THE TEXT:
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
GRAB THEIR ATTENTION
Congratulations. You made it through Christmas. As we make our way into the New Year we’re taking a break from the Gospel of Luke and we’re giving you a short series from the book of Proverbs. We’re calling it Wisdom for Living. This morning we’re introducing wisdom in general. What does it mean to be wise?
And in the following weeks we’ll look at the wisdom that Proverbs gives us for anger, fear, work, and wealth.
Now, if you live in Charlotte, you are faced with more decisions than virtually any human being in history. There are just zillions and zillions of choices.
One reason for that is that Charlotte is densely populated. As a reference point, when I was growing up in Huntersville, there were 72 people per square mile living in Huntersville. Now, in Charlotte, there are over 3,000 people per square mile. And that exponentially higher number of people multiplies everything exponentially.
Charlotte has 2,850 restaurants you could choose form for dinner. Just this last week, for Christmas, I received a cookbook that has 500 recipes. And then you go to the grocery store and choose from over 10 different brands of canned corn.
Where will you live? What kind of house will you live in? Will you build or buy? What can you afford? (Correct answer is nothing.)
Where will your kids go to school? Public, private, homeschool? And as they graduate where will they attend college? State school, private university, or community college? Or perhaps they’ll apprentice in the trades.
What career will they pursue? Finance? Medical? Construction? Education? Will they start a small business? Or perhaps you’ve been in your career for a while and are looking to make a change, but the options are overwhelming.
Where will you go to church? Roman Catholic or Protestant, or no church at all? Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, or Methodist? Southern Baptist or Independent Baptist? Hymns or praise band?
And we haven’t even talked about what clothes you’ll wear, what books you’ll read, what music you’ll listen to, or which of the 369,000,000 products you’ll buy on Amazon.
And listen, you really need to make good decisions. You need to avoid bad decisions. Bad decisions can blow up in your face, and every decision is a fork in the road, once you’ve made it you really can’t go back.
Now, I know that even the act of listing off all these possibilities gave some of you anxiety. So, if you didn’t need a sermon on wisdom when you got here, now you do.
RAISE THE NEED, SIGNPOSTS, STATE THE DESTINATION
So, we’ll be in Proverbs 1. Today we’re simply introducing wisdom, and then each week we’ll look at what wisdom has to teach us with more specificity. And let me just go ahead and tell you, so much of what I have learned about Proverbs has come from a pastor named Tim Keller. So, if anything this morning is particularly insightful, chances are it just comes from him.
As we look at Proverbs 1, we’re giving the basics of wisdom, which we can sum up in 4 questions:
- What Wisdom Is
- Why We Need It
- The Trouble with it.
- Where We Get Wisdom
- WHAT IS WISDOM?
Look at verse 1. Right off the bat, it says these are the words of Solomon for gaining wisdom. What is wisdom? Well, if you look at the other words used around the word wisdom, you begin to understand.
One of the words is “insight.” It means the ability to make distinctions; to see beyond surface-level information, to see distinctions that other people can’t see. If you’ve ever played the board game Clue, you know that you can’t just pay attention to your own cards and questions. You have to listen and keep a record of every question asked, every clue given, making distinctions. That’s insight.
Wisdom isn’t just insight, it’s also prudence. Verse 3 says “to receive instruction in wise dealing.” It’s the ability to consider all options, to imagine possibilities, to forecast. It means to be practical. Not just to talk about doing something, but to be imaginative in order to bring the dream into reality. So wise people are not just characterized by insight, but also foresight. They don’t just diagnose the problem in front of them. They’re able to see ahead to potential problems and already be working on those as well.
Third, wisdom is instruction. Notice all the times this pops up. In verse 2, to know wisdom and instruction. Verse 3, to receive instruction. Verse 5, to increase in learning, obtaining guidance. It speaks to personal growth. To not merely increase in facts, but to expand in character.
