Faithbuilders Teaching by Pastor Jerry Dirmann – Introduction to Proverbs

Extracts taken from the Handout. Download Introduction to Proverbs audio Download PowerPoint Download PowerPoint notes Download Leadership Handout

1 Kings 4: 29 - 30
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. 30 Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt.

And God gave Solomon wisdom. Solomon’s perspective comes from God. Exceedingly great understanding.

Every word of the Bible is accurate, never exaggerated. So Solomon had profound insight.
God never forgot David and He had mercy on his descendents. David had just died and Solomon had just become king.

1 Kings 3: 4
Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

God loves worship, and sometimes we are tired of singing another worship song, but Solomon continued to press in to seek God

1 Kings 3: 5
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

There is a principle behind this, much of the reason why God does not bless some of us as much as He would like to is not because He does not love us but because there is a deficiency of character.

God was saying your character is right before me. Solomon was saying to God you are the King

1 Kings 3: 9
9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

1 Kings 3: 10 - 14
10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

Solomon’s wisdom was a result of his pressing into God to convince God that he was not going to be a king that would do his own thing but he would follow the direction of God. This was his heart and God honoured him and gave him wisdom.

Verse 31 For he was wiser than all men -

Verse 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.

The Holy Spirit chose the best and put them in the book of Proverbs just for us.

Verse 33 Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. The cedar trees were great big trees and the hyssop was a small weed like shrub.

What this is saying was Solomon did not just speak about great things and really small things. He was not just wise in one area in life.

Any business man can succeed in business but try being successful in business and be a husband, father, friend and man of God all at the same time.

When you get into the presence of someone with great wisdom, you don’t just get wisdom, you watch how they react, the politeness, how they greet, the mannerisms. After the meeting you walk away with wisdom, not from what was verbalized but what you observed. Its more caught than taught

The Queen of Sheba visited and she watched and realized he was like no one else in the world, it was the wisdom of God.

Proverbs 1: 1
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
Solomon remembered what his father had taught him. ‘Whatever you do get wisdom’

The purpose of the book is so you will know wisdom and instruction (Discipline)
Going by the flesh is not wisdom, it takes discipline to be gracious and wise.
You can hear the words of wisdom and not perceive them. When God helps us we will perceive the wisdom.

Verse 4 To give prudence to the simple.
Simple? Proverbs will sharpen you up. Because you have driven the Proverbs into your heart you will know what to do.
‘To the young man knowledge and discretion’— all young adults need to be in this study. These are written that teenagers can grasp these truth and avoid pitfalls.
Discretion is wisdom that keeps you from future trouble. If you walk in the principles of God you will have a confidence because you have your feet on solid ground.
And all those people that are going their own way start coming to you for help and advice and even prayer.

Proverbs is poetry, we are use to poetry rhyming. In Hebrew there is rhyming and rhythm. But Proverbs is mainly parallelism.

1. A synonymous Proverb say the same thing but in a different way.
Proverbs 16: 18
Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.

2. An Antithetical parallelism Proverb has one line saying the opposite of and contrasts with the other.
Proverbs 10: 12
Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all sins.

3. A parabolic proverb is when one line explains the other with a metaphor for example.
Proverbs 10: 26
As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy man to those who send him.

4. A synthetic parallelism the second line continues the thought of the first line or gives the answer

( Memory Verse)

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Proverbs 16: 7
When a man’s ways please the Lord …
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Verse 1 – 6 are the title and the next verse tells us what it’s all about and where it all starts.

Proverbs 1: 7
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction

Fear of the Lord is being afraid that God will do what He says He will do.
If you don’t catch the fear of the Lord you won’t catch anything.

Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day;
For surely there is a hereafter,

Why can’t I go there, why can’t I listen to that, why can’t I watch that. Sin brings death.
Be excited that you fear God, that you are afraid that God is right.

The wisdom of Soloman
Solomon lived 500 years before the so called ‘7 wise men of Greece’
He lived 700 years before Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
Because the writings of Soloman, which would have been taken all around the world by the Jews, probable influenced all these wise men!

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Information sourced from Pastor Jerry Dirmann Founder and Senior Pastor of The Rock
Visit his website for more great resources www.jerrydirmann.com/

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