Proverbs 15 - 1.25.23

Scripture

Proverbs 15:33 

Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor.

Observation-What does it say?

King Solomon shares his wisdom in the book of Proverbs. In this verse, he shares where his wisdom originates from.

Understanding-What does it mean?

Wisdom starts with respecting the Lord.

Solomon knows a thing or two about wisdom. If you have also been following along in the book of Ecclesiastes (which point to the author as King Solomon-David’s son, as well), he was the wisest King who had ever lived!

1 Kings 4:29-34 describes Solomon’s wisdom like this:

“God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”

With all the wisdom King Solomon had, he states 2 things about it in this verse: (1) Fear the Lord.  (2) Stay humble.

Life Application

Want to be wise? Fear the Lord and stay humble.

One of my favorite Scriptures growing up was, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)

A popular prayer of many Christians (that I have prayed as well) is, “Lord, please give me Your wisdom.” However, the first step in obtaining that is through respecting Him, obeying Him and staying humble to what He wants us to do, not what we want.

Dear Lord, King Solomon has taught me that the pursuits of this world is meaningless. He has also taught me where true wisdom originated from and it’s not from having the most training or the highest degree or getting a bunch of knowledge from self help books. It’s through fearing and respecting You! I pray that my life would display reverence to You alone and humility of heart to move where You lead, not where I want to go. Amen.

-Michelle Gaddi