1. Pursue Wisdom (verses 4-7)
2. Prize Wisdom (verses 8-9)
3. Pursue Jesus
4. Prize Jesus

I want to begin this morning by asking you to think about your childhood. For some of you children, this might be easy, as you are going through it right now. For those of you who are older, this may be a bit more difficult, and in some cases, it may be painful.

Particularly, I want for you to think about your parents and what they taught you. I want to see if you can come up with some of the key phrases of wisdom that continue with you to this day.

For instance, one of the things that my father always taught me was that every purchase you make is another burden you add to your life, especially those larger purchases. If you buy a car, you have to license it, insure it, clean it, repair it, fill it with gas, and maintain it. If you buy a house, the same thing: insurance, cleaning, and repairs. The same is true of boats and campers and cabins and rental properties. Everything that you buy becomes another burden for you. It’s but one of the lessons that my father taught me over the years. Every time I have made a big purchase, he has told me, “Steve, you are adding to your burden.” It’s even true of smaller items: sofas and china cabinets and riding lawnmowers and yes, even pool tables. All of these things add to our earthly burden. When my father is long gone and I make a large purchase of one sort or another, I will still hear him say, “Steve, you are adding to your burden.”

A corollary to this is that he has always encouraged me to “travel light.” That is, whenever going on a trip, he has taught that it is better to bring along less than more. Bring less and your trip will be more enjoyable.

Another lesson that my father has taught me is to live below your means. Just because you have the financial resources to make a purchase doesn’t mean that you have to make the purchase. It’s better to save, better to have your money in the bank earning interest or invested in the market gaining a return, than it is to be in debt. The way that you do that is to live below your means, so that you can pay off your debts, save for the future, and reduce the pressure of life. Live below your means.

I remember learning these lessons from my father, and I have sought to pass them on to my children. So I had a conversation with my children last night, particularly my older two. I asked them about some of the core things that they remember me teaching them. I asked them after I had decided that I would share these things about my own father.

They talked about me teaching them math. They said I always taught them to “write neatly and draw a picture.” (Kids, if you are working on your math, this is good counsel.) They also said that I taught them to “let it roll off your back,” that is, rather than fighting with each other, take the high road and let the problem go. That’s good counsel for you kids as well, especially if you want to get along with your brothers and sisters. Another thing they said they learned was “clean as you go.” (My children still haven’t quite got that one down yet.) Then they said, “Save early and often.”

I was encouraged by this, because that’s one thing that I remember my father teaching me: to prioritize saving your money rather than spending it. In some ways, as our children embrace this, they are really embracing the teaching of their grandfather. In effect, they are listening to Grandpa.

It’s worth noting that Proverbs 17:6 says, “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.” Children, when you pay attention to your grandfather, it is a crown to him. Think about how you can be a crown to your grandparents.
 
The title of my message this morning is “Listen to Grandpa,” because our text today deals with a father who learned his lessons from his father and was passing them on to his children. In effect, he was telling them to “Listen to Grandpa.” We see this in our text, Proverbs, chapter 4, the first 9 verses.

Proverbs 4:1-9
Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
for I give you good precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son with my father,
    tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
he taught me and said to me,
    “Let your heart hold fast my words;
        keep my commandments, and live.
    Get wisdom; get insight;
        do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
    Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
        love her, and she will guard you.
    The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
        and whatever you get, get insight.
    Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
        she will honor you if you embrace her.
    She will place on your head a graceful garland;
        she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

This section of Proverbs begins like so many sections in Proverbs do, calling upon sons to listen to the counsel of their father. The opening call of verse 1 is almost exactly what Solomon wrote in chapter 1.

Proverbs 1:8
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
    and forsake not your mother’s teaching.

It is very similar to what was written in chapter 2:1, and to 3:1, and to 3:11, and to 3:21. It is similar to what we will see in chapter 4, verses 10 and 20, and several more times after that. You would go astray if you tried to look for the differences in these verses and figure out a purpose for the slight variations, because they all have the same purpose: to call children to listen to their parents.

Now, I’ve been struggling all week trying to understand this. Why is Solomon so repetitive? Of course, it’s because our children are slow to learn these things. They need repetition. They need to hear the same things over and over and over again, and the most important things they need to hear more often. The most important thing that children need to hear is this: listen to your parents. God gave you your parents to guide you through life. They know you better than anyone else does. They love you more than anyone else does. They have the greatest wisdom on earth for you. So listen to your parents. It’s the best thing for you. In chapter 3, verse 1, Solomon promises length of days to those who listen to their parents. The same promise is made in chapter 4, verse 10: “Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.”

