Welcome to Turning Point. If God were to grant you one request, What would you ask him for? Wealth? Power? Beauty?
Today, Dr. David Jeremiah introduces us to a young man who asked God for something that pleased him so much, it continues to benefit believers to this day. Listen as David begins this series with the message that shares its title, Power Up. Powerful principles from Proverbs. And today we go behind the scenes of the book of Proverbs to the man who was the human author of them.
First of all, we need to recognize that this book is unlike any of the other books in the Bible. It is not paragraphs telling a story or poetry like in the book of Psalms. It is a listing of the words of wisdom of the wisest man who ever lived.
Sometimes there are two or three proverbs about the same subject linked together. But quite often, there's a proverb about this next to a proverb about that. You can't read the book of Proverbs the same way. You have to read it and thematically put the proverbs together that deal with the subjects. That's what we've tried to do in this series.
And today, we're going to help you understand why Proverbs is so important. I hope that you will stay with us throughout this message and throughout this month. During the month of August, we have a wonderful book that we want to send to you as a result of your Supportive Turning Point. When you give to Turning Point, we like to say thank you in a tangible way. And this may be the most.
Contemporary subject we could talk about because I've never seen a time in my life on this earth when anti-Semitism is in such a roar. Today, everywhere you turn, it's about anti-Semitism, and it's not even being cloaked behind closed doors, it's out in the open. We can't let that continue without saying, this is what the Bible says.
So we put together this book called God's Heart for Israel. This is a result of many messages I've given on this subject over the years. We've combined these messages and put them in chapters that will help you understand why Israel is being targeted. Here is the answer in this book: God's Heart for Israel. This book is yours for the asking when you send your gift to us during the month of August.
We'd love to send this to you. We want you to have this. But please help us if you can during this month and be generous. And we'll thank you with this book as soon as we receive your letter. Right now, it's time for us to get into this message about Proverbs and why it is the way it is, why we look at it the way we do.
Here is powerful principles from Proverbs. Good. One of my favorite stories is a story about a frustrated mother whose two sons were driving her crazy. She had tried everything to keep them in line, and when one day she had an over-the-fence discussion with a neighbor. She learned that her neighbor had also had problems with her sons when they were younger.
And she said that after she had tried everything, she finally took her sons to her priest. And he got them straightened out for good.
Well, this mother had exhausted all of her options and she didn't have a better idea, so she followed her neighbor's advice. and took her two sons to the local parish priest. The younger boy was left in the waiting room, and the older boy was ushered into the solemn presence of the road-clad clergyman. Without so much as introducing himself, he stared into the eyes of the frightened boy. And began his interrogation with this question.
Where? is God. The boy was speechless. The priest spoke again. Young man, I said, where?
is God. The young lad looked away, searching the room as if the answer might be found in the religious items that filled the office. He still got an answer. A little louder and with more emphasis, the priest asked for the third time. I ask you, where is God?
This time, the boy leaped to his feet and ran out of the office. And when he came to the waiting room, he grabbed his younger brother by the hand and pulled him out the door. Let's get out of here, he said. They've lost God and they're trying to pin it on us. As you look around in the world today, it's not hard to understand that a lot of places they've lost God.
Lost him from culture, lost him from family life. Lost him in the media. But the saddest of all is that so many times people lose God at church. They come to church hoping to find something to strengthen them and help them and cause them to grow in their lives. They receive everything else but the one thing that could make a difference, and that is they get everything but God.
everything but his word, everything but the principles that are life-changing. And that's why As tedious as it may seem to you on occasion, We have decided that the only thing we really have to offer that makes us unique and gives us a reason to be in existence is. We offer God. Not that we have a corner on him or we can franchise him, but we offer him through his word. and through the principles that are in the Bible.
And how many of you know that when you have God, you have everything? And so, if you don't start there, if you don't begin there, you end up spending your whole life on a. detour and a useless trip that takes you nowhere and leaves you empty. God is found in the Word. God is found in the Scripture.
