Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 119 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.
Proverbs – The Background
Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 119 of our Trek. For the past three days, we had an extended trek as we explored the reasons we make excuses, which are primarily based in fear. Then, we discovered the types of excuses we make, and yesterday we learned how we can eliminate excuses forever. If you missed any of the past three days, please check out the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal to catch up.
Today we are going to deviate a bit from our scripted wisdom lessons and begin an overview and commentary of the ultimate book of wisdom, which is the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs has more nuggets of wisdom condensed into a short, easy to read book, than any other book ever written. The truths contained in Proverbs are the basis for most other books of wisdom. We won’t go straight through the book of Proverbs all at once, but we will intermix the commentary with other wisdom nuggets. As we go through the book of Proverbs, we will be assembling a complete commentary that will be available as an eBook in the future. I will also be assembling the Wisdom-Trek journals into a series of quarterly eBook volumes that will be available for downloading.
Before we get started, I want to remind you of the drawing in celebration of the 100th day of our Wisdom-Trek. There are only four more days to register and you can register once per day. We will have the drawing on October 5th and will be giving away 7 Wisdom-Trek t-shirts.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. On Saturday, we spent the morning with our four Marietta grandchildren as Elizabeth ran some errands. In the afternoon, we celebrated our granddaughter Hazel’s 1st birthday. She has just started to walk and is a sweet little redhead with bright eyes and a cute little smile. It was a treat. My dad was also able to attend, so it was really good to spend time together once again as family.
On the days that we spend studying the book of Proverbs, we’ll just sit around our campfire, relax, and enjoy the wisdom nuggets that we will consume. These tidbits of wisdom that we will explore are like making s’mores over the fiery coals. They are sweet to our taste and delicious to consume. It also gives us an opportunity to reflect on gaining wisdom.
I am going to keep it more conversational as if we were literally sitting next to each other. Through the magic of our modern technology I am there right beside you. If you have any comments or questions, please share them in the comment section of our daily journal pages.
As I share the wisdom of Proverbs, I will also weave some related scriptures into our lessons as they apply. So, let’s get started on our time together for today.
Proverbs – The Background
All we will be able to cover today is a background to the book of Proverbs. Most of the book of Proverbs was written or assembled by King Solomon who ruled the nation of Israel for 40 years. He was the third King of Israel after Saul, who was killed in battle, and then his father David who died of old age and chose Solomon as King after him based on God’s direction. Solomon brought peace and wealth to the nation. Solomon’s workmen built palaces, and the great temple which was a permanent house for God in Jerusalem.
When he was young, Solomon obeyed God. He asked God for wisdom, and God gave it to him. The account is found in 1 Kings 3:3-15.
3 “Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. 4 The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. 5 That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!’
6 Solomon replied, ‘You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.’
7 ‘Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. 8 And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! 9 Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?’
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. 11 So God replied, ‘Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies — 12 I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! 13 And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! 14 And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.’”
By God’s proclamation Solomon was the wisest person to ever live. Solomon learned and wrote many proverbs or wise words. He collected 3000 proverbs, a fact found in the account in 1 Kings [4:29]-34.
Solomon – The Wisest Man Ever
29 “God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. 30 In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations.32 He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33 He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish. 34 And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.”
One of those people was the queen of Sheba who visited Solomon in an account found in 1 Kings 10:1-9. She asked him many questions. His answers showed great knowledge of many subjects. He taught about plants, animals, and fish. Solomon became more and more famous.
Visit of the Queen of Sheba
1 “When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord,[a] she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold, and precious jewels. When she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind. 3 Solomon had answers for all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba realized how very wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built, 5 she was overwhelmed. She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials and their splendid clothing, the cup-bearers, and the burnt offerings Solomon made at the Temple of the Lord.
6 She exclaimed to the king, ‘Everything I heard in my country about your achievements[b] and wisdom is true! 7 I didn’t believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, I had not heard the half of it! Your wisdom and prosperity are far beyond what I was told. 8 How happy your people[c] must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom! 9 Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness.’”
The Book of Proverbs contains many of these proverbs. It also contains other lessons about wisdom, and the Book of Proverbs contains many poems about wisdom.
Solomon also wrote Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon in the Bible. The Bible contains some other books about wisdom. These books are Job, Ecclesiastes, and James. And Jesus taught lessons about wisdom in Matthew chapters 5 to 7 and Luke chapters 11 to 16.
Today we had just a brief introduction to the book of Proverbs, so join us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Tomorrow we will see why the book of Proverbs is so important and lay out the six sections contained with it.
That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom on Wisdom-Trek.com, iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spreaker, or YouTube. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends so they can come along with us each day.
The journal for today’s Trek can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!