While Solomon is famous for building the temple, he is probably more famous for his wisdom. Everyone would recognize some of his writings in Proverbs like “iron sharpens iron.” Though not a narrative like much of what we’ve been looking at this year, Proverbs makes up a significant portion of the Old Testament wisdom literature. So as we walk through the Old Testament, we need to stop and consider the primary message of this book.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” – Proverbs 1:7

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” – Proverbs 2:6

“For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you.” – Proverbs 2:10-11

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5

From this small sampling of Proverbs, we find three characteristics of the wise: their attitude, source, and security.

The Attitude –
The wise will fear the Lord. This isn’t a fear like we get from a horror movie, but rather a humble reverential awe and respect that we get when we view the power of a natural wonder like Niagara Falls. The wise will feel insignificant when looking upon the Lord. They will respect his power by not leaning on their own understanding but trusting in his direction.

Just as one follows the signs that the parks department puts up at Niagara Falls in order to avoid likely death from the falls, the wise listen to the words of the Lord trusting that He knows best even when we don’t understand. It’s tempting to question God’s Word when we don’t understand the reasoning for a specific command, but Solomon is encouraging us to trust in the Lord’s Word even while we are still seeking to understand the reasoning behind it.

The Source –
As is obvious from the previous section, the Lord is our primary source for wisdom. And Proverbs 2:1-11 makes clear that we have access to this wisdom through God’s Word in Scripture. So the wise seek to drink deeply from the well of wisdom that is God’s Word on a daily basis.

The Security –
Wisdom can help with a ton of aspects of life, but the promise God gives to the wise in this passage is that the wisdom that comes from him will guard our souls and deliver us from evil. The pinnacle of wisdom is found in the Gospel: we are messed up creatures with no hope while leaning on our own works or understanding, but through trusting God, we can find life. What a great hope! We have ultimate life and security through the person of wisdom: Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 24, 30).

May we be a people of true wisdom, not the fading “wisdom” of the world.