Importance of Proverbs for the Edification of the Church

"The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion."

Proverbs 1:1-4

The Proverbs were written by Solomon out of divine wisdom. It was imparted to him from on high. It was imparted to him because he was the son of David, who was the King of Israel. Though Solomon became a backslider at the very end of his life due to his love towards all the strange women he had known, yet God gave him wisdom just because he was the son of David, to whom God had given wonderful promises.  David, who was recognized as the King of Israel, was a man after God’s own heart.

The key word of the Proverbs is “wisdom and instruction." Wisdom is given of God to those who seek it, whereas instruction is learned from the Word. We should not only learn it but also follow it. Solomon had received wisdom and instruction, but did not follow “instruction."  Instruction is defined as “chastisements, reproof, warning, rebuke, doctrine, disciple, correction." Wisdom without instruction is very dangerous.  In our day, many serve God in His vineyard through wisdom, but seldom abide by instruction. We get wisdom as we seek it from God. We get instruction as we meditate upon the Word. We should know wisdom and instruction. We know wisdom because it is given of God. We know instruction because we learn it out of His word. 

We should perceive the words of understanding. Understanding means “knowledge and wisdom."  The Word of God contains the words of understanding.  Our generation does not take time to meditate on the Scriptures for ourselves, to understand what they are trying to tell us, with the result that we accept any doctrine which is not of the Bible. We just rush through the Word of God in a hurry.  We do not understand it. We should understand it and not simply read it.

We should receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity.  Instruction on wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity is very essential. We tend to receive instruction from the Word only on love, mercy, and compassion.   

Instruction on wisdom:  Many of us do not know how to receive wisdom from God.  We have to humble ourselves before God and confess that we do not know anything without Him. We have to tell others how they should receive wisdom from God.

Instruction on justice:  We do not administer justice in our day-to-day work, either in God’s vineyard or in our vineyard. We have to receive instruction on justice from the Word of God.  We should not respect any person while administering justice (James 2:1,9). It has to be only on merits.

Instruction on judgment:  As spiritual men, we have to judge all things (I Cor 2:15). We should judge every doctrine being preached from the pulpit, whether it is backed up by the Word of God.  Judgment is of God.

Instruction on equity:  We have to treat everybody equally without any respect to persons, this means showing the same kindness to a poor person that we show to a rich person. Principles of equity should be applicable to every matter we deal with.

Subtilty to the simple: The children of God have to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16b).  We are not wise at all, when compared to the children of the world (Luke 16:8b). We plan and execute many schemes in His Vineyard, but no output is evident. We set out to accomplish something and do not accomplish anything. We find the business leaders of this world are very successful, whereas the Christian leaders are not as successful as these business men.

Christians are known as the simple people.  But the simple people need to receive insight.  If the simple Christian leaders receive insight, they can do great exploits for the Kingdom of God.  I find that many Christian ministries do not have proper goals or visions, whereas the corporate houses formulate their organizational goals and  review their organizational goals at regular intervals, with reference to their outputs.

Knowledge and discretion to the young man:  The Christian youth have to be imparted knowledge in the Word of God.  They need to be taught the right doctrines of the Word of God. They should be taught to discern the truth from the lie. Discretion means "witty invention, a plan (machination), thought". While building the Kingdom of God, our young people have to be aggressive.  They should come out with witty inventions. Through the brain-storming session, the young executives in the corporate sector think high, plan great things, and achieve great results.  What about the young people who build the Kingdom of God? Many Christian churches organize youth meetings, festive days, or seminars which are not goal-oriented.  It is always for some fun, and has nothing to do with attaining results for the kingdom of God. In the corporate house in-house meetings for young executives, these young executives are motivated to produce results towards their organizational goals. Our Christian youth are not motivated to evangelize, but to seek fun. Our Christian youth are not usually motivated to seek God’s power through prayers in a similar manner as when the 120 disciples were gathered together in the Upper Room for prayers. Our Christian youth should be motivated to invent novel ways for evangelism in this electronic age.  The youth power should be channeled for work in His vineyard.