Don't be Dumb: Seeking Wisdom

[0:00] uh there is some very pointed things in here for children and so it applies both to children who are young but also children who are old a few things though before we jump in to proverbs which is where we're going to be today i wanted to uh if you're if you haven't been around here for very long and you're asking the question about what is this envelope thing that sherry was talking about so um this is a system that we kind of use for cash donations or really actually any donation in order to keep track of everybody's donations so we can send out receipts at the end of the year not everybody wants those but if if you do um then uh you can grab one of these envelopes there's 52 in here for each week and there's a number on it it's a little confusing because it looks like it might be the number of a year and so is this for this says 2034 does that mean giving for you know 10 years from now no it just happens to look like a year uh 10 years giving all at once yeah uh but you can grab one of these and then uh whenever you put in a check or cash um we'll make sure and then like sherry said there's a little sign up sheet right next to where these envelopes live and um just put your name there and um we'll make sure at the end of the year you get those receipts and by the way i think most of you should probably have already received those in the mail um we've also started online giving last last year and so you might get two by the way because that's a like a different system so you might get two receipts uh one for any online giving and the other for um just the regular regular way uh there was one other announcements in here we haven't had many announcements and it kind of felt weird to have the announcement section completely blank so uh but uh one one thing i thought would be good to just share abroad um we have our bulletin board and then sometimes people like they have things like books that they want to give away um if you have something that you want to post on the bulletin board or books or series of books or whatever that you'd like to get a give away make available to people if you could just stick those in the office like on one of the desks with a note uh and we'll uh you know do what we can to post that or you know provide a place for where people can take advantage of that um but that'll just help us keep everything nice neat and tidy and all that so just that one brief little announcement and i think that is all so is everybody ready to jump into the scriptures this morning um we are going to start in the book of proverbs uh this morning and um you know one of the most challenging things for the last almost two years we've been in the book of mark and so it's been easy you know what am i what am i going to preach on next uh next week well it's the next section of mark uh but then i have to you know pick a new thing to look into uh we're going to be going through proverbs now we're not going to go through every verse every chapter in proverbs uh but i would like to spend maybe a few weeks we'll see what it turns out to be three four or five weeks i'm not sure and just uh hit some of the major sections and uh themes in in proverbs and are and and really kind of look at how how to read proverbs um so hopefully uh we'll we'll we'll do a good job of that um have you ever done something dumb you think back in your life sometimes you don't have to go back very far uh and just think about some of the dumb things you've done whether it was

[4:03] when you were younger uh or even even just recently of course some in the room here are are still uh in their youth um i can think of all kinds of dumb things that i've done sometimes just small little errors in judgment like having that second piece of cheesecake when you're already somewhat lactose intolerant and that small error in judgment leads to some fairly minor consequences but uncomfortable nonetheless or maybe it's somewhat of a relational judgment like buying your wife a treadmill for her birthday um that one comes from tim hawkins anybody know tim tim hawkins the uh musician yeah or he i guess he's a comedian and a musician that's a comes from a funny song that he does called these are the things that you don't say to your wife it's a funny one you can look that up sometimes they're you know larger uh errors in judgment i think looking back at my own life in my early 20s when i got married i had somewhere around twenty thousand dollars in credit card debt which i kept kept around and took quite a while to dig out from that from that hole uh when it comes to wisdom when it comes to doing dumb things sometimes those things are minor mistakes of judgment errors in judgment leading to embarrassment or annoying consequences and other times those dumb things are huge mistakes many times even sins that lead to more drastic consequences for both ourselves and others leading to much more significant end results i think of the the woman who says you know my boyfriend he doesn't get angry very often most of the time he's very sweet and you know what i can change him or the man who is invited up to a pretty girl's apartment and he says oh it won't hurt i'll just stay there for a few minutes just for a little bit or the man like me who says well i can't afford it but i'll just apply for one more credit card so that i can get what it is that i want right now we all need wisdom we all have done dumb things we all need wisdom to overcome um our foolishness to keep us out of trouble to keep us out of many of life's messes that we have experienced ourselves and seen in the lives of others and that's what the book of proverbs is about um like i said we're going to be spending a few weeks anyway in in this book of proverbs the goal is to just get an overview of what's what's in the book and also just some insights and tips on how to read the book of proverbs to get the most out of it so proverbs we'll open up to proverbs chapter one and um what is a proverb anyway a proverb is just a wise a wise saying the book of proverbs is a collection of wise sayings and wise sayings and collections of wise sayings is not something that's unique to the bible right anybody think of other collections of wise sayings especially from from the past one that i think of is aesop's fables right aesop's fables have been around for

