Of all the books in the Bible, Proverbs focuses more specifically on the subject of wisdom and developing the right type of submissive attitude towards God. It deals with the most fundamental skill of all: practical righteousness before God in every area of life.
It would be fair to say godly wisdom is “doing or practicing the law of God—doing the right thing at the right time with the right people or person.” There are two Hebrew words for wisdom found in the first chapter of Proverbs. Chokmah found in verse 2 means ‘skillful’ or ‘wise’; and sakal found in verse 3 means to be ‘circumspect’, ‘expert’, ‘prudent’, skillful, ‘wise’ or ‘guided wittingly’.
Proverbs not only draws our attention to what should or should not come from our lips but, even before that, what should or should not be in our minds. In other words, if our thoughts are where they should be, our speech will reflect that.
The book of Proverbs is instruction for those who want to grow in wisdom, and covers, but is not limited to, some of the following points:
- It takes wisdom to know when to say something and when to refrain (Proverbs 17:28).
- The book of Proverbs also reinforces what other passages in the Bible teach — what a man sows he reaps (Galatians 6:7).
- God values wisdom above money and power–the answer is quite clear in Proverbs 8:10-11.
- Proverbs gives examples of how to approach others. For example: whether to approach your friend to tell him he is doing something that’s violating God’s law would depend on whether or not he or she cares about God’s law (Proverbs 9:8).
