Proverbs: God’s GPS
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)
Most of us are very familiar with using a GPS system even though we might not really understand what the three initials represent. A global positioning satellite system is a navigational system for giving us directions and helping us find our way from starting point A to point B. Along the route, a GPS tracks our location and suggests changes that we need to make to arrive at our destination.
The book of Proverbs is our God-given GPS for showing us how to live a successful life on God’s terms. Proverbs represent Godly Principles for Success. Much like a traditional navigation system, the Proverbs GPS serves three purposes in our lives. This book of wisdom functions as a:
Guide – to show us where to go
Guard – to protect us and a
Gauge – to give us course corrections along the way
Proverbs teach us that there are only two paths to follow: wisdom or folly. The path of wisdom leads to life while the path of folly leads to death. Written about 900 BC, Proverbs’ primary author is King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. (1 Kings 4:31) Each proverb is brief, practical, and can stand alone. Proverbs show us the wise way to conduct one’s life as it relates to our character, speech, appetites, relationships, work, money, and sex. Author LeRoy Eims perfectly captured Proverbs’ theme with the title of his book “Wisdom from Above for Living Here Below.”
King Solomon’s extraordinary life is recorded in 1 Kings 1-11. At the beginning of his forty-year reign, God comes to Solomon in a dream and says, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” (1 Kings 3:5) Solomon responded, “Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” (1 Kings 3:9) God was pleased with Solomon’s request and gave him wisdom plus a whole lot more.
Different Bible translations translate Solomon’s request in various ways, but my favorite translation for his request is “a heart that listens.” (LEB)
Have you ever asked God for a heart that listens? Solomon isn’t asking for head knowledge; he’s humbly asking for heart knowledge to truly understand right from wrong. The word “listen” is a sacred echo found throughout Scripture. The Hebrew word “listen” doesn’t just mean to hear; it means to “hear and heed.” True wisdom isn’t just knowing the right thing to do; it’s actually doing it!
Solomon was known for his wisdom prior to his prayer in 1 Kings 3. (1 Kings 2:6,9) But after his prayer in 1 Kings 3, Solomon took wisdom to a whole new level. Solomon reigned at the height of Israel’s history, about 900 BC. He had rest from war, disaster, and adversaries. With Solomon’s wisdom, the nation of Israel enjoyed unparalleled peace, security, stability, and prosperity. Solomon spoke 3000 proverbs, wrote 1005 songs, understood botany and plant life; described biology and animal life; was the primary author of Proverbs, and authored two more Old Testament wisdom books, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon.
But somewhere along the way, Solomon quit listening to God and refused to obey God’s Word (Deuteronomy 17:14-17). Instead of being known for his wealth, wisdom, and worship, Solomon didn’t guard his heart and succumbed to his appetites for power, profit, privilege, and foreign wives.
Solomon’s faults were his failure & eventual downfall. And if it could happen to Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, it could happen to us as well. We must all guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23), not from “them,” (whoever “them” is), but from ourselves!
It matters how we listen. It matters whether we obey God’s Word. And it matters how we finish our lives. Solomon didn’t finish well. His family and the nation of Israel paid the price for his failures. Solomon knew the right way to live, but he failed to obey God. As a result, he wrote another book of wisdom entitled Ecclesiastes. Over twelve chapters, Solomon uses the word “meaninglessness” 35 times to describe a life lived apart from God. He closes the book with these words at the end of his life, “Here is the conclusion of the matter, ‘Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
What is true wisdom? Knowing the right thing to do and then doing it!
Knowledge + Obedience = Wisdom