly what a godly parent would want to be able to look their child in the eye and say, Find wisdom, love her, and she will protect you all of your days. ‘ That is God speaking to his children. That is God’s love for his people, wanting us to flourish in the world that he has made. His desire is that we would walk in his ways because he loves us. And we are to love wisdom. Verse 5, Get wisdom, get understanding, do not forget my words, or turn away from them, do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you. Remember, wisdom is the skill in the art of Godly living. This is not saying you must go out and get a college education. Sure can, but that’s not what it’s saying. It does take intelligence and knowledge to be wise, but these are just parts of wisdom. See, to be a fool in a Bible is not to be of low IQ, it’s to be a fool morally. You can be old and foolish. You can be young and foolish. You You can be well-educated and foolish.
You can be uneducated and foolish. You could be a foolish man. You could be a foolish woman. Foolishness is truly democratic. It is an equal opportunity employer. So We are to get wisdom. Verse 7, The beginning of wisdom is this. Get wisdom. Though it costs all that you have, get understanding. We are called to pursue her like a lover. Notice the intimate terms used here regarding wisdom. Love her, cherish her, embrace her, and she will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown. Those are intimate words. Intimate words because love drives you to sacrifice. Love drives you to pursue the things that you desire. That’s the type of relationship we are to have with wisdom. Before, phone companies could charge you exorbitant fees for cell phones. They had another way of doing that. They charged you exorbitant fees for long distance calls. Here in the valley, if you called white fish from Kalispell, it was a long distance call. And alas, like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, Laura and I lived in these two different phone zones. A heartless phone company trying to keep us apart. Part of my paycheck went to phone bills.
Why? Because you spend your time and your money on what you love. So the question comes, what are you pursuing? What do you love? You can track it by what you spend your time, money, and effort on. You really can. We pursue the things we love, the things we desire, we take great effort to get. And we hear then in verse 7, The beginning of wisdom is this, get wisdom, though it costs all that you have. Get understanding. If you do not have a taste for wisdom, you need to cultivate it now. Remember, as one writer put it, he said, Wisdom is not in earth knowledge. You could memorize It’s the whole Book of Proverbs and not have wisdom. It’s not simply memorization and checking off boxes. It’s not a technique. It’s lived out, it’s prayed out, it’s interactive. Proverbs 23: 23, By the truth, do not sell it wisdom, instruction, and insight as well. The value of that. We hear a similar analogy from Jesus speaking about the Kingdom. There Jesus said, The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. On finding a pearl of great value, of great price, he went out and sold it and bought it.
Sold everything he had to purchase this pearl. Everything for the kingdom because of its value, the desire for the things of the kingdom. Like all good things in life, they come at a cost. God. Paul tells us that bodily exercise has some value. Godliness has greater value. There are many fit bodies out there with flabby souls. We are told to love wisdom more than your own body. Of course, there’s a huge benefit to loving and pursuing God’s wisdom. She will protect you. She will guard you. We see that the many things that are said, get wisdom, get understanding, do not forget my words. Do not forsake wisdom. She will protect you. Love her. She will watch over you. Cherish her. She will exalt you. Embrace her. She will honor you. Those are all the benefits of wisdom. Well, how does she protect you? It goes on in verse 12 to say, When you walk, your steps will not be hampered. When you run, you will not stumble. It speaks of a moral uprightness. She keeps you from falling into pure pressure. Following goes on in verse 19, But the way the wicked is deep darkness, and they do not know it makes them stumble.
My son, pay attention to what I say. Turn your ears to my words. Do not let them out of your sight. Keep them within your heart. Why? Because then you won’t get talked into doing dumb things. Also, Proverbs 5, Keep yourself from the adulterous woman, from fleshly temptations that ruin your soul. And many many other things like this are mentioned in the Book of Proverbs, protect you from taking selfies next to dangerous things is wisdom. And there is a benefit in your life for having it. Again, this is general instruction. As we mentioned last week, there are times that God does allow trials and suffering into your life, not because you fail to get wisdom, but for his sovereign purposes. And wisdom recognizes this, too. Life goes better for you with wisdom. If you’re not hanging out with that midnight to 3: 00 AM crowd, statistically, You will be safer from violence and crime. It seems like a no-brainer. But just read the police reports, and you will see large numbers of people who do not love wisdom who suffer for it. Much of law enforcement is centered on dealing with people who hate wisdom.
One of my seminary professors said it like this. He said, Every time you make a choice, you are turning that central part of you that chooses into something a little different than it was before. What are you turning into? What are you making yourself into? And remember, these instructions are given to us as a community of believers to God’s people, to those who have the Holy spirit dwelling in them, empowering them by grace. We are to live this out together. The Lord’s instruction is placed, as it were, in a family dialog from father to son, parent to child. Why? Because wisdom is relational. We need one another in our pursuit of the Lord. More than that, wisdom has a religious foundation. We can only know reality in truth if we go forward in the knowledge of God and acknowledgement of his absolute Lordship. That’s the only way we can set our course. I’m sure many of you have heard of the Canadian psychologist, Jordan Peterson, and he offers a lot of good advice to young people in particular, and he’s not hostile to religion. Certainly in something like you can see God’s common grace at work.