And as we study the scripture, we learn. What God wants, what God thinks, who God is. How God responds. what God expects. The Proverbs are filled with truth.
about God. And how we're to respond to Him in our life in everyday practical ways.
Now, the Book of Proverbs is a very wonderful book and it's a unique book, and it is, in essence, a book that came. In answer to a prayer. And I want to begin our study in this book by pointing to the prayer that produced the Proverbs. And if you have your Bibles, you will find this prayer in the book of 1 Kings and the third chapter. It is a prayer that was prayed by Solomon.
I guess before I read this prayer, I should ask you this question: If God gave you the opportunity to ask for anything you wanted, What would your prayer be?
Well, you don't read that very often in the scripture, but here's a situation where God gave a man the opportunity to ask. for whatever he wanted. And beginning in the third verse, Of 1 Kings chapter 3, we read these words. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burnt incense at the high places.
Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon a dream by night, and God said, Solomon asked What shall I give you? And Solomon said, You have shown great mercy to your servant David, my father, because he walked before you in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have continued this great kindness for him, and you have given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day.
Now, O 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 people of yours? And the speech pleased the Lord. that Solomon had 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 word. 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 you. And I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that 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. And Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream, and he came to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings, peace offerings, and made a feast. for all of his servants. That is a remarkable story.
Solomon. Young Solomon, 20 years old. Stands before Almighty God, and through a dream it was communicated to him. to ask for whatever he wanted. And he had just been anointed as the king, and he said, What I need more than anything else is wisdom.
I need a wise heart. I need to be able to sort out the issues of my people. Lord, I'm just a child, so give me wisdom. And the Bible says that the request that Solomon asked of God pleased God in such a way. Because he didn't ask for the things that you normally would ask for in such an opportunity.
He didn't ask for riches or wealth or long life. He asked for wisdom, a discerning heart. And the Bible tells us that when God heard his prayer, he gave to Solomon that which he requested. And one of the amazing things about this prayer is that Solomon was only 20 years old when he prayed it. I don't know about you, but I remember a little bit about being 20.
I'm even more amazed at Solomon's request when I think about that.
So when Solomon prayed, he brought together in his prayer all the influences in his life that had been preparing him for this moment. And the result was that the heavenly Father gave him. Notice again, verse 12: 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, nor shall anyone like you arise after you, and I have given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among all the kings all your days. Just like Jabez who prayed and God heard him.
Solomon prayed, and God heard him, and I can't help but insert here: we have not because we ask not. What is it the New Testament says in James 1:5, if any of you lack wisdom, let him what, class? Let him ask of God. When we find ourselves caught in the situation and we don't know what to do, the last resort should be the first resort. to come to Almighty God and ask for his wisdom as Solomon did.
And the Bible tells us that Solomon became the wisest man who ever lived. The scriptures document this statement, not in just one isolated text, but in several very clear statements. Notice 1 Kings chapter 10, verses 23 and 24. This is what it says.
So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his heart. 1 Kings chapter 4, verses 29 to 31, and then again, verse 34 says, This, and God gave Solomon wisdom, and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart, like the sand of the seashore. And 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, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 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.
And the most powerful testimony to his wisdom came from somebody. Who had just heard about it is a rumor. You've probably heard of the Queen of Sheba.
Well, she's in this story too, corroborating this truth that Solomon was indeed. The wisest man who ever lived. And if you still have your Bibles open to 1 Kings, turn over to 1 Kings chapter 10. The Queen of Sheba has come from afar to check out this report that Solomon is so wise and so wonderful. And she said to the king in verse 6, It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.
However, I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes, and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king to do justice and righteousness. She came and checked it out and she said, This is more true than I thought.
Solomon was indeed the wisest man who ever lived. And he is the original fountainhead, humanly speaking, of all Old Testament wisdom. How many of you know that Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon? He wrote the Proverbs. He wrote the Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament and Psalm 72 and Psalm 127.
