TEXT: Proverbs 4:1-9

SUBJECT: Exposition of Proverbs #7: The Principal Thing

Tonight we resume our study of Proverbs. Its theme is wisdom; its goal is to make us wise in a distinctly Christian way. In the passage before us, we find how to receive wisdom and how to communicate it to others. May the Lord make us both students and teachers of this "principal thing".

Solomon begins with a fatherly appeal, vv.1-2: "Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding; for I give you good doctrine: do not forsake my law".

Solomon is able and willing to teach wisdom to his children. He is able because he himself is a wise man; under the blessing of God, he had "applied his heart to understanding, cried out for discernment, lifted up his voice for understanding, sought it as silver and searched for it as for hidden treasure". I once heard a teacher say, "A good teacher can teach any subject". Nonsense. One cannot teach what he does not know! Unless we are wise, our children will be trained in folly. It behooves parents, therefore, to make wisdom their "principal thing".

The father, however, is more than able; he's also willing. Solomon is a busy man; he's responsible for an empire! But he's not too busy to teach his children "the one thing needful". Why not? Not because he's super-human, but because he places their welfare above his own desires. When my father was converted he quit hunting. He knew that hunting on the weekend was incompatible with being either a good church member or--later--a good father. Not every man has made that sacrifice. Have you?

Solomon taught his children in words--"doctrine and law". A good example is necessary; nothing is worse than hypocrisy in the home. But a good example is not sufficient. Children must be taught in word as well as in deed. Not every man is talkative or articulate. But no father can afford to be a Sphinx at home. He must teach his children. And (except for deaf-mutes) teaching means speaking.

Solomon's teaching was of the highest quality. "I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law". His words were not foolish or faddish. What he said was worth hearing; worth keeping for life.

Solomon taught in a fatherly way. As King, he was used to issuing orders and seeing them obeyed under penalty of death. But he doesn't take the royal approach to teaching his children. About it, Derek Kidner comments: "The best things will be transmitted mainly by personal influence, along the channels of affection".

We would do well to follow his example. A home is neither a democracy nor an army. Fathers must rule their children, but always in tender love. Not in "Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil-speaking, and malice" as Ephesians 4:31 has it.

The model for our teaching is Christ. We call Him "Lord" (and properly so). But does He rule in a lordly fashion? He doesn't. "The LORD is my Shepherd" wrote Solomon's father.

Having opened his heart to his children, Solomon goes on to invoke the memory of his father, vv.3-9: "When I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me: `Let your heart retain my words; keep my commands and live. Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you".

David was Solomon's father, of course. He taught his son in prose and poetry, appealing both to his mind and to his imagination.

He wanted him to do three things: retain his words, keep his commands, and make wisdom his priority. The first two require little comment. He must listen to and remember what he is taught. But it's more than a mental exercise he wants. He wants him to act on what he has been taught. To be more than "a hearer of the Word"; he's to become "a doer of the Word".

Getting wisdom must always top his list of things to do. Everyone says he wants wisdom; very few mean it. Compare the amount of time seeking wisdom with that pursuing entertainment. Think of how defensive we are when our ideas are challenged. How impatient we become when ideas are hard to grasp. How partisan we often are, suppressing the truth for fear of losing someone's favor.

"Wisdom is the principal thing". Is it yours? The Lord give us an answer of peace.

Vv.6-9 provides an example of romantic poetry. No one admired the fairer sex more than Solomon. He collected wives by the hundreds, after all. He thinks of Wisdom as a young and beautiful fiancee'. What should the man do who's so blessed to have her? He should "not forsake her"; he should "love her"; he should "get her"; he should "exalt her". He won't be sorry for lavishing his efforts upon her. She will "preserve him"; she will "keep him"; she will "bring him honor"; she will become his "ornament of grace" and "crown of glory".

What's he saying, in short, is this: Fall in love with Wisdom! Be intoxicated with her charms! Have a lifelong affair with Wisdom!

The metaphor has changed from an earlier chapter. Before, Wisdom was a treasure to be extracted from the earth. Here, it is a beautiful person, to be known, loved, and cherished for life.

Wisdom is doctrinal and practical. But more than either, Wisdom is personal. For Wisdom is found in a Person, our Lord Jesus Christ. To seek Wisdom, therefore, is to seek Christ. To know Christ is to know Wisdom.

"Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. And in all of your getting, get understanding". Ours is a consumer society. We spend our lives "getting"--piling up "treasures on earth". In doing so, however, we get nothing. But Wisdom? That's worth getting! So get it. Make it your "principal thing". You won't be sorry. God make us wise, for Christ's sake. Amen.