What's more precious than gold? but can also be worthless.
Something God tells us to seek, yet something we shouldn't pursue on our own. Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah takes a closer look at the answer. Wisdom both the wisdom that comes from God and that comes from the world. with the conclusion of his message.
Power up. Powerful principles from Proverbs. Here's David.
Well, if you want to know the difference between the two kinds of wisdom, the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world, you don't have to read very far into the Bible. You don't have to get past the book of Job, really. And in the New Testament, Corinthians has a great section on this, many passages that teach you the difference between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. I've chosen the best that I know how to to be a student of God's wisdom and a follower of that wisdom in my life. Surely don't do it all perfectly, but I'm so thankful that I have a message from heaven to guide my life.
And it's available to any who will seek after that. Today, we're going to talk more about how this. Concept of wisdom takes place in the book of Proverbs. One of the key Subjects in the Book of Proverbs is Wisdom. Written by the wisest man who ever lived.
Before we get into the message, just let me say to you that we need wisdom today as we deal with the subject of Israel. I don't know why. Israel matters so much to God, why it should matter to you, but the Bible tells us it's true. This is God's nation, this is the apple of God's eye. Jerusalem is the center of God's city, and we need to understand how important it is that we maintain the right attitude and right relationship toward Israel.
So, we put together this gift book. It's not a huge book, but it's a book that answers this question. And the title of the book is God's Heart for Israel. 100-plus pages to help you work your way through the answer to many of the questions that are being asked today. This book is yours for the asking when you send your gift to us during the month of August.
Make your gift the best you can. Help us do this job of maintaining the word of God around the world. Will respond to your gift with this resource to help you. Stay focused in your life. Here's part two.
of power up with powerful proverbs These are great truths. Stay tuned. I want to point out 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: 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 don't 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 lack 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. These are the hidden secrets of Almighty God, but thank Him every day that He dispenses the wisdom you need to get through the next 24 hours.
The wisdom you need to deal with the issue, and that wisdom comes from this book. That is the principle, the overall principle. that you will find in the book of Proverbs. And then let me note with you, fourthly, the principle that permeates the Proverbs. There is one bedrock principle down underneath all of the others.
We're going to talk about all these different subjects. But there's one that's underneath all of them, and it kind of introduces the book of Proverbs. And this is how you get wisdom. What is the key ingredient that you have to have in your own life? In order to plug into the circuit and get the wisdom of God.
Now, I want you to take your Bibles, and you probably don't read from this book very often, but find the book of Job. And I'm going to let Job ask this question for us. And I want you to follow along in your Bibles as we look at the 28th chapter of the book of Job. This is Job's discourse on wisdom. And I'm going to read it, and I want you to follow along in your Bibles as I do, beginning at the 12th verse.
And here's the question: Job is going to ask class: He's going to ask: where do you get wisdom? And what is the secret to being able to get the wisdom of God?
So, in the 28th chapter, beginning at the 12th verse, here's the question. But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, it's not in me, and the sea says, It's not with me.
It cannot be purchased for gold, nor can silver be weighed for its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewelry or fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all the living and concealed from the birds of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard a report about it with our ears. God understands its way, and He knows its place.
For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees under the whole heavens to establish a weight for the wind and apportion the waters by measure. When He made a law for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt, then He saw wisdom and declared it and prepared it indeed. He searched it out, and to man he said, Behold, The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. And to depart from evil is understanding. Where does wisdom start?
How do you begin to accumulate it? It begins. with the fear of the Lord. And if you read the book of Proverbs, you can't get into the first chapter very far without discovering that this is made very clear. Go back in your Bibles.
To the first chapter of the book of Proverbs, and notice what it says in the seventh verse. Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The word fear of the Lord, that little phrase, is found 14 times in the book of Proverbs.
So let me ask this question: what does it mean to have the fear of the Lord? Does that mean to be scared? Does that mean that you walk around kind of with your head bowed because you're afraid God's going to zap you? No, the fear of the Lord is not Fear in the sense that you are. Totally afraid, although we don't want to get rid of that concept completely because remember, whenever anybody met the Lord in the Bible, what happened?
They didn't stand up with their hands up in the air, I promise you. They fell on their face before God and were as dead.
So, if Almighty God were to be here today in some physical presence, I promise you, we would be afraid. Amen? And the fact is, there's a sense in which we need to go back and underscore this a little bit because it seems like we've lost the fear of God in our culture. That's why we are so familiar with God in terms that I think denigrate him and bring disrepute to his name. We ought to fear God in the truest sense, that God is the awesome power in the universe.
He is the final authority in everything. There is no one to whom you can appeal after you've appealed to Almighty God. We should fear Him in that sense. But I like the idea. of the man who said That he Feared God so much that he feared no man at all.
To fear is to reverence, to have a sense of awe, to understand that He is the final answer. that he is the source. That He is the one beyond whom there is no appeal.
So when God speaks, it is the final word. And we fear and reverence God when we take His word and we don't argue about it and we don't equivocate over it and we don't debate it. It's thus saith the Lord, God set it. I believe it and that sells it.
Now, if you don't study the book of Proverbs that way, Understanding the nuance of the Proverbs and the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, then what will happen is this will just be a reading course. You will read these little words and you'll go home and say, well, that was a nice little thought about Proverbs of the Old Testament. No, the key to getting wisdom is to come at long last and understand that you don't have it to start with. Isn't that one of the hardest things we have to do? to come to the place where we understand that we don't have wisdom.
And to recognize that we don't have what we need to get wisdom, that God is the only one who can give it to us. I think that's one of the reasons why, over and over in the Bible, we have a little phrase like the one in Proverbs 3 and verse 7 that goes like this. Be not wise in your own eyes. Watch this. Be not wise in your own eyes.
Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Proverbs 26:12 says, Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for a fool than for him. Or Isaiah 5.21 says this. Woe to those that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight.
Or Romans 12, 16 that says, Be of the same mind toward one another, do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble, and do not be wise in your own opinion.
Now, how many of you know you can't be asking God for His wisdom and be all full of your own wisdom? Amen? You've got to come to the place where you're saying, Lord, I don't know what to do, but that's okay because I know you know what to do. And I'm dependent upon you, and I'm coming to this book. With a hunger and a thirst in my heart to hear your voice.
I'm not going to compare it with other opinions. I'm going to take your voice as the voice. We always are trying to hide our lack of wisdom. Like the man who bought a yacht. and his wife was nervous because he had no experience in sailing.
But he knew he could handle it. And so for weeks he practiced in the harbor before taking it out to sea. Finally, he talked his nervous wife into going on the yacht with him, and gingerly she stepped on board. Out into the harbor they headed as he tried to put her at ease. He said, Honey, look, I practiced enough in this harbor to know where every rock and every reef and every sandbar is.
And at that very moment a huge hidden rock beneath the surface made a large crunching sound from stem to stern on the boat. And with a sheepish grin, he said, and one of them is going by right now. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Isn't it hard for us to say I don't know.
This is not a plea for ignorance. This is a plea for dependence. This is a plea to come to the Word of God and say, Lord God, I do not know. What to do? Yeah.
But that's all right. Because I'm dependent on you, and all I have to do is come and say, Lord, fill the emptiness of my wisdom with your wisdom. and give me insight into life and God will do that. He has promised to do it. The prophet Jeremiah had it all together.
In one of my favorite texts from the Old Testament scripture, when he wrote, In Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24, Thus says the Lord. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight, says the Lord. If we're going to boast.
We're going to boast in the knowledge that we have of Almighty God. You've probably heard someone say in a seminar somewhere, something that goes like this: He that knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him. He that knows not and knows that he knows not is simple. Teach him.
He that knows and knows not that he knows is asleep. Wake him up. But he that knows and knows that he knows is a wise man. Follow him. You know, that's a beautiful little paradigm.
It's just not true. The last part of it says that he who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man. I don't believe that's true at all. I think a wise man is a man who knows what he doesn't know. And because of what he doesn't know, he appeals to his almighty God to fill him with the wisdom that he needs.
Because if we're full of our own wisdom, we will never seek the wisdom of God. We're going to seek the wisdom of God for some issues that face every one of us at one time or another. We're going to talk about some powerful principles from the book of Proverbs. We're going to look at the Proverbs for the powerful. What kind of people should we be looking for to fill the offices of our land?
Does God have anything to say about the way people should rule and govern and how the powerful should function? I believe He does. And so we're going to look at that. And then we're going to talk about Proverbs. About purity.
One of the great problems we have in our culture today is immorality and moral free fall. But the word of God in the book of Proverbs gives us some clear counsel. On purity and how to maintain purity in our lives. We're going to talk about Proverbs for partners. Married couples.
Does the Bible have anything to say in the book of Proverbs that will help us relate to one another better? And Proverbs for parents. How do we deal with children as God brings them into our lives? And many others as we move through this book.
So let me challenge you to do what someone challenged me to do several years ago. Let me challenge you to begin. Reading the book of Proverbs, the chapter coinciding with the day of the month. And do it during this series. Just read it.
It won't take you very long. They're not very long chapters. Don't try to find a way to outline most of the chapters because they're often sort of disjointed sayings. But the book of Proverbs will change your life. If you will let it work.
Every day in the way you live, in the way you function. But you know what? There's something better than Proverbs. and something better than Solomon. That is, there is the one in whom is all the wisdom of God.
embodied. And the book of Colossians says that person is Jesus Christ. My friends, you have a winning combination if you have the written word and you have the living word. The written word spells out for you What to do. But the living word lives within you, empowering you to do it.
And if you do not know the living word, if you've never received Jesus Christ, who is God's message to us, His message of love and forgiveness, And acceptance if you do not know Jesus Christ in that way. Let me encourage you to accept into your life the living word. The wisdom of God incarnate. And let him be the source of your strength to live out your life every day in keeping with this book. There is no happy existence apart from it.
And every place where we find hurt. And anxiety and pressure. and difficulty We will also find from God a word to help us. and strengthen us. in the living word and in the written word.
And my challenge to you is to spend time in the written word. and spend time with. The living word. And God will give you wisdom. for your life.
You know, one of the things that is most frightening. is for evil people to be in powerful places. We see that happening today, even in our own country, and some of the changes that have taken place in the leadership of our cities and states. It's frightening because they're powerful, but powerful to do wrong. And the Bible doesn't give anyone any opportunity to do that.
That's not what power is all about. Power is about doing the right thing in the right way. And in the book of Proverbs, there's much. much said about What a powerful person looks like. When you get power, you better have some integrity, and we're going to talk about that.
as we get through this book as we have today. Hey, we need some wisdom about the nation of Israel and we I've been hearing so many negative things about Israel. I want to give you something very positive. A book called God's Heart for Israel: 100 plus pages of truth from the scripture about the importance of Israel. Yours for the asking when you send your gift this month.
Today's message originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor Dr. David Jeremiah. Drop us a note to let us know how God is using this ministry in your life. Right to Turning Point, PO Box 3838, San Diego, California, 92163. Visiting our website at davidjeremiah.org/slash radio.
That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio or by calling 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's new book, God's Heart for Israel. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also download the free Turning Point mobile app for your smartphone or tablet. or search in your app store for Turning Point Ministries to access our content.
Visit davidjeremiah.org slash radio for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue powerful principles from Proverbs on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
