Fear or Foolishness • Proverbs

Fear or FoolishnessProverbs | Week 1September 22, 2019 | Adam Barnett1 Kings 3:6-14 NIVSolomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”Proverbs are like guidelines, not mechanical formulas. They are procedures we follow, not promises that we claim. They are not stepping-stones to legalism, but signposts to grace. They are designed to enable us to live out the full meaning of the life that springs daily from the hand of the Creator and Savior. // David HubbardAn apple a day keeps the doctor away.Proverbs 1:1-7 NIVThe proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.Fear God or be a fool.To attain wisdom, we must patiently, passionately, and persistently pursue the Person and Presence of God.