Useful for Everything
There’s a movie that was made several years back now, based off Dr. Seuss’s book The Lorax. And in the movie, one of the main characters – the Onceler – explains how he had the wisdom to invent something called a Thneed, which is one of those really incredible types of items that has a million different types of uses. Supposedly, the thneed can be a tightrope for an acrobat, a net for catching butterflies, a tool for getting exercise, and all kinds of other things.

And even though a thneed is just an imaginary, ridiculous gimmick, there’s something in us that really does appreciate tools like this, that are multi-functional, something that can be folded up to fit in an Altoids tin, and yet can be whipped out at any moment to fix our problems and save the day. But even though things like smartphones and utility knives come close to fitting the bill, there really isn’t any sort of little tool like this that’s useful for every kind of situation.

But the Bible directs our attention to something that is universally helpful to have on hand. It teaches us to take hold of wisdom.

So tonight, I’m going to open up a series on select passages from the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is a unique book of the Bible. It’s organized in a way that makes it difficult to have a sermon series through the whole thing. Much of the book of Proverbs consists of short little two-line statements that distill a profound piece of insight. And to go through the whole book of Proverbs, piecing apart each of those statements, it would probably take several years. So rather than exploring the whole seabed here, I simply want to take the boat out into the ocean of God’s wisdom and jump off with scuba gear in a couple select places over the next few months.

My hope is that a series like this will give you a renewed appreciation for growing in godly discernment and understanding, and that it will enrich our personal decisions, our parenting, our priorities, and our witness to others. And over the next few months, I’ll have some help with this series. On the weeks that I’m not preaching, we’ll hear from a variety of guest speakers from mother church, University Reformed Church – they’ll come and help unpack sections of Proverbs here, too. And I’d encourage you to come and enjoy some of the variety and fresh insights these guys bring as they unpack the text.

So, all that being said, if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Proverbs, Chapter 1. I’ll be reading verses 1 through seven. But before I read our text for tonight, please pray with me:

[Pray and Read Text]
The Proverbs of Solomon
In verse 1, we’re told that contents of this book are “the proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.” If you’re familiar with your Bibles, you’ll recognize Solomon’s name, and perhaps you’ll be able to think of several things that made him unique. The kingships of David and Solomon took place in the golden age of the ancient nation-state of Israel. So Solomon was known for making Israel prosperous. And Solomon is also known for building the temple. Before he came to the throne, the Israelites worshiped God in a transportable tent-like structure called the tabernacle. But Solomon was the one who finally built and embellished a permanent temple for the Lord in the capital city, Jerusalem.

But Solomon is perhaps best known for his wisdom. Solomon specifically asked God for wisdom in 1 Kings 3, and God was pleased with the request and gave him a special abundance of insight. And to have the proverbs of this unique man in front of us, who was uniquely endowed with wisdom from God – it’s a remarkable gift for us to have access to. We should take God’s wisdom here seriously.

And that seems to be what Solomon is urging us to do, here, in these opening verses. These introductory verses here break into three parts that I’d like to work through with you. First, the summarized purposes of wisdom. Second, the summoning plea of wisdom, and Third, the starting point of wisdom.
The Summarized Purposes of Wisdom
So first, the summarized purposes of wisdom. Solomon introduces a few different purposes, explaining what this wisdom is for, right away in verses 2 through 4.

For one thing, Solomon is speaking here in order for his hearers “to know wisdom and instruction.” Wisdom isn’t natural to us. We need to someone to teach us. And if we aren’t exposed to wisdom, then chances are we won’t learn it – or at the very least, it’ll take a lot longer to gather together bits and pieces on our own, and to fill out our toolbox. So if you and me and our neighbors and our children or whoever is going to learn wisdom, it should be a priority for us to spend our time with wise voices. We should be concerned to fill our minds with wisdom, rather than with the foolish bickering which flies around on playgrounds and on social media platforms.

But Solomon lists another purpose for writing out this wisdom here. It’s for his hearers “to understand words of insight” – or to discern words of insight. Solomon doesn’t just want us to memorize some wise sayings. He also recognizes that it’s important for our minds to discern how to apply the wise words we’ve learned. And when we hear new teachings, it’s important for us to discern what’s wisdom, and what’s foolishness. If we ground ourselves in God’s wisdom, we’ll be able to discern how to walk in a way that fits with true wisdom.

Notice that Solomon also wants his hearers “to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity.” And the word receive here literally means “to take into the hand.” So Solomon is basically encouraging us to lean in toward wisdom – and to take it up – to make use of it when we’re making life decisions – to pick up the utility knife of wisdom, and to get to work applying it to real-world problems, instead of acting impulsively.

