The book of Proverbs speaks to the human will and to the choices that life sets before us. Someone has said, “Choices are the hinges of destiny” and the truth is that our lives turn on the choices we make. The primary message of Proverbs is that life can never be fully understood nor lived except through a relationship with God.
Paul so aptly put it in Col. 2:2-3, “the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Being a philosopher only makes a person a lover of wisdom but being a lover of God makes one wise! Proverbs was written and compiled over a 250-year period of time.
Verse 1 tells us the author, “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel”
Verses 2-6 tells us the purpose is fivefold:
•Verse 2 To know wisdom and instruction
•Verse 2 To perceive the words of understanding
•Verse 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity
•Verse 4-5 To give prudence to the simple: a man of understanding will attain wise counsel.
•To the young man knowledge and discretion—
•A wise man will hear and increase learning
Verse 7 gives us the theme of the book, to bring the reader to a place where they understand that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
In other words, this is a collection of wisdom designed to meet the needs of people of all ages and stages in life, this is a practical guidebook for the understanding of what life is all about. It is a user-friendly, “Godly living for dummies” kind of book to unlock the mysteries of living righteously in an unrighteous world. Someone has well noted that:
Reading a Proverb takes seconds.
Memorizing a Proverb takes minutes.
Applying a Proverb takes a lifetime.