And we know that there's much more that Solomon wrote than that which is contained in the sacred scripture. For there are only 915 verses in all of the book of Proverbs. And yet The Bible tells us in 1 Kings chapter 4 and verse 32, how prolific Solomon was. Turn back in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 4 and verse 32. It says here That Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs.
And his songs were 1,005.
Now, if there's only 915 verses in the book of Proverbs and Solomon spoke 3,000, we have about a third of his proverbs collected for us here in the scripture. What a prolific writer. We know so much about him from the Old Testament. And when we know that, it ought to make us open our Bibles to the book of Proverbs with great anticipation. Here are the wise sayings of the wisest man who ever lived.
Here are the distilled wisdom sayings from 3,000 distilled down to 900. And this is what God wants us to have in the sacred word so that we can grow and learn and prosper. The Proverbs are really an answer to a prayer. A prayer that Solomon prayed that God would give him wisdom.
Now, I want to point out as we begin that there are some wonderful promises that precede the Proverbs. What will God do for you if you take seriously this book? Let me tell you something that I did.
Some years ago, I was at a men's retreat. The guy who was speaking got up and he said, Let me give you an assignment that will change your life. He said there are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs and There's one chapter for every day of the month. Given a day or so, depending on which month it is in the year, some are 30, some are 31, but. He challenged all of us to read a chapter from the book of Proverbs every day for a month.
for a whole year. Every day Whatever day you happen to see on the calendar, turn to that chapter in the book of Proverbs and read it. And then, when you get to the next month, start over and read it again and do it 12 times in a row, and he said, see what happens.
Well, I did it years ago. I did it a couple of times. I don't currently do it, but I remember the incredible impact it had on my life as every day I would read through a chapter and hear the wisdom of Solomon, and inevitably it would apply to something that was on my schedule for that day or some situation that I was going to face. What a blessing is wrapped up in these Wonderful truths from the Old Testament. from the wisdom of Solomon.
And there are many promises in the Word of God. for those who will take seriously this study. Notice Proverbs chapter 2 verses 10 and 11. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul. Discretion will preserve you.
Understanding will keep you. The Bible says that when you take the wisdom of these proverbs and apply them, you will be kept and you will have discretion. Notice Proverbs 3, 13. Happy is the man. who finds wisdom.
And the man who gains understanding. Here's another promise for those who will study the wisdom of these verses. Notice Proverbs 3, 15 through 18. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. This is the truth of the book of Proverbs.
Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all of her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all those who retain her. And then notice Proverbs 8 and verse 11. For wisdom is better than rubies, and all things that may be desired are not to be compared to her.
And Proverbs 16, 16. How much better to get wisdom than gold? and to get understanding, to be chosen rather than silver. And Proverbs 24 and verse 14.
So shall the knowledge of wisdom be into thy soul. If you have found it, there is a prospect, and your hope will not be cut off. And I could list many more. There's probably another dozen promises in this book. For those who will take seriously the wisdom contained in the Proverbs, we're going to take seriously what God is teaching us through the writings of the wisest man who ever lived, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, communicating to us God's truth in an everyday practical way so that we can figure out what to do.
Anybody else ever wonder what to do?
Now, that is The promise that goes with this book. Let me add a third thought: the purpose that pervades the Proverbs. Over and over again. Proverbs says, get wisdom. No matter what else you acquire, if you have to turn down gold and silver and rubies, get wisdom.
Because wisdom will help you in a way that none of these other commodities will. But the question then is, what is wisdom? If we get it, how will we know we have it? Wisdom has been defined in many ways, and I have A whole sheet full of definitions of wisdom from some of the greatest people who have ever lived and great thinkers, people like Coleridge, who said that wisdom is common sense in an uncommon degree. Or Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who said, the right use of knowledge.
