# 397 The Proverbs – ‘A manual for living’ (MSG). Proverbs 1:1-7 (Introduction # 1)

Welcome to my first Blog Post on the Book of Proverbs (or as the first verse says, “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel”).

If you have been following my previous Posts on the Psalms then you will discover quickly that Proverbs is quite a different Book, although, there are some of the Psalms designated as “Wisdom Psalms” which have similarities to the Proverbs. They are Psalms 1, 14, 37, 73, 91, 112, 119, and 128.

But, as Timothy Keller suggests in the introduction in his daily devotional book, “The Way of Wisdom” (published in 2017 by Hodder and Stoughton Ltd): “…it is helpful to reflect on the differences between Psalms and Proverbs. The Psalms are filled with expressions of emotion, of pain, joy, and praise. They show us how to process our experiences before God. Proverbs is a very different book. It calls us to study, to think, to learn the practical discipline of centering all our thoughts and actions on God… Psalms is about how to throw ourselves fully upon God in faith. Proverbs is about how, having trusted in God, we should then live that faith out.” (# 51)

The author of Proverbs actually explains right at the beginning why he is writing, so I will let him speak for himself. He writes:

^1-6 These are the wise sayings of Solomon,
    David’s son, Israel’s king—
Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right,
    to understand what life means and where it’s going;
A manual for living,
    for learning what’s right and just and fair;
To teach the inexperienced the ropes
    and give our young people a grasp on reality.
There’s something here also for seasoned men and women,
    still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—
Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,
    the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.            (Proverbs 1:1-6 Message)

So, basically, a Book on how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going; A manual for living, but with one very important proviso. It needs to,

⁷ Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God;
    only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.              (Proverbs 1:7 Message)

Eugene H Peterson, in his introduction to Proverbs in The Message says that the Bible is not only about “getting people into heaven – getting right with God, saving their eternal souls… [but also about] living on this earth – living well, living in robust sanity… ‘Wisdom’ is the biblical term for this… Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves.” (# 50)  

He adds though that “Threaded through [the book of Proverbs] is the insistence that the way we think of and respond to God is the most practical [and wise] thing we do. In matters of everyday practicality, nothing, absolutely nothing, takes precedence over God.” (# 50)

In the light of the above, consider the “wise” teachings of Psalm 1 again, where the psalmist says:

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.         (Psalm 1:1-3)

This psalm is a brief summary of where we are heading in Proverbs – “living on this earth – living well, living in robust sanity,” discovering, if we are willing, that “Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves” with a right relationship with God as the motivational centre of all our thinking, actions and speaking. (# 50)

So, as we work our way through Proverbs, may the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father … give [us] the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that [we] may know him better.    (Ephesians 1:17)