These sayings of Solomon were put together by Hezekiah's men. Hezekiah led a revival in Judah and this included reverence for the words of David (2 Chron 29:30). So presumably Hezekiah's men searched out the various records to gather together these sayings of Solomon.
There are things that only God knows, it is a kings glory to search things out. What does this mean? There are two equally wrong approaches to wisdom. One is to assume we cannot know anything, or that it is wrong to seek to understand how the world works. Some people who give Christianity a bad name tend towards this, though not many. The more common error, and the one that is most prevalent in our secular society, is to assume that we either know everything or can know everything. The Biblical approach is to seek to understand, knowing the limits of our human minds. Ie, as it says elsewhere in Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
We seek to purify metals before using them. In the same way corruption needs to be removed from a regime, then a solid kingdom can be established.
Jesus told a parable along the same lines of v6,7 (Luke 14:7,8).
We should be cautious in bringing disputes and accusations to light. We can often cause more trouble, including for ourselves, than we imagine.
Good decisions and right rebukes are very valuable.
We should handle riches carefully, if we take too much they will just make us sick. Equally we should not overstay our welcome anywhere. See how practical Proverbs is.
V18-20 warn against various kinds of duplicitousness.
Paul quotes v21,22 in Romans 12.
The chapter closes with various sayings.
No comments:
Post a Comment