It’s worth pointing out here, too, Solomon sees that there’s an intimate connection between wisdom, righteousness, justice, and equity. He doesn’t imagine for a moment that wisdom is over here, and righteousness and the other things are over there, as though they’re totally unrelated. Instead, Solomon recognizes that wisdom is what brings definition to what righteousness is. Wisdom is the straight edge that’s used to draw the line of righteousness, and the scale that’s used to weigh out justice. Wisdom is the bedrock that ultimately holds up civilization, and that prevents society from devolving into mob-rule or anarchy. Without wisdom – without having God’s wisdom in particular – there isn’t a benchmark or any sort of real clarity into what righteousness or justice are. So in a very real way, Solomon recognizes, whether the world wants to recognize it or not, God’s wisdom determines true justice and righteousness. There are a lot of inconsistent people who reject God’s wisdom, and who still want to talk about universal human rights and standards. But we need both.

Fourth and finally, Solomon says that the purpose of this wisdom is “to give prudence to the simple” – prudence refers to wisdom here. And, it’s also intended to give “knowledge and discretion” to a second group – “to the youth.” So Solomon acknowledges that there are some people out there whom he refers to as simple. They prefer to keep things simple. And they’re maybe a bit more naïve than they should be about how the world works. Some people just aren’t deep thinkers. Some people aren’t as naturally inquisitive, or it takes longer for them to learn things. And that’s okay. That’s how some of us are wired. But we can’t use this as an excuse for neglecting wisdom.

We can’t say, “Wisdom is just for those old guys, or for people who like thinking and reading books.” Because Solomon very directly says that if you’re not all that familiar with wisdom, and not all that interested in it, then you’re exactly the type of person who needs to have it! The Bible doesn’t suggest anywhere that becoming wise will be an easy process, or that it’ll happen effortlessly. Instead, those of us who take longer to learn things just need to be prepared to roll up our sleeves and apply ourselves in the school of wisdom.

And, of course, wisdom is also for the youth – for children. Those of us who are older siblings, or parents, or grandparents, or school teachers, or coaches, or who work with kids in any sort of capacity – make sure you hear what Solomon is saying here. He isn’t saying, “let kids be kids.” There’s nothing here that would suggest that we’re just supposed to twiddle our thumbs until kids reach some sort of magic age of pre-adulthood and then start teaching them wisdom. Instead, Solomon affirms that the purpose of these words of wisdom, is so that the youth – the young ones, from their early days onward – would learn and love knowledge and discretion.

So make good use of teachable moments you have with your children. Help them to personally understand how profitable it is when we live according to God’s wisdom. The proverbs here are intended to guide parents and children together. These are the Summarized Purposes of Wisdom.
The Summoning Plea of Wisdom
But in verses 5 and 6, Solomon also articulates the summoning plea of wisdom. There is this appeal here, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.”

Notice, first, who is being summoned here. The wise are being summoned. Wise people are being urged here to hear and to increase in learning. And this is because wisdom isn’t just something that young, foolish people need. Wisdom is something that we all need – something that wise men and women continue to need.

The wise person is the person who stays hungry for wisdom – who hears this invitation to increase in wisdom, and who says, “Yes, I still need to learn. Yes, I want to apply myself to grow in my discernment and understanding.” A truly wise man will never think he knows everything. He’ll know what he doesn’t know – he’ll know something of where his blind spots are. And the wise man will continue to cherish wisdom, and seek more of it.

Meanwhile, the fool is the person who chucks rocks at people from the top of his dirt pile – who thinks that he’s already smarter and higher and better than everyone else. Maybe he started off with a bit of wisdom, but by closing himself off to learning, he isn’t being sharpened and refined. And the blade on his utility knife over time will get warped, dull, and rusty. The fool is slow to admit that he might be wrong. The fool is slow to ask for help. The fool is slow to commit his decisions to God in prayer. Because he’s convinced that he’s already wise! He already knows what needs to be done. And if his decisions lead to failure, he blames it on bad luck, or the foolishness of other people instead of humbling himself and admitting he needs to grow in wisdom.

So there’s something here we all need to watch out for. And kids, I’m talking to you, too. You and I are going to be tempted to think that our ideas are always right – that our opinions are always best. We’ll be tempted to push away advice from our parents, or our elders, or our brothers and sisters in Christ. We’ll be tempted to think that wisdom puts us in an elite category where no one should be able to question what we say or do.

But God’s Word insists that wise people need to come and increase in wisdom, just like simpletons and babies do. We aren’t as wise as we’d like to think. And the text, here, also calls the one who understands to come and receive guidance, which means that the plans and directions we have for ourselves aren’t as great as we’d like to think they are, either.

If we’re wise, we’ll listen. We’ll come to the Lord for more discernment. And I hope you see that it makes sense that you and I would do this. Because if you’ve experienced how good and profitable God’s wisdom is, it should keep you coming back for more.

