A poem on trusting in the Lord. See Dt 6.
v.1-2 The father admonishes his son to pursue a life of wisdom, fear of the Lord, and to follow his commands. Motivation for obedience is that the son will have a long life with peace.
v.3-4 The son is encouraged to make steadfast love and faithfulness a part of his life resulting in favor and good success (before God and man).
v.5-6 The father admonishes his son to trust in the Lord (and not in himself) and acknowledge him in his paths (with the reward that God will keep his paths straight).
v.7-8 The son is told to fear the Lord, turn away from evil, and not to be wise in his own eyes. The incentive is that he will then be healthy and refreshed.
v.9-10 Honor God by turning some of your wealth (first fruits) over to him (tithe) and your wealth will paradoxically increase.
v.11-12 The father tells his son not to reject the discipline of the Lord because the Lord corrects those whom he loves. See Heb 12:5-6 and Dt 8:1-9:5.

Trust in the Lord (and be not wise in your own eyes) and depend on him in all things and the result will be great reward. The blessings follow living a life of wisdom.

Read Proverbs 3:1-12

A discourse of a father to his son urging him to actively seek wisdom and the fear of the Lord.
v.1-8 The son is urged to listen to the father to gain understanding and find the fear of the Lord. He is told to seek wisdom as one might seek precious silver or hidden treasure. God protects the path of his saints.
v.9-15 Continuing the thought, the son will then understand righteousness and justice and equity. Wisdom will become part of his character and enable him to withstand temptation.
v.16-19 The son (by listening to his father) will avoid entanglement with the strange woman (a woman operating outside the bounds of moral restraint). The result of such entanglement is death.
v.20-22 Wisdom will keep one on the right path (and in the land) but the wicked will be uprooted.

What does this mean for us? Work hard to gain wisdom and seek God. Study the book of Proverbs and the rest of the Bible.

Read Proverbs 2

Wisdom, in the person of a woman, addresses the young men who have rejected her instruction. The purpose of her speech is to get young men to listen to her now, before they suffer the consequences of not heeding her call. Woman Wisdom is the personification of God’s wisdom and stands for God himself (BCOTWP, p. 111).

v.20-21 The narrator (father) introduces Wisdom’s speech. She shouts in the streets and in the public square. That is, Wisdom is readily available to those who seek her (before its too late).
v.22-25 Wisdom laments the young men’s (fools) rejection of her counsel. She speaks to three classes of fool who have rejected her: the simple, the mockers, and simply the fool.
v.26-31 Because they reject Wisdom, troubles will befall them with devastating force. Wisdom will laugh at them and not answer when they call.
v.32-33 The way of the fool is death, but those who listen to Wisdom will dwell in safety.

Wisdom’s appeal is urgent. Follow her advice because time is certainly running out. Make a decision today to seek Wisdom.

Read Proverbs 1:20-33

This part of chapter 1 is a warning against associating with (ie., stay off their path) those who would do evil (seek gain at the expense of others).

v.8-9 The son (ie., the one to whom instruction is directed) is told to listen to (obey) his father’s (and mother’s) instruction/teaching. v.9 provides the motivation, namely the promise of reward (using the metaphor of jewelry) for listening to the instruction.
v.10-14 The instruction of the parents — stay away from sinners (don’t consent when they entice you). The picture is of a (violent) gang of lawbreakers who prey upon (and even kill) members of their society.
v.15-19 Using the metaphor of a “path”, the parents warn their son to keep his feet off the gang’s path (for they “run to evil”). The motivation given is that the gang’s activities will lead to their own destruction. Violence (and greed) becomes its own trap. The proverb (v.17) indicates that we fall into the trap only when we don’t realize it is a trap. We learn wisdom so as to recognize the traps.

Note that we all (men, women, young, and old) need to listen to the voice of this father (and mother) as they provide instruction to their son. Two paths are illustrated, one leading to death and the other (by implication) leading to life. The son will listen to the words of wisdom or the words of sinners and choose a path based on whom he believes. Think about the messages you hear in society in order to discern the outcomes.

Read Proverbs 1:8-19

The first 7 verses are an introduction to the whole book of Proverbs, providing its purpose. The book is a collection of wisdom passages that was brought together over time. A proverb is a short saying expressing a certain truth.

v.1 Superscription. Most of the book is credited to King Solomon, but there were other contributers.
v.2-3 Description of the qualities that the book would impart on its readers (wisdom, discipline, insight, righteousness, justice, and equity).
v.4 Addresses the “simple” and “youth” and describes further qualities the book is to impart (prudence, knowledge, discretion).
v.5-6 Finally the book also addresses the wise in order to increase their understanding of difficult sayings and proverbs.
v.7 The motto of the book of proverbs.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The book of proverbs then is concerned with the formation of character through the cultivation of wisdom in the reader.

Read Proverbs 1:1-7