[8:09] thousands of years and uh many of us are familiar because with them because they have to some degree anyway stood the test of time the most famous one i think is the the story of two different animals what is that one anybody know the tortoise and the hare the tortoise and the hare some of you may not that was aesop yeah that was aesop um and it's been turned into books and and even cartoons and and things like that to share that same that same why wisdom with the world another one that i thought about was a book or really i think it's a series of uh not books not magazines i don't know what they called them back then uh periodicals called poor man's almanac no poor richard's almanac poor richard's almanac who who was the author or publisher of that does anybody know ben franklin ben franklin ben franklin that's right ben franklin and just a couple of tidbits of wisdom a couple sayings from there early to bed and early to rise makes a man good job uh a penny saved is a penny earned those are two wise sayings from benjamin franklin and his poor richard's almanac and so um the concept of collecting wise sayings is not new or not unique i should say to the bible even though the bible's collection of wise sayings is some of the oldest but the bible's book of proverbs is unique in its focus not just on worldly wisdom things of the world but really a focus on on god and the importance of keeping god our creator central in our search for wisdom it's a book of poetry and we'll find in the book of proverbs lots of metaphors figures of speech really beauty in language just a quick outline of the book of proverbs there's 31 chapters the first nine chapters of the books of the book of proverbs are really just all all about wisdom the need for wisdom seeking wisdom where to find wisdom um those kinds of things uh chapters 10 through 29 so all the way up to almost the very end is just a list of these short pithy little uh proverbs sayings on a variety of topics and then the last two chapters are from a guy named agur and a guy named king lemuel that talk about wisdom specifically for leaders such as kings do you think our leaders need wisdom i think it's become quite uh i think it it was uh emphasized just in this last week the extent of the lack of the lack of wisdom that we have had especially in the white house when you have to say out loud and very emphatically that there are only two genders uh it really illustrates the lack of wisdom that we have had in the white house and in our leadership in this country for too long tips for reading the book of proverbs the book of proverbs is actually a very accessible book to read it's easy to consume it's one of those books where if you just have a few minutes to read the bible you can just open up the book of proverbs and find something that will be edifying to you without much context because a lot of a lot of these proverbs just one single verse or maybe two

[12:15] verses make up the whole thing um another interesting thing that you can do with proverbs there are 31 chapters in proverbs and and there are 30 30 or 31 days in each month so one of the things that we'll do sometimes we have a time of bible reading with our family and sometimes i'm not sure what should we read today we maybe finished up a book or something like that and i'm not sure what to do next and so we'll just consider well today what is today anyway the 26th say the 26th so today's the 26th we're going to open up to proverbs chapter 26 and just start reading and so um if you're not sure what to read on any specific day maybe consider uh opening up to the day of the month in the book of proverbs um let's go ahead and as we go on to the next few weeks we'll talk about other uh things in proverbs uh and other things to look at but we're going to jump right in today uh because uh proverbs chapter one really provides a big context for the book as a whole let's start with with uh verse verse one in chapter one it says this the proverbs of solomon the son of david king of israel solomon was one of the kings of israel he was the third king of israel his father was david if you know the story of david david um was a king who was a man after god's own heart but he did something horrific uh he committed adultery with a woman named bathsheba and then he tried to hide it and when he failed to be able to sufficiently hide it ended up finding a way to have her husband put to death and um ended up marrying bathsheba the son that they had together the first son anyway died and um it was their second son that they had together who his name was solomon and he ended up becoming the king after after king david uh in the book of first kings it tells a little bit about solomon solomon is known as his rule his reign uh over israel was the greatest it was really the apex of of israel's kingdom i was only three kings in and there were many more after that so unfortunately it was a very short-lived kind of ascension into uh glory if you will and then many many generations in years of just sin and and turmoil and judgment but in first kings chapter four verse 29 and we'll be in first kings here for a little bit so if you want to turn there uh feel free to do so first kings chapter four speaks of solomon and specifically of his wisdom it says this first kings 4 29 and god gave solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding and largeness of heart like the sand of the seashore thus solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the east and all the wisdom of egypt for he was wiser than all men than ethan the ezerite and haman chalcol and darda the sons of mahol and his fame was in all the surrounding nations he spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs were one thousand and five also he spoke of trees from the cedar tree of lebanon and even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall he spoke also of animals of birds of creeping things and a fish and men of all nations from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom came to hear the wisdom of solomon so solomon

