I want to look at the Book of Proverbs for a while - not sure how long.
I am interested to see how Psalms and Proverbs are related:
Psalms - written (mostly) by King David
Proverbs - written (mostly) by David's son, King Solomon
Psalms - takes the heart of man to God and focuses on praise
to God
Proverbs - teaches the wisdom of God to man and focuses on
living out our praise as righteous sons of God
Psalms - is vertical to God
Proverbs - is horizontal about people
Psalms give Divine counsel
Proverbs give practical counsel
Psalms offer God's commands
Proverbs offer human opinions
Psalms help you to know God
Proverbs help you to know yourself and others
Psalms are prayers and songs inspired by God's presence
Proverbs are human opinions inspired by God's wisdom
Proverbs flow out of praise. When we praise, we hear God's heart and
wisdom. Without praise, our knowledge will not be able to grow into wisdom - we
will become legalistic.
Psalm 1 has 6 verses - they are closely related to the first 7 verses of Proverbs chapter 1:
Psalm
1:1-6
Blessed is the
man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor
stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits
in the seat of the scornful;
But his
delight is in the law of the Lord
And in
His law he meditates day and night.
He shall
be like a tree
Planted
by the rivers of water,
That
brings forth its fruit in its season,
whose
leaf also shall not wither;
and
whatever he does shall not prosper.
The ungodly
are not so,
But are
like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor
sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the
Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the
way of the ungodly shall perish.
Proverbs
1:1-7
The
proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
To know
wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,
To
receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;
To give
prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—
A
wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a
man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
To
understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.
The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools
despise wisdom and instruction.
• Both are written to
teach a young man
• Both are written by
men who went through serious moral failures and who came through by worshiping
and walking in the fear of God
• Both are written by
men who said their desires were "one thing." David's "one
thing" desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Ps. 27:4)
Solomon's "one thing" desire was that he would have wisdom (2Chron.
1:8-10)
• Both are
foundations of wisdom
• Both give a
contrast between the wise and the foolish; godly and ungodly living
• Both give warnings
for unrighteousness and explain the blessings of righteous living
• Both carry a revelation
that carries on throughout the Word of God: Psalm 1 begins with the word Blessed and
ends with the word perish - this choice
between blessing and perishing is the essence of the whole Gospel message;
Proverbs 1:7 gives us the starting foundation of the whole Gospel: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge
Book of Proverbs Part 2 HERE
7 more things from the Book of Proverbs HERE
