Reading the book of Proverbs is like drinking a glass of clear water on a hot day when you did not realize how thirsty you were. It is unexpected, different, and deeply satisfying. The four so called “wisdom” books in the Old Testament (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and The Song of Solomon) are dangerously practical. They deal with the circumstances of normal everyday life: work, family, finance, leisure, alcohol, speech, and exposing our deep motivations.
In Biblical terms, “wisdom” is not just learned through experience. Wisdom begins, grows, and bears fruit in the fear of the Lord. It requires humility and hunger before the person of God and his word. It requires our acknowledgement that we are not wise, so that we turn to God to fear him in all things, with all our hearts, all our days. The wisdom revealed in Proverbs is relational, not intellectual. If we come to know and love God more deeply the book is achieving its purpose.