Now, when you pull all of that together and ask, “What is wisdom,” one OT scholar, put it like this: Wisdom is competence with regard to the realities of life. (Von Rad)
So, wisdom requires knowledge, but it’s more than knowledge. There are plenty of high IQ people who are incompetent at life, at basic decision making. Also, wisdom requires morality, but it’s more than moral living. You can be an upright person, who keeps all the rules and still be stupid. So, wisdom is not less than knowledge, and it’s not less than being good, it requires both, but it goes beyond being smart and good.
Wisdom is knowing what the right thing is to do in the 80% of life’s situations in which the moral rules don’t directly apply.
In other words, someone comes to you and says I have these two job offers. Which do you want? And you see that both job offers meet the moral criteria of the Bible. Both are morally permissible… but which one should you take?
You see, you can be very moral, you can follow all the rules, and yet there are loads of places where the moral rules won’t give you enough information to make the best decision.
So, that’s what wisdom is. It’s insight, prudence, and depth of character that allow you to make good decisions in all the places where the rules don’t directly apply. It’s competence with regard to the realities of life.
- WHY WE NEED IT
If you look down in verse 32, you see a warning to the simple and the foolish.
For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
The word simple means naive people; people who believe everything they hear. It means immaturity, those who are easily enticed, or misled. This is like when you play with a toddler, and you convince them that you can pull money out of their ear, or that you can steal their nose. Easily misled, and believe everything they hear.
Now, I doubt I could convince most of you that I can steal your nose. You aren’t that immature. But how many of you care too much what others think of you? Having the approval of others, to fit in, to receive the praise and attention of others… you’ll go off the road. Instead of doing the wise thing, you’ll do the simple thing.
And Proverbs says it’ll kill you. Those who are led about by the base instincts, but their base desires and urges, those who run after approval… in the end, it will destroy you. You’ll look back and say, “I never got what I was looking for. No matter how much approval, it wasn’t enough. No matter how much attention, I’m still empty.”
But the other word here is fool. This is someone who is wise in his own eyes. Proverbs 12:23 says the fool’s mouth pours forth folly, and Proverbs 15;14 says he drinks it right back up. So you see the image? He’s in love with his own wisdom. It’s wise in his own eyes. No one is as smart as he is. It’s not that he doesn’t receive critique… it’s that he can’t be critiqued.
I have met so many of these. Those who know themselves to be blessed with such insight as no one else has. Those who can’t believe how blessed everyone else is that God put them in their lives. Those who know better. And they can’t be questioned. They can’t compromise, they can’t even entertain a compromise or a differing view point.
Now listen to me: a simple person, who cares too much what others think… they keep their friends as long as they are able to keep changing with their friends. But a fool can never keep friends. They go through relationships every 1-2 years. Why? Because they never listen. And if this is you, I know the defense you are already summoning in your mind: “Well, I just care about facts. Facts are impersonal.” No, you don’t care about facts. You only care about yourself. You’re a fool, and fools love their own wisdom.
One OT commentator said the fool is:
- Self-righteous rather than open to evaluation.
- Wise in his own eyes rather than seeking wisdom in others.
- Set in his ways rather than flexible to the need of the moment.
- Hard to persuade rather than soliciting counsel.
- Gets his back up if you try to correct him, rather than remaining silent and receiving.
Proverbs says, your tendency is to one or the other: to be a simpleton or a fool. The simpleton cares too much about what others thing. The fool doesn’t care enough. But they’re both out of touch with reality.
Simpletons aren’t in touch with reality, their measuring rod is the opinions and approval of their friends.
Fools say, “Well, I’m not basing my life on the opinion of others,” and they think this makes them realistic, but fools aren’t in touch with reality either. They are only in touch with their own pride and dignity.
Now, let me give you an example. You’re in a difficult situation with other people, and here’s the question: “Should I speak out? Should I tell them everything they need to hear? Or should I just let it go? Should I not say anything.” What does wisdom tell you?
Now, pay attention: Proverbs 26:4 says, “Answer not fool according to his folly, lest you become like him yourself.” And one verse later, Proverbs 26:5 says, “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”
And you say, well, which is it?!?! And the answer is, Proverbs isn’t a rule book. It’s a wisdom book, which means it depends. These two proverbs being next to one another isn’t a contradiction. Proverbs says, “Sometimes you need to speak out, but others you need to remain silent. And a wise person knows the difference.”