If there is only one thing that the children of our church take away from the book of Proverbs, I hope it is this: listen to your parents. In verse 2, he says, “for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching.” Whatever the failings of your parents, this is probably true of the vast majority of everything that they tell you: they give you good precepts, good counsel. The things that they instruct you to do are good. Children, are you listening to your parents? Or are you resisting them, or ignoring them, or arguing with them? Don’t do that. It will only lead to your own troubles. Listen to their advice and accept their instruction, and in the end, you will be wise (Proverbs 19:20). If you are not listening to your parents, it is probably an indication that you are not listening to the LORD, because this is your first instruction: listen to your parents. Those who stray from the Lord usually do so by first straying from their parents. This is part of the Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). So children, it’s really simple: listen to your parents, for they give you good precepts; do not forsake their teaching.

In verse 3, Solomon tells his own children how he listened to his father and calls upon them to do the same.

Proverbs 4:3-4
When I was a son with my father,
    tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
he taught me and said to me,
    “Let your heart hold fast my words;
        keep my commandments, and live.”

When Solomon talks here of his father, he means David, the king, the man after God’s own heart. When Solomon talks here of his mother, he means Bathsheba, the former wife of Uriah. If you know their story, you know of the troubles they faced. It reads like a soap opera. Their relationship began in adultery. Their relationship led to a murder in order to keep it going. This sin caused many problems in the kingdom. Solomon was not their first child. Their first child died as a result of the judgment of God for their sin. Nathan the prophet told David.

2 Samuel 12:13b-14b
The LORD also has put away your sin… Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.

Indeed, the child died. Solomon’s life was filled with drama in his home. One of Solomon’s half-brothers defiled his half-sister, and David didn’t deal with the problem. He ignored it, and it led to the murder of Solomon’s half-brother. At one point, his half-brother Absalom tried to take the kingdom from his father, and Absalom died in battle. When David died, Adonijah, another half-brother, tried to take the kingdom from Solomon, which led to his death as well. So Solomon’s home life wasn’t perfect. It was filled with hardship. Yet Solomon didn’t use this as an excuse not to listen to his father. Rather, he listened to his father’s advice.

David’s advice was simple: 

1. Pursue Wisdom (verses 4-7)

Look at David’s teaching.

Proverbs 4:5-7
Get wisdom; get insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    love her, and she will guard you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get insight.

These verses are the basis of the theme that we have gathered from Proverbs: “Get wisdom.” It’s what David told Solomon to do. It’s what Solomon is telling his son to do. “Get wisdom.” “Get insight.” “Don’t forsake her.” “Love her.” “Whatever you get, get insight.” In other words, David is urging his son to “Listen to Grandpa,” and Grandpa says: 1. Pursue Wisdom (verses 4-7).

I love how this is illustrated in Solomon’s life. Turn with me, if you will, to the book of 1 Kings. In your pew Bible, it’s found on page 279. First Kings begins with the transition of the kingdom from David to Solomon. Shortly before David died, he brought Solomon into his chamber and gave him some advice.

1 Kings 2:1-4
When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the LORD may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’”

In other words: seek the LORD and walk in his ways. If you do, you will live. This is everything that Proverbs has been teaching us over the past two months: following the LORD will lead to blessing in your life. It is the best way to live. Wisdom will protect you. Wisdom will guard you. Wisdom will be your delight. Where do you think that Solomon learned this? He learned it at home, as David taught him.

Such teaching ought to be on the lips of every mother and father. Parents, are you teaching these things to your children? Are you telling them to seek the LORD? Are you telling them of the benefits? That God’s lovingkindness is new every morning? That his faithfulness continues every night? That he will never leave you or forsake you? That all his ways are just? On the flip side, the warnings should come as well: God is able to humble those who walk in pride, and there are real consequences for sin.

Through all of David’s failures, he sought to teach this to Solomon, and these words in 1 Kings 2 were surely not the only time David ever instructed his son. Surely there were other times, because we see in chapter 3 Solomon seeking the LORD. Look over at chapter 3, beginning in verse 3.

