July 7, 2025

Proverbs 1:1-7  (HCSB)
The Purpose of Proverbs
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 For learning what wisdom and discipline are;
for understanding insightful sayings;
3 for receiving wise instruction
in righteousness, justice, and integrity;
4 for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced,
knowledge and discretion to a young man—
5 a wise man will listen and increase his learning, and a discerning man will obtain guidance—
6 for understanding a proverb or a parable,
the words of the wise, and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Falicia Johnson
Anytime I start a study of a book of the Bible I think it’s important to first learn a little bit about the book. Proverbs was mainly written by Solomon, but it does indicate that there were some other authors that attributed to the “sayings of the wise”. Proverbs is also known as the book of wisdom. It is the key term throughout the whole book and the word wisdom is used 41 times in its 31 chapters. It should be clearly noted that these wise sayings are generally true. They are nuggets of wisdom. They are black-and-white statements, but they are neither comprehensive nor without exceptions. So ...what is wisdom? What does it mean to you and how do you apply it to your life? This is a very good starting point when diving into the book about wisdom.  
As you read through chapter 1 and beyond, try to focus in on some key words and see what God has to say about them.
Here are a few words that stick out to me in this portion: 1) Proverbs 1:1, prudent: good judgment or good sense. This is definitely a characteristic that we should all strive to have.
2) Proverbs 1:4, simple: in today’s culture, we hear this word a lot. I believe there is beauty in simplicity, but here in this verse it is telling us to not be simple minded. Proverbs talks about this form of simple 15 times throughout the book. We are to not be easily persuaded and immature. We do not want to lack judgment, be inexperienced, or naïve.
3) Proverbs 1:7, fear of the Lord: in this verse, it leans toward respect and reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ, and a submitting of yourself to the one true God. This is a laying down of yourself and the starting point of all knowledge. Not all things in the Bible are spelled out so clearly, but here it seems to be very clear. If we want to gain God’s knowledge, we must start with the fear of the Lord.