I love the conciseness of God’s word.  There is no topic left uncovered.  The Proverbs Every Day schedule that we started today reflects this.

 “The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the naive, to the youth knowledge and discretion, a wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.”  Proverbs 1:1-5

The Proverbs were written down:

• So that I may know wisdom and instruction.  Who doesn’t need that?  The world could do with a lot more wisdom!
• So that I may be able to tell words of understanding from words of nonsense.  Again, the world could use a little more common sense – but then, so could I!
• So that I can be instructed in behavior that is wise, the implication being to avoid unwise behavior.  We are not born knowing how to handle ourselves in all situations. God saw fit to provide training for us and people to guide us through that training.  Hopefully we make use of the opportunities to learn!
• So that I can be instructed in righteousness.  What is righteous?  The world would have us to think that we each define that for ourselves.  But if that’s true, then what makes my ideas right versus your ideas?  There must be something against which we can measure things. Psalm 145:7 says that the “Lord is righteous in all His ways”.  So if I follow Him and His ways, I can know that I will be right with Him.  So, following the Word He has given to me, I can learn how to be righteous.  All I need is open it, read it, study it.
• So that I can be instructed in justice. Justice is sometimes a hard thing to define today also.  Because what seems “just” to one seems that you are asking too much to someone else.  But God is just.  He always gives the appropriate response to a given behavior.  It may seem hard, but it is just.  He teaches me how to balance mercy, forgiveness, discipline, and justice in my life.
• So that I can be instructed in equity.  That’s not a word we use much today.  But the idea is what I believe we mean when we say we want equality.  For all to measured by the same scale.  This goes along with justice.  In the events that have transpired across our country in the last months of 2014, I think we could all need to learn some lessons about equity and dealing with one another equally.   We all should be able to expect that our actions will be treated fairly – not lumped in with the bad behavior of a few others.  Selfishness has replaced a true sense of equity, in my opinion.  A study of Proverbs by many might correct this issue.
• So that the naive may gain prudence.  Teaching the less aware to be more careful about the ways of the world is a time warn tradition.
• So that the youth might gain knowledge and discretion.  The thoughtlessness of youth is another well known concept.  In general, young people do not show discretion.  This is a skill that needs to be taught (Proverbs 22:15).  The Scriptures provide a resource for that teaching.
• So that a wise man can grow even more.  You can never have too much wisdom!
• So that a man of understanding will gain wise counsel.  The proverbs are where a person of understanding knows to go to gain wisdom.  Also, a person of understanding can recognize the truths of wisdom when wise men speak the proverbs in teaching.

Who is left from that list?  Who doesn’t have something to gain from studying the Proverbs?  Which one are you?  Do you know anyone who could use some of this wisdom? Solomon says he wrote these down to provide these benefits for others.  The wisdom that God granted to him (1 Kings 4:29) he then shared with us through these writings (1 Kings 4:32).  What will you do with them today?  (Proverbs 9:10; 2 Peter 3:18)

Angela Legg – The Diligent Woman