Sermon Tone Analysis

*Biblical Wisdom*

/Proverbs 1.1-7/

Pastor Oesterwind

 

*Introduction:*  Read text.

Parked on the side of the road, waiting to catch speeding drivers, a state trooper sees a car puttering along at 22 mph.

Thinking the driver is as dangerous as a speeder, the state trooper turns on his lights and pulls the car over.

As he approaches the vehicle, the officer notices there are five elderly ladies inside—two in the front seat and three in the back—wide-eyed and white as ghosts.

The driver, obviously confused, says, “Officer, I don't understand.

I was going the exact speed limit.

What seems to be the problem?”

The trooper, trying to contain a chuckle, explained to her that 22 was the route number—not the speed limit.

A bit embarrassed, the woman grins and thanks the officer for pointing out her error.

“Before you go,” the officer says, “I have to ask: Is everyone in this car okay?

These women seem /awfully/ shaken.”

“Oh,” she answered, “they'll be all right, sir.

We just got off of Route 127.”

/Submitted by Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky/

Who would you like to fix your car?

Let me give you two choices:

1.

A young man who just graduated from mechanics school, knows all about car parts from book-learning, and is certified to the hilt

2.       A man who didn’t even graduate from high school, but has been fixing cars for over 30 years

 

Biblical wisdom is practically applying in life what one knows to be true.

It is doing so in the fear of the LORD.

Wiersbe points out that Cervantes, the Spanish novelist, defined the word proverb as a “short sentence based on long experience” (Be Skillful, 12).

*The Definition of a Proverb (1.1)*

 

*Proverbs 1:1 *“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel…”

One man defined the concept of */proverbs/* as “the child of experience.”

This is how /Proverbs/ meets human need.

The world struggles with sexual immorality, poor financial management, dependency upon drugs and alcohol, and honesty.

/Proverbs/ is a collection of self-evident truths or maxims which are put together in such a way that we remember them.

I might be able to preach a sermon on pride that exhausts everything the Bible has to say on the subject; however, you’re more likely to remember one proverb on the subject of pride.

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (16.18).

It might be good for us to think of /Proverbs/ as God’s parenting book for His children.

Only the children of God willing to obey truly profit from a study of the /Book of Proverbs/.

The biblical proverbs are generalized maxims of life.

This simply means that they are usually true but not absolutely true.

They are proverbs not promises.

·         So, a soft answer will not always turn away wrath, but generally it will (15.1).

·         A friend doesn’t love us all the time (17.17), but generally they do.

·         The godly generally live long, productive lives, but sometimes they die young.

·         The wicked generally live short, unproductive lives, but sometimes they live to a very old age.

·         You can train up a child in the way he should go and he may depart from it and die as an atheist (22.6).

Proverbs come in various categories which are helpful to understand in order to correctly interpret them:

       1.

Observational proverbs do not contain moral judgments.

“There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches” (13.7).

The observation does not culminate in moral or ethical conclusion.

It simply states that sometimes rich people make themselves out to be poor and poor people make themselves out to be rich.

2.

Didactic proverbs do contain moral judgments.

“Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but wickedness overthrows the sinner” (13.6).

We must learn by the negative consequences of choosing the wrong way.

3.

Admonishing proverbs command or prohibit.

“Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established” (16.3; command).

“Do not malign a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be found guilty” (30.19; prohibition).

4.

Numerical proverbs bind similar items together in a list for emphasis.

“There are three things that are never satisfied, four never say, ‘Enough!’:

The grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water – and the fire never says, ‘Enough!’”  (30.15-16).

5.

Rhetorical proverbs cause us to pause and think.

"Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?

Who has gathered the wind in His fists?

Who has bound the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know" (30.4)?

       6.

Lengthy wisdom poems are also found in /Proverbs/.

Consider Proverbs 31 and its teaching on the virtuous woman.

An added literary element is that this poem is an alphabetic acrostic in Hebrew.

7.

Parental advice discourses in /Proverbs/ are settings in which a parent exhorts a child to gain wisdom and keep from evil.

8.

Wisdom is personified in /Proverbs/ (1.20-33; 8.1-36).

9.

Stories appear in /Proverbs/ to reinforce a particular teaching (7.6-27).

10.

Reflections and confessions appear in Proverbs in order to teach the reader from personal experience (4.3-9; 30.2-4).

These are */the proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel/*.

As one sun sets in David, another rises in the son called Solomon.

Solomon acknowledged his responsibility as Israel's new king in prayer:  "Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

and Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted.

Therefore, give to Your servant an understanding (literally, a hearing) heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil" (1 Kings 3.7-9).

The LORD answered Solomon immediately and verbally:  "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you" (1 Kings 3.12-13).

*The Purpose of Studying Proverbs (1.2-4)*

 

*Proverbs 1:2–4 *To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, *3* To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; *4* To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—

       1.

To Know Wisdom (2) - wisdom here means more than accumulating facts or mental sharpness.

Psalm 107.27 introduces us to a word picture that hones the idea of biblical wisdom.

Sailors in this verse are said to reel to and fro on a ship like a drunken man.

The text then states that these men are at their wits' end.

The marginal note in our NKJ Bibles communicates the idea of the wisdom of these men being swallowed or used up.

That is, they no longer have the skills needed to weather the storm.

Wisdom is competence or skill to handle life.

2.

To Know Instruction (2) – the disciplined process we go through in order to gain the skill set called wisdom is the process of knowing instruction.

3.

To Perceive Words of Understanding (2) – perceptiveness is the ability to see and draw proper distinctions in life.

It is the ability to do God’s will God’s way.

4.

To Receive the Instruction of Wisdom (3) – this is the discipline of working for insight on a matter.

5.

To Receive the Instruction of Justice (3) – the discipline of righteousness; right behavior

       6.

To Receive the Instruction of Judgment (3) – the discipline of proper decision-making; discernment

       7.

To Receive the Instruction of Equity (3) – the discipline of a principled life; moral integrity

       8.

To Give Prudence to the Simple (4) – prudence is subtlety or craftiness.

This means that even the simple (open-hearted; susceptible to external impressions of others; easily misled; childlike) can learn to detect craftiness and subtlety in others.

“A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (22.3).

9.

To Give Knowledge to the Young Man (4) – information proven by experience

   10.

To Give Discretion to the Young Man (4) – the ability to think through a situation

 

*The Benefit of Studying Proverbs (1.5)*

 

*Proverbs 1:5 *A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel.

Wise people are people who hear.

They listen and learn.