Who Wrote Proverbs and How it is Written

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/25/2012 10:40 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus: Who Wrote Proverbs & How it is written

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Introduction Material

            Message of the verses:  As stated in yesterday’s SD we are taking a few days to look at the introduction to the book of Proverbs by looking at five different questions from Warren Wiersbe that he poses before beginning a study of any book.  We looked at “What is the Major Theme of Proverbs” in yesterday’s SD and today we will be looking at “Who Wrote the book of Proverbs and How it is Written.”

            Proverbs 1:1“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.”  Proverbs 10:1 “The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.”  Proverbs 25:1 “These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed.” 

Why is it that God would give such wisdom to Solomon in order for him to be able to write so many proverbs, for it is said that he has written 3000 proverbs, but not all are found in this book.  “5 ¶  In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, "Ask what you wish me to give you." 6  Then Solomon said, "You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7  "Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8  "Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9  "So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" 10  It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11  God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 12  behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13  "I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14  "If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days." 15  Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants (1Kings 3:5-15).”

We know that the Holy Spirit is the Author of Scripture and so it was He who chose which proverbs would go into this book in so that the people of God in all generations should understand and obey the Lord.

We have already seen from Proverbs 25:1 that the men of Hezekiah also had a part in the writing of this book.  Proverbs 30-31 we meet Agur the son of Jakeh and also King Lemuel who also have taken part in the writing of this book.  Some believe that Lemuel is another name for Solomon.

I suppose all who know anything about Solomon, and most people remember that he had a great many wives and concubines, also know that he started out very good but in the end he did not finish well and is not even mentioned as one of the good kings of Israel.  “How tragic that Solomon didn’t even obey the precepts he wrote in his own book!”  (Warren Wiersbe)

Approach:  “’Always do right—this will gratify some and astonish the rest.’  Mark Twain said that, and President Harry S. Truman liked the quotation so much he had it framed and placed on the wall behind his desk in the Oval Office.”   The word “astonish” can mean “render speechless.”  Sayings like this one that Mark Twain said kind of stick in one’s mind and so it is with the proverbs that Solomon writes in his book. 

In his commentary on Proverbs Dr. Wiersbe quotes four proverbs from different countries and then challenges his readers to write a paragraph on each one of those proverbs in order to give an explanation of them.  I will quote these four proverbs latter, but first I want to quote his definition of what a proverb is:  “Proverbs are pithy statements that summarize in a few choice words practical truths relating to some aspect of everyday life.  The Spanish novelist Cervantes defined a proverb as ‘ a short sentence based on long experience.’  From a literary point of view, that isn’t a bad definition.” 

Now we will look at the four proverbs from Dr. Wiersbe.  1.  “Every invalid is a physician.”  (Ireland)  2.  “If vinegar is free, it is sweeter than honey.”  (Serbian)  3.  “When you want a drink of milk, you don’t buy the whole cow.”  (Crete)  4. Centuries ago, the Romans smiled at timid politicians and soldiers and said to each other “The cat would eat fish, but she doesn’t want to get her feet wet.”

Proverbs # One:  People who are sick think that they know more than the physician they pay money to in order to get healed from their illness.

Proverb # Two:  This proverb has to do with money because we know that vinegar does not taste sweeter than honey, but if it were free then we can make believe it does because it costs us nothing.

Proverb # Three:  This is a wise proverb also about money stating that if all you want is a glass of milk then do not spend your money on buying a cow in order to get that glass of milk.

Proverb # Four:  If you want to accomplish something then you have to make the effort to accomplish it even though it may cause you to do something that you really don’t want to do.

We will continue to look at  “Who Wrote the book of Proverbs and How it is Written.” In tomorrow’s SD.  Merry Christmas!

 

12/25/2012 12:10 PM