WWUTT 1344 Get Wisdom, Get Insight (Proverbs 4:1-14)

Proverbs 4 .9 describes the wisdom of God as being a beautiful crown on our head.

Yes, we have received something royal, but we also have the mind of Christ, that's the picture here, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Proverbs, we're up to chapter 4.

This chapter has 27 verses in it. I'm going to try to split it in half and we'll do the whole chapter between this week and the next.

Let me start off by reading the first 14 verses. Proverbs 4, starting in verse 1.

Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive that you may gain insight.

For I give you good precepts, do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me,

Let your heart hold fast my words, keep my commandments and live.

Get wisdom, get insight. Do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Do not forsake her, and she will keep you. Love her, and she will guard you.

The beginning of wisdom is this, get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

Prize her highly, and she will exalt you. She will honor you if you embrace her.

She will place on your head a graceful garland. She will bestow on you a beautiful crown.

Hear my son and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.

I have taught you the way of wisdom. I have led you in the paths of uprightness.

When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble.

Keep hold of instruction, do not let go, guard her, for she is your life.

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.

Avoid it, do not go on it, turn away from it, and pass on.

Now, it's interesting if you think about it, we actually have words of David in this particular chapter of Proverbs.

Remember that this is being delivered to us as Solomon giving instructions to his son.

And when you get to verse three, he says, When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, because that was

Solomon of Bathsheba, he taught me and said to me, Let your heart hold fast my words, keep my commandments and live.

So that which we have in quotations there, that would have been from whom? That was from David.

David instructing Solomon, Solomon now instructing his son. One of the things that that does here in this particular chapter is it shows that the father who is giving wisdom to his son is able to identify with his son.

That's something I think that we need to keep in our hearts whenever we're receiving instruction from somebody older than us.

There is a manner of respect that we must have for those who are more experienced, who have been through more life, and they would give instruction to us.

They've been through some things we've not gone through yet. They have experiences and life learning that we still have yet to attain.

And when they give instructions to us, if they're humble about the way that they pass on knowledge, then the way that they instruct us is not to lord themselves over us.

It's not to say, I'm smarter than you, so you need to listen to me. It is a charity. It is grace that they might say,

I've been through something like what you're going through. And let me give you a little advice. Receive that.

It's a good gift that somebody with that experience would pass on. As they're handing that knowledge to us, as a generation older than us is sharing with us life experiences, they are sharing with us that they are able to relate to us.

So this is not an older generation that is saying, I know better than you, but rather,

I've been there before. This is one of the reasons why we need that multi -generationalness in our churches, that we may glean wisdom from those who have gone through these experiences, who have since applied knowledge and gained wisdom, that they might pass that wisdom on to us.

Paul gives instructions to the church in Titus chapter two, that the olders are supposed to mentor the younger.

We have older men mentoring younger men and older women mentoring younger women, so that those who are older, who have those experiences, are able to teach those things to those who are younger.

You think about persons who work in respective trades, like maybe a plumber or an electrician, or somebody who is an architect or somebody who is,

I mean, even like a bricklayer or something like that. They have, through their trade, gained experience and expertise, and then they might take on an apprentice and teach them the things that they have learned.

Best thing that an apprentice can learn, or best person an apprentice can learn from, is somebody who's had years and years of experience in that particular trade.

They're going to learn way more than if they go to college to learn about that trade, right?

You learn from those who have experience doing it and have gained the knowledge and the expertise in that particular field.

That's some of the best instruction that you can receive. And so we need that in our churches as well.

We have those persons who have gone through life. They have not only learned the scriptures, but they've learned how to apply those scriptures.

And then they teach that to us as well. This is what we have here in Proverbs chapter four.

You have a father teaching his son, and not just because I know more than you, son, but because I've been where you are.

And my father taught me, and here's what he taught me, and now I'm teaching it to you. So that the knowledge and wisdom of God continues through generations.

We see that God's wisdom is greater than man's, and that the knowledge that God has given to us through his word is timeless.

We're still learning it. Another generation will come along and learn it, but it's still the same knowledge and still applied the same way.

Yes, the times and the seasons change. But remember that Solomon will write in Ecclesiastes chapter one that there is nothing new under the sun.

You can look back through history and yet technology and civilizations and cultures have changed and so on and so forth.

But everybody still seems to go through the same problems and makes the same mistakes and won't yet learn from those things.

And so here we have, yet there is nothing new under the sun.

So we must heed the instructions of those who are wise that pass on the knowledge of God to us, the application of God's word, the

Bible. As we go through trials and tribulations, we look to people who have been through hardships and similar circumstances.

And yet they look to Christ and they're going to help us see Christ in the midst of those things as well.