You’ve probably been in one of those situations when somebody takes a bite of lasagna or birthday cake or something, and their eyes light up and they say, “this is delicious!” And what do they do next? Do they say, “That bite was so good, I think I’ll never eat this stuff ever again”? Of course not! They take a second bite, third bite – they eat it up, and they probably ask for seconds. They might even ask for the recipe. When people find something good, they want to keep coming back.

And this should be the posture of our hearts in relation to God’s wisdom. Don’t grow tired of sitting at his feet, soaking up His Word. Stay close to him in prayer. Value his counsel. If you’re wise, keeping coming back to God for the good stuff – for wisdom. Wrestle with it. Meditate on it. And live by it.
The Starting Point of Wisdom
But I need to acknowledge here – there are several people who think that they’re well on their way to being a wise person, when in reality they haven’t even started their journey. In order to move ahead in wisdom – in order to gain ground on the uphill climb, and to gain a higher vantage point to see the terrain around you with greater clarity, you need to make sure you have the right starting point.

And this brings me to the third and final point of this passage. Solomon directs our attention to the Starting point of Wisdom, here in verse 7: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

I’ve mentioned this in a different sermon somewhat recently, but the word fear here isn’t telling us to be scared of the Lord. Being scared of God doesn’t magically make people wise somehow. Instead, to fear the Lord means to recognize his authority and greatness – to acknowledge his position, and to respect the power that he wields in it.

Just imagine, for a moment, that you’re walking around the park, and suddenly you notice a couple uniformed police officers coming down the path toward you. I don’t imagine that many of us would be scared by them – it’s not like we’d scream and run away. But in that moment, I think you know something of the fear that this verse is talking about. Your pulse may speed up a little. You may try to stand a little more alert. You suddenly become self-conscious about how you’re dressed, or what you’re doing – because you don’t want to do anything that looks questionable or suspicious. You do what you can to be polite and respectable – because you understand that these officers carry the power to enforce the law. And so you cooperate with what they ask of you – my guess is you take that responsibility very seriously.

And this is how it should be between us and God! In fact, our regard for his authority should be far greater. To have this fear of God – to have this persistent concern to cooperate with Him, and to be aligned with Him – this is the beginning of knowledge.

And if this is the beginning of knowledge, this suggests that there is no knowledge – no true knowledge about how to live rightly – unless you first have the fear of the Lord. The Bible is very clear here – fearing God is the starting point. That’s Lesson 1 in the textbook. If you’re missing the fear of the Lord – if your life is unaffected by his divine authority over the universe, and over you, in particular – then you might have some insight into how the world works. Unbelievers can absolutely find out some of God’s wise principles that help make life better. But the ways you try to use that insight will ultimately be foolish and worthless and off-target, unless your heart is right toward God.

So the defining characteristic of true wisdom is that it’s borne out of an accurate understanding of God. Many people don’t think of wisdom this way. They think that being wise just means that you know how to make lucrative money decisions, or how to find a soulmate, or how to counsel someone when they’re grieving. They think that wisdom is just about “being happy,” or “being the best version of yourself you can possibly be,” or about “raising up the next generation to succeed.” But in reality, wisdom is about rightly relating to the God who made us, in the world where he has placed us. And the first step in this wisdom, by necessity, is the fear of the Lord.

Because if we fear and revere God, we’ll listen to His Word, the Bible! We’ll take his authority seriously. We’ll receive everything he has to say about where we came from and what we were made for, what types of character traits are virtues and which are vices, how to discern the difference between things that are worth much and things that are worth little – and we’ll learn a million other things, if we fear Him, and receive wisdom and instruction from the Scriptures.

But if we don’t fear the Lord, then by default, we’ll live by whatever seems convenient or comfortable. We’ll follow our own ideas and preferences for what we want to do, and assert ourselves as rebels and enemies against the authority of God. And this isn’t wisdom! It’s foolishness! It’s wickedness. “Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

So in these opening verses to the book of Proverbs, each one of us is faced with a decision. Will you be humble and hungry to learn from the voice of God? Or will you refuse to pay listen?

One reason we can be certain God wants us to come and learn wisdom is because he’s given us a whole book dedicated to the topic. But in God’s kindness, he has given us even more than this. God has given his own Son, as the supreme demonstration of his wisdom. As 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30 says, “…[B]ecause of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

The wisdom of God is not just a cold, abstract, intellectual proposition. But the wisdom of God is a living, breathing Savior, who laid himself down for your sins, so you could be raised up in knowledge and in truth, to live rightly with God. So don’t refuse the great gift God has given you. Don’t insult him and do great evil against Him by rejecting the gift of Jesus Christ. Instead, tremble before this God. Acknowledge his power, authority, and profound grace. And seek wisdom from him – wisdom that’s true. Wisdom for life. Let’s pray: