Proverbs
The book of Proverbs was written by Solomon. Solomon was the wisest man alive during his time (1 Kings 3:12). When Solomon became king of Israel, God talked to him in a dream. God told Solomon he could have anything he asked for. Solomon didn’t ask for gold or power. He asked for wisdom to lead God’s people. Because of his answer, God gave him wisdom, wealth, and power.
Proverbs is a book of wisdom literature. What is wisdom? It is not just knowledge. Knowledge is when you know a fact. 2 + 2 = 4 That is knowledge.
Wisdom is when you know something and you act on that knowledge. Exercise helps keep a person healthy—Knowledge. Exercise helps keep a person healthy, so I’m going to exercise three times a week—Wisdom.
It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)
— Knowledge —
It is more blessed to give than to receive, therefore I’m going to give half of my Christmas money to the Lord on Sunday to help hungry people
—Wisdom —
It is sinful and harmful to say curse words (Ephesians 4:29).
— Knowledge —
Cussing is wrong, so I will not cuss.
— Wisdom —
Lots of people know the right things to do, but they don’t do them. That means they are not wise. In the Bible, the opposite of wise is foolish.
The book of Proverbs says that wisdom is the principal (or main) thing. Each person should work hard to get wisdom. One of the best ways to get wisdom is to pray and ask God for it. God says that if we ask Him for wisdom, and we really believe He will give it to us, then He will give it to us (James 1:5-8).
Knowing God will give you wisdom if you ask and believe.
— Knowledge —
Knowing God will give you wisdom if you ask and believe, so you ask every day.
— Wisdom —
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).
Fear in this verse does not mean you are scared of the Lord, like a small child might be scared of the dark. Fear means you respect the Lord and know that He always tells the truth and does what He says. God says,“A soft answer turns away wrath”(Proverbs 15:1). If you “fear” the Lord, or respect what He says and know it is right, then the next time a person gets mad at you and begins to yell and scream, you could reply with a soft, kind answer.
Various Proverbs and just a few little things about them
“Pleasant words are like honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24).
Did you know that what you say to others can actually change their lives? Saying mean and hurtful things can cause others to become sad and sometimes get sick and depressed. Saying kind, good things to others can brighten their lives and help them be happier and healthier.
“He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it will be counted a curse to him” (Proverbs 27:14).
This is a funny proverb, but we can all understand it. Maybe you can remember a time when you stayed up very late at a friend’s house. You were planning on sleeping late the next morning. But, no chance of that. At 6:00 in the morning your friend slings open the door and starts yelling real loud about what an awesome person you are. Are you happy that he is saying all those nice things about you? Nope! You are mad that you got woken up early to loud yelling. This proverb is telling us that there is a proper time and way to say and do things.
“A man who has friends must himself be friendly”(Proverbs 18:24).
There is a children’s book that illustrates this proverb perfectly. It is titled Billy Bully. It is about a bully who mistreats all the kids at school. He shoves them off the slide and is mean. In the middle of the book, he wants to be friends with the other kids, but none of the kids wants to be his friend. When he changes his attitude and is nice and kind, then the other kids want to be his friend.
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