Clinging to Christ even in the midst of our troubles. This is how we help to sanctify one another. And it is a church activity as a whole church.

We help to grow one another up in sanctification when we teach the truth in love.

That's the way Paul puts it in Ephesians chapter four. So let's come back to this. Proverbs four, verse one here.

Oh, sons, a father's instruction and be attentive that you may gain insight for. I give you good precepts.

Do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me now where he says they're tender.

He's talking about like I was not yet hardened by the world because I did not know the world.

So I was a sponge. I was ready to soak up any of those things that were being taught to me.

We have some really, really good years as children when we're going to be the most receptive to the teaching that is being given to us.

As we get older, we start to get more stuck in our ways. We get more headstrong. We get more prideful.

We get more cynical. You have that adage that goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

I don't know if you've ever seen Mythbusters. They actually showed on that show that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

It's just a lot harder. Same goes for us as well. The older we get, the more difficult it is for us to learn new things.

So that reference there to being tender, the only one in the sight of my mother.

This is a boy who is still able to learn from his father.

And here's what my father taught to me. Proverbs 4, 4.

Let your heart hold fast my words. Keep my commandments and live.

Get wisdom. Get insight. I love those two together like that.

Get wisdom. Get insight. Do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Now, often, at least up to this point here in Proverbs, when we have seen get wisdom, it's accompanied with get understanding.

This is a little different wording here. We get to Proverbs 4, 5. Get wisdom. Get insight.

So what's the difference? Well, actually, there's not any difference. It's the same Hebrew word. It's bena, which means understanding.

So here, get wisdom. Get insight means get understanding. We might understand this more specifically as get discernment.

So wisdom, if you'll remember again that I said that wisdom is knowing how to take knowledge and being able to apply it and applying it in the right way.

Lots of people have knowledge that they apply, and they do it in completely foolish ways. But having wisdom and applying that knowledge in the right way is exercising that knowledge or living in that knowledge in such a way that is pleasing unto the

Lord. It's having a knowledge of God and having that knowledge of God change your whole life.

Get insight then is kind of through the eyes or through the lenses of that knowledge, looking out at the world, understanding that which is right and that which is wrong through these lenses that you are looking.

So this is discernment. And you've probably heard a definition of discernment that's very common that comes from Charles Spurgeon.

Discernment is not simply knowing the difference between right and wrong. It's knowing the difference between right and almost right.

I think that's a really good definition of discernment. There are things that might look right, but is it truly right?

And we know from 1 Corinthians 12 that there are those in the church gifted in such a way they have a gift of discernment.

And they have this discernment to be a benefit to the church, not to write discernment blogs and have discernment ministries.

They have a gifting of discernment that they might bless the church with being able to recognize in the application of wisdom, those things that are right, that are pleasing unto the

Lord. And then those things that claim to be of God, but really are not at all.

Those who are blessed with a gift of discernment are able to recognize those things better than most.

So here we're having an instruction that we all need to have that. And it's true. All of us need to have discernment.

It's just that the Holy Spirit of God has blessed some with a greater ability to discern than others.

Yet the instruction remains for all of us to get insight, get wisdom, get insight, do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

So this instruction in Proverbs 4, 5 is really in four parts. You have get wisdom, you have get insight and do not forget.

So this isn't in a season of life. You have these things, or just as you hold a certain position or occupation, it's grabbing hold of these things and never letting them go.

Do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Listen to what I say to you. And when we use that word, listen, it doesn't just mean hear the words that come from my mouth.

It's it is received them and apply them. That's something that we've had to teach our kids,

Becky and I teaching our children. When we tell you to listen, it's not just that you heard words come out of my mouth.

You know what I said and you know what I mean by what I said. And now, you know, to do what it is that I said.

So that's what we're teaching our kids about, about listening, comprehension, following instruction.

Verse six, do not forsake her and she will keep you love her and she will guard you again.

This is the personification of wisdom. And as we've talked about before, wisdom is a feminine word.

And so when you personify wisdom, it just makes sense to use feminine pronouns. This isn't, you know, some sort of theological statement about wisdom being

God who is female or as William Paul Young tried to write in the shack, the

Holy Spirit being a woman. That's not what's being articulated here. It is just simply in the personification of wisdom.

We're going to use feminine pronouns because the word wisdom itself is feminine. Do not forsake her and she will keep you love her and she will guard you wisdom, guarding you, protecting you from the ways of the wicked, from doing anything foolish that would lead to your destruction.

Specifically, that wisdom would guide you in the ways of God. Verse seven, the beginning of wisdom is this.

Get wisdom. I love that because that is so practical. What's the beginning of wisdom?