1 Kings 3:3-9
Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. Your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

This is a great summary of Solomon’s life: he loved the LORD, but had many failings in that love. First Kings 3:1 already records him making a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, a compromise that would eventually lead him down a wrong path. As 1 Kings 11 records, it was women who led him astray in the end. In many ways, his failures led him to write Ecclesiastes, and it is good for our young people to be hearing Proverbs on Sunday mornings and Ecclesiastes on Wednesday evenings. They form a good complement.

Parents, this is a reminder that all we do for children here at church, whether youth group or children’s ministry, is in support of what happens in the home. What is taught on Sunday morning can be undone by one careless word from dad on the way home. A bad example at home can thwart much good from church. So I encourage you: pray together, read the Scriptures together, talk about the Word together, and sing together. Be the same person at home as you are at church, steady and faithful, pressing your children toward the Lord.

Anyway back to 1 Kings 3. Do you see what Solomon is doing? He is "Pursuing Wisdom." When God comes to him and asks him whatever he wants, he asks for wisdom. Note how Solomon asked: he asked right away. He didn’t say, “Can I have more time to think about this?” He didn’t seek the counsel of others. He didn’t have to pray about it. His first reaction was to ask for wisdom.

It is like the counsel given to preachers, who are told to preach from a burden in the heart. It’s called the 3am test. It’s Saturday night and the preacher is sleeping. Suddenly, he is awakened and asked, “What are you preaching this morning?” The preacher should be able to say, “Listen to Grandpa: Pursue Wisdom! Prize Wisdom!” because it is so much on his heart that he wants to share it. In a similar way, wisdom was on Solomon’s heart. He knew his need, so when the LORD appeared to him at night and asked him what he wanted, he instantly asked for wisdom. It shows that his heart for wisdom was developed long beforehand, and he knew that he needed it. So in the moment, this was his request: “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil.”

This didn’t come from nowhere. This is what David had taught him long ago.

Proverbs 4:5-7
Get wisdom; get insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    love her, and she will guard you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get insight.

This is what Solomon calls his sons to do: “Listen to Grandpa: pursue wisdom.” Here we see it in action. Solomon was "Pursuing Wisdom. Here is the good news: God is willing to give wisdom to all who ask. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him" (James 1:5).

Notice that when Solomon asked for wisdom, it pleased the LORD (1 Kings 3:10). God loves that prayer. Remember from Proverbs chapter 1 how wisdom was calling out in the streets and the son refused her? God loves it when we do the opposite, when we accept wisdom and want it. We see the LORD giving wisdom beginning in verse 10.

1 Kings 3:10-14
It pleased the LORD that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

Solomon listened to his father and pursued wisdom. God gave it, and God told him that walking in wisdom is the path to blessing, just as Proverbs has been speaking over and over for three chapters.

1 Kings 3:15
Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Here we see his first expression of wisdom. In verse 4, he had offered sacrifices in Gibeon. But now he came to Jerusalem to offer the sacrifices, as the LORD commanded. Gibeon wasn’t to be the place of worship; Jerusalem was. (In 2 Samuel 6, the ark of the covenant came into the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.) After receiving wisdom from the LORD, his first expression of that wisdom was an act of worship according to the way God had prescribed. Wisdom will worship the LORD in the way that he requires. For us, this means worshiping the LORD through Jesus Christ. Jesus said. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).Don’t think that you can worship the LORD in whatever way suits you best. It is only through the redemption that comes through the cross of Christ that you can worship the Lord. You cannot come to him on your own merits.

The second expression of wisdom was shown in Solomon’s discernment in the great story of the two women who came to him. The story is too good for us to pass up this morning.

1 Kings 3:16-27
Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. This woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. She arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.
Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” The king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.”

It’s a great story and a great expression of the wisdom that God had given to Solomon. Everyone knew it.

1 Kings 3:28
All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

This is what wisdom does. If you are wise in your behavior, people will notice, and you will be respected and honored. This is exactly what Proverbs says. Turn back to our text.

2. Prize Wisdom (verses 8-9)

In verses 4-7, we saw how we ought to 1. Pursue Wisdom. Now Solomon exhorts us to 2. Prize Wisdom (verses 8-9).

Proverbs 4:8-9
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
    she will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a graceful garland;
    she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.