Not a bad thing. Maybe that is a good starting point for some, but to pursue wisdom is to pursue God. It’s to pursue his kingdom. Wisdom is never morally neutral or religionless. Wisdom is never autonomous. We are not the measure, but we are measured under the unsearchable mystery of God. There’s no separation between sacred and secular faith and reason. See, you cannot start the Ten Commandments at number 5, honor your Father and mother. You have to start at the beginning I am the Lord your God. Proverbs addresses the whole person. Derek Kinder said, You must be able to think clearly, to manage your affairs, to be sensitive to people, to be morally upright, and most of all connected to God. We hear the Prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 9, Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man and boasts in his riches. But let him who boasts, boasts in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, righteousness in the earth. For these things I delight, declares the Lord.
That’s no easy thing because our own pride and arrogance get in the way. Our own sinful desires get in the way. King Solomon was the wisest man of his day. His knowledge was renowned. The Queen of Sheba came great distances to hear him talk on many different kinds of subjects. And as wise as he was, his undoing was idolatry. His sin was his undoing. We saw this last week. It’s entirely possible to be a Christian who suffers for foolish living, fired from jobs for being late routinely, trusting in the advice of scammers, trying to live with one foot in the sinful lifestyle and one foot in the church. We all understand the foolishness that plagues our own souls. If we simply stop at do this because your life is better. We have failed to walk in wisdom. This is not about how you can improve your being in society, your financial status, your own personal comfort. That’s practicality void of the purpose. The purpose is knowing and walking with God. And we all speak better than we live. We need our sin problem dealt with. The good news is that one greater than Solomon has appeared.
The apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. And then he goes on to say, For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you are wise according to the worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, so that no human might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom of God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. See, to love wisdom is to love Jesus. 1 John 5, Whoever has a son has life. Whoever does not have the son does not have life. It’s about the person and work of Christ. We pursue wisdom because of a love and a desire for Jesus. These other things are the byproduct of life in him. We’re not simply telling people something pragmatic. It’s not enough. We’re telling ourselves and one another about the great and glorious savior that God has given to us. He’s entered into our sinful, broken world, and he took upon himself the punishment we deserve.
He is atoned for our sin. We can have life and life in fullness of him. And in walking with Christ, we walk now in a way that coheres with the world that God has made. It now makes sense. We fit like we were intended to, imperfectly to be sure we’re awaiting his return. We’re awaiting for him to set all things anew. But here and now, we love him because he loved us. We are protected by him because he loves his people. In a mistranslation of Isaiah 7, St. Augustine said this. He said, If you will not believe, you will not understand. That’s not what the verse said, but even in a miss, he found his mark because it’s so true. If you will not believe, you will not understand. Understanding comes first through belief. And a part of the job of wisdom is to change our thinking, not just simply to do things differently. It’s to change how you think, how you believe, and then that affects your actions and what you do. We are to think like Christians, putting the priority of Jesus first and foremost. There is a long distance bill that you will gladly pay if it means communing with Christ.
And the news for us is that he is the one who paid it. He has come to us. That we are to cherish him above all things. That we would boast in knowing our God and knowing what he has accomplished for us. To enable us to get that foot out of our sinful lifestyles, the foot out of our own selfishness so that we could pursue him with an undivided heart. And when we fail, we can come and return to him and receive his forgiveness and his renewal. That is the good news of Jesus. This is what Proverbs and his wisdom points us to and speaks of. Not simply practicality of how you can have a better life. No, how you can have life in Jesus because there’s life in no one else. And as we pursue him, we pursue him together as the body of Christ, given one to another because the Father loves his children and he puts us with each other to be able to walk this life out, strengthened by the faith and the belief of our brothers and sisters. With the wisdom that he has given to them that we share in.
Brothers and sisters, get wisdom by getting Jesus. With me. Father, as we come before you this day, we just say thank you. Lord, we are foolish at heart. Lord, we have all chased after and desired the wrong things. And yet, Father, in the midst of our own misery and sin, you have found us. We thank you. We bless you for your kindness to us in Christ Jesus. And we pray, Lord God, that you would continue to cause our hearts to desire more and more of him, Lord, that he would be cherished above all things in our life. No cost would be too great in pursuit of him because you have pursued us first. Father, thank you. Thank you for the protection that you have granted to us, that you are not counting our sins against us. That your spirit is dwelling in us, hauling out Abba Father, we bless you for such kindness. And this we offer and pray to you all in the name of Jesus, our savior. Amen.
Discaimer: This sermon text was generated by an automated transcription service.