[16:17] excelled in wisdom he wrote thousands of proverbs along with songs really more than what we find in the bible and so uh he he wrote proverbs that are not recorded evidently that were not recorded uh even in our own bible evidently he was also a botanist we call that he studied plants the trees of lebanon it it it specifically speaks of and other trees and a zoologist he studied animals um and where did this wisdom come from why was solomon so wise it said in the beginning of this that god gave solomon his wisdom but what's the story behind it well if we go back just one chapter to first kings chapter three it tells us a little bit and let's just uh look at a few verses here first kings chapter three and verse seven this is a uh prayer of solomon to the lord because the lord had asked him what what would you like what can i give you is there something that i can grant you i just want to show favor on you so what would you like me to give you and here is here is his reply uh first kings three seven now oh lord my god you have made your servant king instead of my father david but i am a little child i do not know how to go out or come in and your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen a great people too numerous to be numbered or counted therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people that i may discern between good and evil for who is able to judge this great people of yours notice his humility humility is part of the beginning of knowledge and wisdom if you don't know your need if you don't know you're dumb how will you ever become wiser and so he even referenced now he's not literally a little child why would he call himself a little child because when this with his great task of overseeing of ask kingdom this is how he felt he needed wisdom um he felt like he was just a little child uh in in his wisdom at the time uh going on to verse 10 here the speech pleased the lord that solomon asked this thing then god said to him because you have asked this thing and have not asked long life for yourself nor have asked riches for yourself nor have asked the life of your enemies but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice behold i have done according to your words see i have given you a wise and understanding heart so that there has not been anyone like you before you nor shall any like you arise after and i have also given to you what you have not asked both riches and honor so that there shall be among uh there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days so if you walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments as your father david walked then i will lengthen your days because of his humble request god granted him wisdom and solomon became famous not only in his day but even to this day for thousands of years after it tells the story just after this of the queen of sheba um coming to see for herself she had heard the renown of this great and wise king and wanted to see for herself and she came and when she walked away she said truly this is the wisest man i have ever i have ever met but let me ask you a question is it only solomon that god wants to grant

[20:22] wisdom or is he generous with his gift of wisdom willing to give to anyone that asks for it as we'll see in the book of proverbs here as it says over and over again gaining wisdom is primarily a matter of seeking it going after it asking for it like solomon did and god is especially pleased and especially willing to give us the wisdom that we ask for when we do it like solomon did with a humble heart james who was the lord's brother jesus's brother half brother i guess said this in his epistle if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of god who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him let's go back to the book of proverbs and we'll continue on with verse 2 here so these are the proverbs of solomon verse 2 to know wisdom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding to receive the instruction of wisdom justice judgment and equity now i'm going to pause here kind of in the middle of a sentence or a phrase because i want to point out some things that we'll see actually over and over and over again in this book of proverbs there are literary patterns you'll notice lots of repetition lots of synonyms used and then this literary pattern or technique called parallelisms where two things that are either the same or sometimes different are put side by side and then really the next five verses here from verse 2 to verse what is it verse 6 they all say the same thing but they say them with different words and in different ways they all talk about the importance of needing wisdom and why why repeat this why not just short and sweet say hey guys you need wisdom well one for emphasis right there's a famous saying about real estate there what are the three most important things about real estate anybody know location location location right and so that one thing is so important that that really is the top three right and it's somewhat of a silly thing well it's just one thing why do we repeat it three times because we want to emphasize just how important this is and so this is an opportunity to emphasize listen you need wisdom we need wisdom and then of course the sheer beauty of finding so many ways in in this case the Hebrew language but in our case the English language to communicate that through different words you know when I was a kid

[23:39] I hated poetry did your teacher make you write haikus oh I couldn't stand it why do I have to do this write silly haikus and all kinds of other things but as I've grown older I have learned to appreciate the beauty of words and the people unlike myself who are able to say certain truths in such a beautiful way and do you appreciate that because the Bible could be kind of like a math textbook right where it just gives all these algorithms about truths but instead it uses the beauty of language to teach us these things which I think tend to bring the truths closer to home make them easier to digest because who likes reading math books I know there are some of you out there that do most of us aren't thrilled with that so in these these verses so I'm going to read these again to know wisdom and instruction wisdom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding what are the words of understanding he's talking about wisdom to receive the instruction of wisdom justice judgment and equity these are all things that have to do with wisdom to give prudence to the simple prudence is just a synonym for wisdom or maybe discernment being able to know the difference between wisdom and foolishness to the simple to the young man knowledge and discretion it's saying the same things notice the pattern repeating a simple one and a young man those are kind of synonyms right they're in the same category and by the way the Bible or the the Proverbs speak often to the young to the young man to to the young of any gender to young men and women and a lot of times as we we know when the Bible speaks of a young man or just a man it's speaking to mankind in general there are times when it is specifically geared to men as as we see when the when Solomon is speaking to his sons about the wayward woman and keeping an eye out for for her but a lot of these