But the trouble with wisdom is that most of us are not in tune and in touch with reality enough to know when to respond and when to be silent.
- THE TROUBLE WITH WISDOM
Now, there are three basic responses that we all have to difficult situations. I’m generalizing here but stick with me.
A difficult situation pops up. How do you respond? Some people instantly respond with anxiety. Your instinct is to say, “Let me out of here. I’ll cut my losses. I’ll just go.” The other response is aggression. “Get me in there! Let me at it. I’ll fix it. I’ll crack some skulls.” Anxious people say, “This is never going to work. I’ll leave.” Aggressive people say, “I can fix this. Let me in there.” And the third response is the philosophical. “Let’s wait and see. Let’s gather more information.”
Follow me here. For each of us… one of those feels most natural. One of those responses feels like the natural, wise thing to do. And, I’m willing to bet that one of those, in your mind feels like a stupid weakness.
But think about this (that’s me taking the philosophical approach… I know shocker) But think about this… there are circumstances in which the anxious approach is best.
In reality, the “Get me out of here” response is best suited to high danger situations. In a real life threatening situation 9/10 times, the best thing is to instinctually flee.
In reality, the “Let me in there” response is best suited to a medium danger situation. Sometimes your confidence pays off, but even if it doesn’t it won’t be lethal.
And in reality, the “Let’s wait and see” response is best suited to a situation which appears more dangerous than it actually is, and in those cases to act evasively either in retreat or in attack you can take a less than lethal situation and make it worse.
What does all that mean? It means that the instinctual way you respond to situations is wrong 2/3 of the time. In some cases, it’s perfect. But immediately giving in to your gut instinct will blow up in your face 60% of the time.
Here’s what this means… modern parents have been taught that our children need to find themselves and be themselves. We’ve been taught that. But in reality, unless we learn to resist our natural responses and push against our instincts we’ll never make wise decisions.
A wise person sees a dark side to their natural temperament and will intervene to expand their own thinking and responses. In other words… to grow in wisdom means:
Training the anxious to be bold.
The bold to be cautious.
The philosophical to be decisive.
It means training the simple to care less about the opinions and approval of others – and to realize that doing so—having a measure of independence from others isn’t unfriendly.
Training the fool to consider and give weight to other perspectives than his own – and to realize that doing so, being influenced by others doesn’t make you dishonest or a compromiser.
Here’s the trouble with wisdom: we are not as strong as we think we are. We are not as wise as we believe ourselves to be. We are far more foolish, simple, panicked, egotistical, ignorant, arrogant, haughty, half-witted than we want to admit or even realize.
Proverbs 22:15 says, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.” We all begin life as fools. We all begin life as simpletons. It’s not something we’re trained to do. It’s a condition we are born into.
Tim Keller put it this way: Foolishness is natural. Wisdom is acquired.
It’s acquired through years of training, seeking counsel, making decisions and learning from them, reading the Bible, prayer, coaching… slowly over years and decades you grow. It takes work. It takes time. And this is counter to ever expectation you’ve been given.
C.S. Lewis, in his Abolition of Man talks about the difference between the ancients and modern culture.
“For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue… but for the [modern man of] applied science, the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique.”
In other words, Lewis says that the modern person doesn’t really want wisdom. Wisdom means control of self, pushing back against your own natural instincts. Denying what comes naturally. Growth. Depth of character.
And we moderns don’t want wisdom. We want power. We want brute control over reality. We don’t simply want to make decisions, we crave control over our outcomes too. And this can be just a true or even more true of Christians than it is of non-Christians.
So often, when Christians have to make a decision, they fall prey to the modern applied science approach. They want to wield prayer as a technical solution. They want God to zap the answer into their mind that will ensure the best outcome. They want to take prayer and lay things out before God and have him pick.
Now, do not misunderstand me. You need to pray. You must lay your decisions before the Lord… but prayer isn’t a technical solution. It’s not applied science.
