How to Read the Book of Proverbs

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom.Proverbs 3:13Wisdom is the skill you need for putting together a successful life—or to put it another way—wisdom is “life skills.” Over these next days, we’re going to look together at what the Bible has to say on practical issues like friends, family, words, work, and wealth.We will be talking here about the skills of building friendships, raising children, and managing money. We will be considering how to speak in a way that builds others up and about being more effective in your work. So this series will be very practical.We begin with two observations about the book of Proverbs that will help you if you keep them in mind as you read them.1. The Proverbs are proverbsTrain up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it (22:6). This does not mean that good parenting guarantees godly children. The proverbs are not promises. They describe a normal pattern that prevails in this world. They do not promise a particular outcome.2. The Proverbs assume a relationshipMy son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments (3:1). The words “my son” occur 23 times in Proverbs. Many of these proverbs would have been spoken first by Solomon (1:1) to his son Rehoboam. “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching” (1:8).But this book is more than the wisdom of Solomon. The book of Proverbs is in Holy Scripture because it is the Word of God. God breathed out these proverbs through Solomon as He breathed out the Psalms through David, or the book of Romans through the Apostle Paul.So, what we have here is God speaking to His own children. A relationship is assumed. Our loving Father is calling His children to walk in the paths of wisdom.In what area of life do you most need to hear the words of the loving Father to you as His child?