[26:01] Proverbs are are not geared only to men of course but to to both men and women but wisdom is especially needful for the young it's good for the old and the young alike and really I think in the light of eternity right 10,000 years from now when we look back at our fleeting lives here on earth we will look back and all consider ourselves young whether we were 10 years old or 70 years old right and so we ought to I think have that kind of mindset in mind when we're seeking wisdom we might think well hey I've been around for a long time I'm 65 and so I think I've got all the wisdom that I need is that a good mindset to have I think not and it is a common error for young people to underestimate their need for wisdom is that true have you seen that have you experienced that in your own life it's a common error for the young to underestimate just how foolish they are

[27:14] Mark Twain has this famous saying this quote and he says it goes like this when I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around but when I got to be 21 I was astonished by how much the old man had learned in just seven years and what was going on there did his father really grow all that much in seven years no what he's trying to get across right is that as he grew he came to realize that it was himself that was the foolish one that did not understand the wisdom that he needed from his father and he started to recognize that unfortunately some young people don't come to that realization verse verse 5 a wise man will hear and increase learning and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel to understand a proverb and an enigma it's like a puzzle the words of the wise and their riddles so all this repetition over and over is just to repeat and to emphasize the need for wisdom there's a proverb that I think states all this what we just read in these five verses or four or five verses whatever they are verse 2 to 6 in a much more succinct way and it's in

[28:43] Proverbs 4 7 and it says this wisdom is the principal thing therefore get wisdom and in all you're getting get understanding that's what Solomon is trying to get across here in this repetition after repetition after repetition you need wisdom wisdom this next verse here verse 7 says this the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction and this is where the book of Proverbs stands out as unique from other books of wisdom from throughout history it says here that wisdom begins with fearing God what is that word fear what's he what's he getting at is this quaking in your boots this is a deep honor a deep respect for the Lord and if you don't have a deep honor and respect for the

[29:47] Lord how can you have any wisdom the beginning the very beginning notice it doesn't say this is the end of wisdom is fearing God it's just the beginning you can't even get to the beginning of wisdom unless you fear the Lord so this brings up a question does this mean that an unbeliever somebody who does not fear the Lord can't have any wisdom is that true it doesn't sound true does it there are plenty of people that I know that have a fair amount of wisdom even though they're not believers they don't fear the Lord yet wisdom is a spectrum right and there are certain things that are more important than others there are those who have street smarts right we call it street smarts they've been around the block they've had lots of interactions they've learned over the years through experience how to deal with shady people whatever it might be there may be those who have academic knowledge you know they've taken classes on philosophy and all kinds of different things to learn about the ways of the world and how things work

[30:58] I think about authors of books on personal productivity creating good habits those who have written about health and how to stay healthy or books on business and they can share their wisdom those things are good useful even to Christians for us to read I think some of the people I could think of was the Dalai Lama right he's kind of famous for saying wise sayings Neil deGrasse Tyson he's a famous scientist who's big on social media and shares a lot of his quote wisdom and then even Elon Musk is known for having a lot of knowledge and business acumen and marketing acumen he's done a lot of amazing things but in the big picture of eternity the wisdom that those men have the wisdom that you will find in those books is of such small significance it's almost as if it's nothing because the most important things in life are not those things the most important things in life center around knowing

[32:14] God and so if you do not acknowledge him and fear the Lord how can you even say that you have any wisdom at all there's an old teaching tool called the catechism called the Westminster catechism this is something put together by the Puritans back about 400 years ago and the very first question that they ask this is usually used to teach children but it could be used to teach anybody of any age a lot of times maybe new believers as well but the first question is this what is the chief end of man and their answer I think it is a wise answer it's not something you can quote from the Bible but I think it does a fairly good job of answering that question and their answer is this to glorify God and to enjoy him forever and if our very purpose in life if our very existence has a purpose in glorifying God and enjoying him then how can we be said to have any wisdom at all if we completely ignore our primary and really almost only purpose here in the world to glorify the Lord and to enjoy him how can we say we have any wisdom at all if we ignore and reject our creator that ignoring