And so long as that is your pursuit you will never find satisfaction in your decision making. You’ll never be at peace when making a decision. You’ll never be pleased with outcomes. You’ll never make peace with a bad outcome. Your bad decisions will haunt you forever.
If you are not content to simply make informed decisions and accept what comes… if you desire control over outcomes, you’ll always be limited by your finitude. You aren’t infinite. You aren’t all-knowing. You are not omnipotent. We’re all fools by nature. We’re all finite, ignorant, arrogant, and to top it off, we’re sinful which means we have an inward bent to please and prefer ourselves rather than to challenge and change ourselves.
This means that if we are ever going to become wise, we have to get outside of ourselves… we need an eternal, infinite, boundless, all-knowing, and all-powerful person to guide our lives.
So, where do we get wisdom?
- WHERE DO WE GET WISDOM
In the very center of chapter 1, verse 20:
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
Wisdom is personified. This happens all throughout Proverbs, most notably in Proverbs 8, where wisdom is said to have dwelt with God in the beginning, before creation. Before the mountains and the hills were made or the ocean deeps, when God established all of creation, wisdom says, “I was there.” In fact, in Proverbs 8, wisdom says that when God was creating all things, Wisdom was there as a master workman through whom the heavens and earth were brought into existence.
And here in Proverbs 1, Wisdom personified is crying out in the streets. In other words, wisdom isn’t shut up in the elite halls of power. Wisdom is available to the common man in the street.
Wisdom is crying out to us asking, “How long will you love being simple? How long will you be wise in your own eyes? (v. 22)
And then Wisdom personified says this in verse 23:
23 If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
Wisdom is a person, who was with God before creation, through whom God created all things, and who is calling out to the stubborn and simple calling them back to God, and promising to fill them the spirit of wisdom.
And then finally, in verse 33:
whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
What is Proverbs showing us? Growing in wisdom is not going to a book for facts, it’s going to person for protection.
This is why Proverbs 1:7, the most famous verse in the entire book says:
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Wisdom is far less about relating to your decisions, and far more about relating your decisions to a person. Making decisions in light of a person. Trusting your decisions to the providential hand of a person. Leaving the outcomes of your decisions in the sovereign care of a person.
Don’t you see? You can’t be wise unless you are relating to the Creator and Sustainer. Wisdom isn’t a technical solution. It’s growing in your awareness and dependency and love and respect for an Ultimate Person.
Very practically, here’s how this works: when you see the Creator and Sustainer as Wisdom, it moves you out of being a simpleton. You stop obsessing over the opinions of others. Their approval doesn’t carry ultimate weight anymore.
And when you see yourself in comparison with God as Wisdom, you can no longer be a fool, being wise in your own eyes. It humbles you and makes you receptive not just to God’s Word, but even to the wisdom and insight he’s given others.
You see, in the end, the simple hasn’t just elevated the approval of others, they’ve also downgraded the approval of God. The fool hasn’t just downgraded the insight of others, they’ve also inflated their own insight at the expense of God and therefore others.
A thousand years after Solomon wrote Proverbs, the Apostle Paul was writing to the Corinthian church who were in a big dispute over wisdom. They were arguing over which teacher was the wisest. Which one should they listen to as the authority on wisdom.
And in 1 Corinthians 1:30 Paul writes these words:
you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption
You see, wisdom isn’t a technical skill. To get wisdom, you have to receive a person. Christ Jesus, who was with the Father, through whom all things were made, is crying out to stubborn people, and his promise isn’t just to help them make better decisions… his promise is that if you will listen to him and dwell with him you’ll be secure, for he has already dealt with the worst outcome that could possible come to you—your condemnation for rejecting God.
This is what Paul is saying: God, did the most foolish thing ever… he nailed Wisdom to a cross so that he could adopt fools such as us.
We’re crave power and want to use God to control outcomes… and here God in Christ is submitting himself to the control of others.
If you will fear him, which means you regard him above everything else in your life, you’ll begin to be wise. You’ll no longer live for the approval of others, or for your own approval. His approval of you, because of what he has done for you, will protect and secure you in this life and the next.