Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Proverbs+001

Proverbs

Introduction

Israel understood that the Creator had placed an order in his world that could be discovered. The book of Proverbs captures these lessons in compact, memorable sayings passed down from the wisest among their elders. Many of them are from Solomon, a king renowned for his wisdom (see 1 Kings 4:29-34). These proverbs are especially designed to help younger people avoid common pitfalls and find the path to prosperity, health and security.

After a short section of teaching, wisdom itself, personified as a woman, calls out to the simple and invites them to grow in knowledge. This section ends by presenting two banquets, one hosted by Wisdom and one by Folly, illustrating the essential choice to be made in life. A collection of 375 proverbs of Solomon follows, reflecting the numerical value of his name in Hebrew. (Hebrew letters were also used as numbers, so words had a value equal to the sum of their letters.) After some “sayings of the wise,” next is a collection of Solomon’s wisdom compiled by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Here the count is 130, equaling the value of Hezekiah’s name. The book closes with sayings from Agur and Lemuel, ending with a poem whose 22 parts begin with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The character qualities praised throughout the book are seen in a description of the ideal wife.

This rich book of short, pithy wisdom presents a consistent theme: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

www.bible.com/zh-TW/bible/111/PRO.INTRO1.NIV

Proverbs 1 (ESV)

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.

⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
⁹ for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.

REFLECTION:

1. If Psalms focuses on walking with God in prayer and spiritual life, Proverbs focuses on manifesting the truth of God in daily life. Proverbs is not only a collection of good words about life, but also contains spiritual insights gained from life experience. The language of Proverbs is refined and beautiful, full of heavenly wisdom, and can make people put the truth of God into practice everywhere. This book is centred on God. It uses concise and exquisite aphorisms to let people know God’s characteristics, actions, and blessings, and teaches us how to build an intimate relationship with Him in our lives.

2. In this era of technological advancement and advanced information, people are becoming richer in all kinds of knowledge, and their ways of being in the world are becoming smarter, but they lack real wisdom from God. The author teaches us in this chapter that God’s wisdom is far superior to human ingenuity, and it has a lasting and profound impact on all aspects of human life. To obtain the wisdom bestowed by God, the most fundamental beginning is to fear the Lord and obey His words. We must know that everything works for the benefit of those who love God. As children of God, loving and trusting in God should be our highest standards of life. We should regard God’s teachings and laws as more precious than crowns and golden chains, and strive to obey them in our lives, so that we will be protected and blessed by God for a long time.

PRAYER:

Come to God quietly, examine yourself, and ask God to examine yourself. Ask God to remove the pride in your heart, so that you don’t think you are clever and rely on your own ability to do things. Like Solomon, ask God to give you true wisdom so that you take this wisdom from God as the highest rule in your life to guide all actions in your life.

HYMN:

Lay Down My Pride: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjnF4sC0eqA&ab_channel=Charlesc28