[33:40] God is only the path of foolishness as it also says in Proverbs the fool has said in his heart what there is no God moving on to verse 8 here says this my son hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother for they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck I love the beauty of the speech the metaphors here that put these images in our minds of wisdom being like jewelry or a crown that ornaments us that brings beauty to our lives where do you get wisdom by the way where does wisdom come from what is the source of wisdom there are varying sources of wisdom of varying levels of quality one of the main sources that I see that people get wisdom today is internet memes right you got a funny picture and some little quotes on top of them and a lot of times they're really good right sometimes they're really good sometimes they're not that great is that the best place to get wisdom no it like I said can be useful and I think actually has opportunities to reach people especially in this era of social media but books right books are a great source of wisdom there's one book in particular which is I think

[35:19] I think I know the best book to find wisdom which book is that all right you got the right answer the Bible but also God has shown us that there are counselors mentors people in our lives and a lot you know whether it's a book author of a book right ultimately that goes back to a person who can share their wisdom with us might be somebody that we've never met before or it might be a neighbor across the street or a co-worker or it could be an elder in the church but you know that God has created this thing called a family where there are children who the Bible says that when they're born foolishness is bound up in their hearts and they need wisdom and he has created this setup where there's a built-in counselor for the children and what do you call those counselors parents and so my son hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother now are parents always an amazing source of wisdom you know this is a general rule right that parents are one of the greatest sources of wisdom for children now there are some parents out there that are almost completely useless is that true yeah and that's unfortunate and among all parents there's a range right of how much wisdom they do or do not have but as a general rule parents have plenty of wisdom that they can share with their children and it is the responsibility of parents to share that wisdom with their children not to hide it not to keep it to themselves but to share it and so we ought to be thinking as parents what are some habits that we can create what are some things that we can do so that we are on a regular basis not even just when

[37:32] I think about it but on a regular basis sharing our wisdom with our children and you know sometimes parents aren't as forthgiving of the wisdom that they have to their children and you know there's another responsibility when it comes to sharing wisdom and that's the responsibility of the child of the son or daughter and that's what Solomon is saying here he is asking his son his daughters to listen to him I need you to listen parents can sometimes be busy parents have lots of responsibilities to attend to but do you know that you as a child whether you're six years old or ten years old or fourteen years old or even when you're twenty and twenty five and thirty and forty and forty five you can ask for wisdom from your parents and a lot of times all you have to do is ask and they'd be more than happy to answer your question sometimes you have to ask multiple times but not usually proverbs twenty verse five says this counsel in the heart of a man is like deep waters but a man of understanding will draw it out there are people that you might want wisdom from but they're not maybe as ready to give it out they're not writing books like some people are they're not writing notes of sharing their wisdom with you on a regular basis but that wisdom is there and sometimes you need to go like a well like a deep well you need to take that bucket way way down deep in order to draw that out to ask those questions but a wise man will do that let's go on to the next section the next section here has to do with temptation really it says this my son this is verse 10 proverbs chapter 1 verse 10 my son if sinners entice you do not consent if they say come with us let us lie in wait to shed blood let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause let us swallow them alive like sheol or the grave and whole like those who go down to the pit we shall find all kinds of precious possessions we shall fill our houses with spoil cast in your lot among us let us have one purse my son do not walk in the way with them keep your foot from their path for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood surely in vain the net is spread in sight of any bird!

[40:38] but they lie in wait for their own blood they lurk secretly for their own lives so are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain it takes away the life of its owner really here Solomon is speaking to his son and warning him against looking for the easy life trying to get worldly gain through sin and foolishness rather than through the means that God intended and what he's describing here is something that Paul in the book of Romans said in just a few words the wages of sin is what death sin leads to death the way of foolishness he's speaking here describing murder and stealing these things lead to death it may look like it leads to riches and quick gain but as he describes here and illustrates so well he says it looks like you are setting a trap for the one that you want to steal from but ultimately who is the trap for who is the trap set for it's for yourself surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird but they lie in wait the one who sets the trap for their own blood and they lurk secretly not for the life of the other who they intended but for their own life you know what he describes here sounds like some kind of gang right some kind of gang member and there are gangs all over the world in

