Soul Rejoice

In the first three verses of Psalm 1, we saw that the blessed person was characterized by delighting in and walking according to the Word of God. As we move into the fourth verse, we see a stark contrast. Emphatically, the psalmist states, “It is not so with the wicked.” The Septuagint (the LXX – the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) translates this as “Not so the ungodly, not so.” Just as the darkness makes us appreciate the light, so does wickedness make us appreciate righteousness. This picture of the wicked vivifies the metaphor in verse three. The wicked are not so, The wicked is the person who does not delight on the word of God. Spurgeon wrote that “we are hereby to understand that whatever good thing is said of the righteous is not true in the case of the ungodly.” All throughout the Old Testament, the wicked are the direct opposite of the righteous. The word ‘wickedness’ denotes evil thoughts, words, and deeds that are contrary to God’s character and hostile tow...

The Book of Proverbs begins with a list of benefits and purposes. While the form of a Proverb may be a bit fuzzy, they serve a very distinct role in life. I think that it is safe to say that without the study of proverbs, we are impoverished today. We learn many facts, but we are never tantalized with the riddles and paradoxes that are presented in proverbs. To Know Wisdom and Instruction The first purpose of learning Proverbs is “to know wisdom” (v. 2). This word ‘know’ in this instance has the connotation of ‘to gain knowledge of’ or ‘to become wise in.’ This sort of knowing comes through experience. The purpose of proverbs is not just for one to come to know wisdom, but to put to practical use the wisdom that is acquired. The term ‘wisdom’ could be defined as a ‘valuable skill.’ That is, it is a skill that produces something of value. It is used of seamen (Ps 107:27), weavers (Exod 35:26), administrators (1 Kings 3:28), or craftsmen (Exod 31:6). It can also be used to refer to...

There is no definitive definition of a Proverb. The root idea of the word is “likeness.” A proverb gives a description of something by way of comparison. There are many ways that this can take place. We are most familiar with the short two-liners: (e.g. “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.”) This teaches a practical truth in a pithy and thought provoking way. Yet we are also familiar with extended proverbs like the parables of Jesus. Parables also teach a core truth in a thought provoking way. Proverbs employ poetry to establish their meaning. Hebrew poetry does not rely on meter or rhyme like some English poetry. Instead, two or more lines are stated in a way that the meaning is deepened by the relationship between the lines. The first line may state a truth that is reinforced through synonymous language in the following line(s). This is called synonymous parallelism. For example: “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loa...

The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. As we approach the book of Proverbs, we need to understand the nature of the book. The first thing that we must know is that this is a book of proverbs that were primarily written by King Solomon. Solomon was the son of David, and succeeded David to the throne (1 Kings 1:39). 1 Kings 4:32 tells us that he wrote and collected more than 3,000 proverbs. The Holy Spirit has not preserved all the proverbs that Solomon ever wrote, for there are only about 800 verses in the book of Proverbs. So these are selected proverbs. Chapters 1-24 are a collection of proverbs that was probably collected during the time of Solomon. Chapters 25-29 were collected and published under King Hezekiah. Chapters 30 and 31 contain proverbs written by Agur and Lemuel respectively, and may have been collected by Solomon. Some have even speculated that “Lemuel” is another name for Solomon. But in any case, Solomon played a prominent role in writing and colle...