This week’s all the E100 readings have been from psalms and proverbs – you might think that this means we have taken a break from following the Israelites, from the life of David, but there are many links. Psalm 51, Tuesday's reading was written by David in his remorse over his wrongdoings – breaking four of the ten commandments. His remorse was heard by God and forgiven.
The first child of David and Bathsheba died but the other readings come from Proverbs and we have heard the beginning of Proverbs read to us – these are the words of wisdom from Solomon. The son of David who became king after him, not just the son of David but the son of Bathsheba as well. No sins of the father falling on the son here, indeed Solomon it is who has the honour of building the temple. If you remember David wanted to build the temple but God did not want a man of war, but a man of peace.
If you know anything of Solomon you probably know of his wisdom, perhaps the story of him dealing with the two mothers one of whom had lost her child in the night, his insight which restored the living child to its mother and his wisdom in settling the disputes of his people. So it is perhaps no surprise that one of his legacies to us is much of the book of proverbs. We value people who have wisdom and are wise, if we know someone who is exceptionally wise we will talk of them having the wisdom of Solomon and yet how often do we read proverbs that we too might understand how to be wise, how to respond with wisdom? One purpose of the E100 challenge has been that we perhaps discover or rediscover how the Old Testament can help us as we live our Christian lives.
Both proverbs and the psalms talk of situations we may find ourselves in and the kind of responses including emotional responses we may have. The readings were obviously set many weeks ago, but both the proverbs and the psalm have shown how timeless is the word of God as we consider the recent events on our streets. Also note how, given the many discussions this week on the role of parents, verse 8 says We also have advice in today’s psalm Proverbs is about giving advice for individuals and society as is declared at the beginning it is: Read one by one many of the verses seem to talk about society and how we relate to other people but fundamentally wisdom is about listening to God: verse 7 sums it up The entire book is about wisdom and knowledge. And all of wisdom, all of knowledge begins with the fear of the Lord – that is it begins by us being ready to listen to want to learn. One of my mother’s favourite sayings is the serenity prayer: This prayer acknowledges that there are times when we need to act and times when we need to accept – but to know the difference we need wisdom. So where do we find this wisdom? Reading proverbs is one source.
But first let me say something about wisdom as the word is used in proverbs. It isn’t about being intelligent it is much more about a way of living – Proverbs 30 says In each situation the people, lack something that is seen as needed to live well but they find a way to overcome that lack. So how do we become exceedingly wise? This isn’t easy – each animal had a different problem and a different solution. We can read proverbs and see truth but still need to discern what is wise for us, as verse 5 says . It acknowledges that this is not easy. So how do we read proverbs to answer the question “how do we live our lives? Lives that are not just good for us but as v3 puts it, include righteousness, justice, and equity. Proverbs contains descriptions of lives devoted to God, as well as instruction and advice for how to live such lives. You don’t need to read for long to see that proverbs gives a big role to correction, discipline, and rebuke. Many verses are written as a father or mother giving advice to a son – are these verses only for the young? Can we skip over them if we already grown? No for any of these verses can challenge us to consider how we live our lives, who we listen to, what values do we use in our dealings with others – If we want to gain in learning we will read to hear God’s voice – as proverbs says . This is perhaps where the parable of the sower of the seed comes in – all the seed was good but not all the ground was prepared. The fool of proverbs is the one who ignores the word of the lord – he is the path so hard, so set in his ways that the seed can not take root. Proverbs contains much that can learn from if we read it prepared to allow the word to take root in our hearts.
Wisdom is the skill of living. It is practical knowledge that helps us know how to act and how to speak in different situations. Wisdom entails the ability to avoid problems, and the skill to handle them when they arise not by applying formulas but by being seeing the world through God’s eyes, seeing the bigger picture and responding accordingly.
So this week can we pray for all those in power in our communities and in our government that they may have wisdom as they seek to respond to the riots. May they not act in anger but seek ways to bring instruction to the young and others in that they may build communities which are united in justice and righteousness. May we also pray for ourselves as we consider how to respond I finish by returning to the serenity prayer.