[42:28] America and other parts of the country and we've had this problem right people are sending their gang members to America and we need to get them out but really this is this description I think just highlights to the nth degree to one end of the wisdom spectrum looking at the way of death and the ultimate end but it looks at just the most severe end of the spectrum but just because you are not a gang member does that mean that this can't apply to you just because you are not a complete and utter fool does that mean that you can't make a foolish decision and just because we are not ourselves planning to murder people in order for worldly gain does that mean that we can't hurt somebody with a decision that we make and so we can even even in these passages take heed for ourselves verse 20 it says this wisdom calls aloud she raises her voice in the open square here wisdom is personified we see this throughout the book of proverbs wisdom and other things are personified in this case personified as a woman and calling out to who calling out to the fool is wisdom and what is being described here is wisdom hiding from us or is it instead is wisdom calling out crying out listen take heed listen to me wisdom is not hiding verse 21 she cries out in the chief concourses at the opening of the gates in the city she speaks her words how long you simple ones will you love simplicity for scorners delight um

[44:41] I lost my place scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge turn at my rebuke surely I will pour out my spirit on you I will make my words known to you because I have called and you refused I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded because you disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your terror comes when your terror comes like a storm and your destruction comes like a whirlwind when distress and anguish come upon you this lady wisdom is she a woman of compassion what does it say that this lady wisdom when you come to calamity because of your foolishness what will she do she will laugh she will mock she will ridicule you you know this is speaking I think of wisdom in a sense of the laws of nature right there are laws that determine how things operate in the world we have physical laws like gravity angular momentum all these principles that for how the universe should operate on a physical level when you try to defy the law of gravity when will gravity have compassion on you no gravity has no compassion it is merciless it is without compassion when you try to defy the precepts of gravity death will come knocking at your door and in the same way the immaterial laws of the universe the things that have to do with immaterial thing laws regarding ethics and relationships and economics and health if you try to defy those things if you are a fool and neglect to heed these the laws themselves will have no compassion and you ignore them to your detriment wisdom is knowing what those laws are and attending to them verse 28 then they will call on me but

[47:04] I will not answer they will seek me diligently but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies for the turning of the way of the simple will slay them and the complacency of fools will destroy them but whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of you know many people especially I think young people neglect wisdom and they think that they can concern themselves with morality and ethics and good judgment later on in their life maybe after they have enjoyed the pleasures of sin and a foolish lifestyle and sometimes they might later on in life consider hey

[48:16] I need wisdom but only after what only after they have borne the horrible and sometimes utterly unbearable fruit of their foolishness and by then it's too late the fruit of your foolishness has or as another saying goes the chickens have come home to roost wisdom ought to be sought after and listened to and heeded early on in life in the beginning you know I think fools consider wisdom to be their inevitable inheritance!

[49:05] wisdom will just naturally grow to grow to grow to grow grow Do you have to work out and do a bunch of things in order to grow bigger?

[49:21] No! In fact a lot of times you can eat donuts and lucky charms and all kinds of horrible things and you'll still grow right? and so you might get the idea well hey as I get older wisdom will just naturally come to me and I'll grow wise just like my parents or this person or that person but that would be a mistake wouldn't it?

[49:49] Growth and wisdom comes when we take heed when we listen carefully it requires careful attention and ceaseless going after it seeking after it and asking for it the last thing we'll look at and I gotta finish up here but is this last verse or yeah this last verse but whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil wisdom leads to safety and security and I think there are two ways we can take this because is it true that as long as you're wise all the time you will never experience any kind of insecurity well no that's not true wisdom is not going to prevent a tree from falling on your house right I mean it may sometimes you need to prune your trees or whatever that might be but there are still things that can happen and even evil doers!

[50:57] if you live a life of wisdom you will in general experience peace in your life prosperity safety and security you'll avoid violence but I think in the bigger picture and I think that's the most important thing when it comes to matters of eternity wisdom in knowing God is where we find absolute peace absolute security absolute safety wisdom always leads to security and safety and that last verse but whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil ultimately that fear of the Lord and ultimately our relationship with the Lord by trusting in Christ will lead us to a life of safety and security in our hearts what was that song that we sang right it is well with my soul because we trust in him regardless of what's going on regardless of sickness or disease or turmoil or war or all the things that are raging on around us we can have peace and like it says here we can dwell safely and be secure without fear of evil because of him

[52:26] I have lots more to say but I have to stop and we'll pick this up next week let's pray father this book of wisdom is so important as Solomon says this is the principle thing we need wisdom and we pray that you would today especially impact in our hearts the need for us to seek after wisdom constantly not assume that we know everything that we need to know but can regularly be growing in the principles of wisdom and especially through knowing you we ask these things in Jesus name amen