Or someone has added, wisdom is knowledge using its head. If I had to choose my favorite secular definition, it would go like this: Wisdom is doing the right thing without precedent. Wisdom is knowing what to do without having experienced the situation before, but having an intuition within your heart because of what you know from God and His Word that you know what to do. All of the above definitions and descriptions of wisdom help us to focus this way. We need the wisdom that God himself can give.
He, not Solomon, is the fountainhead of wisdom. And all of the wisdom that Solomon had came to him from God because he asked God to give it to him, remember?
Now What does wisdom look like in practical everyday language? How does it work? I remember some years ago reading a book by C.I. Packer called Knowing God. It's a classic book, and if you ever see it in the bookstore, you should buy it because it will help you with many, many walks that you have in your Christian life.
But in this book, he talks for just a few moments about wisdom and what it means to have the wisdom of God. He said there are two basic ideas of wisdom. that people have. He said, one of them is like the picture you would see if you were, and this is an older book, so you can see he's in an older metaphor, the kind of picture you would see if you were to sit in the control room of a major railway in a city. Perhaps in some of the subways in the major cities of our country today.
And there on the map, you would see lights that represent all of the various subway trains that are moving throughout the city. And he said, as you sit there, you can see everything that's going on in the city, all the subways moving from one direction to the other, and you have a total picture of everything that's happening in that system. He said, Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who feel like that if they get God's wisdom, they're going to get that. They'll be able to sit in the control room of the universe and understand why everything works and how it works and where it's going and when it's going to get there and when it's going to be late and all of that. How many of you know that if you have wisdom from God, you don't have that?
Because if there's ever one thing I've been saying more and more in recent days, it's: I don't understand why this is happening. I don't understand how this fits. I don't know why this is going on. I don't see how these two things happen. I really believe that I'm coming to grips with the fact.
that life is more of a mystery than most of us really want to admit. And if wisdom is being able to sit in the control room and understand everything that God is doing, then I can't tell you how to get that because I don't think that's available to man. But Packer said the other kind of wisdom is You're driving one of the cars, you're driving one of the trains. And you're trying to figure out what to do, and you're negotiating your way through the city, and you're asking Almighty God to give you direction so you know whether to take a right turn or a left turn. And so He gives you the wisdom for your own life.
Now, how many of you know God does that? Doesn't He do that? God gives you the wisdom to determine what to do. That's why He says: if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, and He will give it to Him. God will give you the wisdom to know what to do with your children.
God will give you wisdom for your marriage. God will give you wisdom for your finances. He will give you the wisdom you need to make the right decisions about your life. But if you think wisdom is going to help you have the answers to all of the great philosophical problems of the world, That's not what God is talking about. You know, Proverbs is a lot about wisdom, and we learned that wisdom is knowledge using its head.
A lot of people have a lot of knowledge, but they don't have any wisdom.
So they can. Speak great, wonderful things, and some of them have a hard time tying their own shoes. You know, it's kind of a hard thing to understand. Wisdom is not more knowledge, wisdom is knowing how to use the knowledge that God has already given to you. And we're going to continue to talk about that during this month.
In the meantime, if you didn't hear the first part of this program, let me remind you that our resource for the month of August is the book God's Heart for Israel: What the Bible Says About Israel, why we should be careful about our relationship with Israel, and we should pray for the peace of Israel. And this book will help you find the passages that teach us what our relationship with this nation should be. In a time when there's a lot of questions about that, here's some truth from the Word of God. The book is yours for the asking when you send a gift of any size during the month of August. Thank you for doing so.
We'll see you tomorrow. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series, Powerful Principles from Proverbs, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected: our monthly magazine, Turning Points, and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio.
Or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's inspiring new book, God's Heart for Israel. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard New International and New King James Versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah's decades of study.
Get all the details when you visit our website, davidjeremiah.org/slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue powerful principles from Proverbs on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah. I'm going to use a bottle of the same method.