That is, value her. Place a great value on her. Hold her fast. Don’t sell her. There is a difference between endlessly pursuing wisdom and actually prizing it. Some people are always pursuing knowledge of the truth but never seem to arrive at it (2 Timothy 3:7). Socrates was a bit like that, always asking questions, always pursuing, but never quite getting there. Prizing wisdom means you have it,  you are keeping it, possessing it, loving it as a prized possession. As Job says, “Buy truth and sell it not.” Don’t let go of it. Hold it fast.

Follow after the ways of wisdom. Solomon promises here that she will exalt you, honor you if you embrace her, place on your head a graceful garland, and bestow on you a beautiful crown. That’s exactly what took place with Solomon. When the people of Israel heard of his wisdom in dealing with the two prostitutes, they “stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice” (1 Kings 3:28). When people see your wisdom, they will honor you as well. Even for you children.

Proverbs 20:11
Even a child makes himself known by his acts,
    by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

If you walk in the ways of wisdom, others will take note of your conduct, and you will be honored for your wisdom. Paul exhorted young Timothy, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:12). Even as a young person, you can walk in such pure speech and good conduct that you become an example to others of what it means to follow Jesus.

Solomon experienced others taking notice of his wisdom later in his life, when the Queen of Sheba paid him a visit. She came with camels, spices, gold, and precious stones to hear the wisdom of Solomon. When Solomon answered all of her questions and when she saw all that he had in his kingdom, she said.

1 Kings 10:6-9
“The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. Behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”

Not only was Solomon honored, but the LORD was glorified. It is a little like the early church after the incident with Ananias and Sapphira, when the people stood in awe because they saw that God was at work in the life of the church. Jesus himself, who so often caused people to fear and marvel at his miracles because they knew that God was with him. Likewise, when we walk wisely, we can bring people to awe of God. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). When people see wisdom in your life, they should see the Lord through it.

This is the promise that Solomon gives: “She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” That’s what Solomon experienced. That’s what we all might experience.

So, listen to Grandpa by pursuing wisdom (verses 4-7) and by prizing wisdom (verses 8-9).

One last thing that my dad taught me is that he would never ask me to do anything that he had not done before or wasn’t willing to do himself. In other words, he taught me to live by example, not merely by words. He used to say this when he asked me to do things, especially if I complained, whether it was mowing the lawn, or cleaning the dishes, or cleaning the garage, or fixing a problem in our house.

But the greatest way in which this is true is his following the Lord. I have a picture here of his tombstone, where his body will lie until the resurrection. On the tombstone he has chosen an inscription from Psalm 37.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

He was 50 years old when he was exposed to a Bible-teaching church. Until that time, he was simply “doing church” along with the crowd. But when he began attending a Bible-teaching church, his life was changed. He called his family to follow him in the ways of the Lord. I’m so thankful for the teaching of my father, and I pray that my children would “Listen to Grandpa.” When it comes to the Lord, he has done what our text calls us to do today.

3. Pursue Jesus

Ultimately, the pursuit of wisdom leads us to a pursuit of Jesus himself. Consider what comes right after Peter’s confession in Matthew 16. Jesus tells his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised. Peter rebuked him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you” (Matthew 16:22). But Jesus turned and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23). When Jesus set forth what it meant to be the Christ, it meant he would suffer, be unjustly condemned, and die a painful and shameful death upon the cross. But three days later, he would rise. That is our hope.

Then Jesus says in Matthew 16:24-25.

Matthew 16:24-25
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

To pursue Jesus you must forsake all, deny yourself, and take up an instrument of death. You cannot say, “I believe in Jesus, but I’m not going to give up my fun.” You either pursue Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, or you are not pursuing him at all. This is why Paul said in Philippians 3 that the one thing he does is press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus: that I may know him. That is pursuing Jesus. 

4. Prize Jesus

Prizing Jesus comes in one verse from that same passage in Matthew 16:26.

Matthew 16:26
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

That is the value of Jesus, the price of the soul. Think of the richest man in the world, with billions of dollars and no hope of ever being able to spend it all. What benefit is that in the end? Fifty years from now, a hundred years from now, I will gladly take my riches in Christ over all the wealth in the world. That is what it means to prize Jesus: not to gain the whole world at the cost of your soul, but to seek Jesus for your soul, which is your whole life.

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on September 22, 2019 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.