We'll get it. Get some wisdom. This doesn't negate the statement that we have back at the start of Proverbs.

Chapter one, verse seven, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

But if you're going to have that wisdom, you got to get that wisdom. That's the beginning of wisdom for you receiving it.

And again, this comes right after Solomon is giving instruction to his son or David to Solomon, which now

Solomon is passing on to his son. Do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

So get them, get this wisdom while you can. And whatever you get, get insight.

There we have that again. Verse five, get wisdom, get insight. Verse seven, get wisdom, get insight, prize her highly, and she will exalt you.

She will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland.

She will bestow on you a beautiful crown. And indeed, having the wisdom and knowledge of God is something royal because remember that in First Peter chapter two, we have been made into a royal priesthood.

We who are in Christ are a royal priesthood and a holy nation.

We are fellow heirs of the kingdom of God. According to Titus chapter three, verses five through seven, we've been made fellow heirs of this kingdom with Christ.

And Jesus says to the churches in Revelation chapter three, that he who endures to the end,

I will give to him to sit with me on my throne, to the one who conquers.

We will sit with Christ and reign with him forever in his glorious kingdom. So the wisdom and knowledge of God that we get through his word, an understanding of Christ that we have given to us in the

Bible, this is royal knowledge that has been bestowed upon us. And it is something that others will see as well.

The reference to wisdom, placing a head on your head, a graceful garland.

This is that others may even see the wisdom of God that has been given to us through the scriptures that we have and therefore apply and follow.

Hear my son and accept my words that the years of your life may be many. Proverbs four, 10.

Okay. Hear my son and accept my words that the years of your life may be many. Now it's true that as followers of Jesus Christ, we have eternal life.

But as I've mentioned to you earlier, it's also a general truth that by following the wisdom of God, you will live longer.

That's not always true. There are Christians who die young. Yes. But in a general understanding of wisdom, following the instructions of God will lead to longer life that you may gain more sanctification growing in holiness and in the righteousness of God.

Verse 11. I have taught you the way of wisdom. I have led you in the paths of uprightness.

When you walk, your step will not be hampered. And if you run, you will not stumble.

Keep hold of instruction. Do not let go guard her for she is your life.

Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil.

As we conclude the lesson today, let me finish with this. So Solomon has been instructing his son, just as David instructed

Solomon, and he's telling his son to listen, even repeats it a couple of times.

So his son will get it right. Get wisdom, get insight. Do not forget. Do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

And then we're also supposed to highly revere this information, this knowledge that is being passed on to us.

Verse eight, prize her highly and she will exalt you. She will honor you if you embrace her.

There's so many different things going on in the world and so many things vying for our attention that we can hear the words that are being spoken to us, but they often don't get into our heart.

And the more we allow ourselves to be distracted by worldly things, the more difficult it's going to be for you to hold on to that wisdom of God that is being passed on.

And I'm speaking from experience here because in those weeks that I'm spending more time on my computer, more time on social media, more time lying in bed, scrolling through things on my phone.

The more time that I spend doing that, the more that I notice it's more difficult for me to retain the things that I've been reading in God's word.

If I'm giving more time to my phone than I'm giving to God's word, then then

I can feel it. I notice the difference. And it even feels in me after a week or two of this that I'm not highly valuing

God's word. That's a struggle. So that one month that we had in there where I wasn't doing the podcast,

I didn't do any podcast episodes in November. This has been part of my regular study, and I will do study in advance before recording it on the podcast.

And when I'm not doing it on the podcast, I wasn't studying as often. There was still some study I was doing, but there was less of it.

And I felt it not doing the podcast was even having a negative effect on me because I was not spending as many hours in the day in the word as I was before.

So the more we allow ourselves to get distracted by other things, if we do not highly revere the word of God, it does have an effect on us.

So as we read again here in Proverbs four, four, let your heart hold fast my words, keep my commandments and live, get wisdom, get insight.

We need to make an active concerted effort to seek out the wisdom and the knowledge of God, to learn it, to have it written on our hearts and to live by it.

That is a daily pursuit that we must be in. Highly prize the word of God in this way, and it will be a crown upon your head.

Let us pray. Heavenly father, we thank you for this good word that has been given to us, and we thank you for your spirit that we may understand this word and know how to apply it.

Help us to live in these things today. Thinking back on the instructions and the knowledge that you have given to us in our

Bible reading or listening to somebody do teaching just like a program like this, have these things written on our hearts and mind today that we may live in such a way pleasing unto the

Lord. We are living our lives unto Christ, serving the Lord God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Let us not be tempted. Help us to turn away from temptation, focusing on Christ and deliver us from the schemes of the evil one.

It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. And let your friends know about our ministry.