Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20110515.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Proverbs: Motivating Teens And Adults To Align With God's Fixed Moral Order
Part II: Explaining The Value Of Heeding God's Fixed Moral Order, Proverbs 1:8-9:18
G. Learning The Need For Wisdom And Discerning Insight From Our Forefathers' Testimonies
(Proverbs 4:1-9 et al.)
  1. Introduction
    1. An effective way to communicate to a young adult his need to heed the experienced mentor's advice is for the mentor to share insight learned in his life experiences that the young adult considers very significant!
    2. Proverbs 4:1-9 in view of the historical context is such a passage, and we view it for insight (as follows):
  2. Learning The Need For Wisdom And Discerning Insight From Our Forefathers' Testimonies.
    1. In Proverbs 4:1, Solomon began to address his sons, princes in the Davidic kingdom who would one day rule as king or as administrators in the kingdom of Israel. He urged them to heed and gain understanding from his words, not to forsake them, for he was giving them sound instruction, Proverbs 4:2 NIV.
    2. To motivate his sons with his words, Solomon told them the advice his father, king David, had shared with him when he was still the only son of his mother, Bathsheba, Proverbs 4:3-4a 2 Samuel 12:24.
    3. This would be a highly significant statement to Solomon's sons: David had suffered a serious lapse in an otherwise sterling life of faith by murdering Bathsheba's husband so David could marry her! Thus, God had slain the first son born to David and Bathsheba, Solomon's older brother, and David had later paid a horrible price in his extended family life due to his sin, including civil war in Israel, 2 Sam. 11:1-12:18a.
    4. Solomon's sons, part of David's extended family, had keenly felt the hurt of such events, so David's word to the young and still only son of David and Bathsheba would be taken very seriously by Solomon's sons!
    5. Thus, Solomon told his sons that grandfather David in the context of his recent costly sin had urged him to lay hold of his advice with all his heart, to keep his commands that Solomon might live, Prov. 4:4. That advice was for Solomon to grasp firmly to wisdom ( hakmah) and understanding (binah), Proverbs 4:5-9.
    6. Then, once David had passed and his son, Solomon ruled in his place, God appeared to Solomon in a dream by night (1 Kings 3:4-5a) to ask him what he wished from the Lord to be blessed, 1 Kings 3:5b.
    7. Solomon replied that he knew of God's grace to his father, David, and that Solomon as Israel's new and inexperienced king felt sorely inadequate to rule the nation Israel, 1 Kings 3:6-8. Thus, he partly heeded David's Proverbs 4:5-9 advice, asking for an understanding heart to discern (lehabin) good from bad in judging the people. (lehabin is the infinitive form of the verb, bin from which the noun binah in Proverbs 4:5a-9 is derived, Ibid., Kittel, p. 508; B. D. B., A Hebrew-English Lexicon of the O. T., p. 106-108)
    8. God was so pleased with this request, He promised Solomon what David had urged he grasp to the full -- both an HACAM AND a NABON heart (Ibid., Kittel), these being the respective adjectival forms of the noun hacmah and the root verb bin from which binah is derived, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 106-108, 314-315!
    9. Going even further, God promised what Solomon had not asked and what many kings of Solomon's era would desire -- riches and honor beyond what all the other kings of his era would possess, 1 Kings 3:13!
    10. However, going beyond even this, God urged Solomon to walk in His ways, to keep the Law as had David for generally most of his life and God would reward Solomon with a long life, 1 Kings 3:14!
    11. Solomon was so moved by this expansive divine promise, he returned to Jerusalem from where this dream occurred to offer burnt and peace offerings to God and to host a feast for all of his servants, 1 Kings 3:15!
    12. Solomon's sons would thus have known of the testimony of this divine blessing as it was known by the servants who had celebrated with his father upon his reception of God's promised blessing! Also, the fact that God had since blessed Solomon with vast wealth and great wisdom would have impressed his sons.
Lesson and Application: (1) Since Solomon's sons would not only have known the real life testimonies of grandfather David and father Solomon, but would have been very impacted by them, and since those experiences revealed the importance of acquiring "binah" and "hakmah," may we also apply God's discerning understanding (binah) and fixed moral order (hakmah) by the Holy Spirit's power (Gal. 5:16) to avoid David's sorrows and gain God's rich blessings in life! (2) May we who mentor like Solomon did also share our testimonies -- the bad and the good -- that meaningfully impact the young to motivate them to acquire God's discerning understanding and to align to His fixed moral order!