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Proverbs 1:1

“Every day you will have decisions to make.

Real-world decisions that your life depends on.”

Son, think of all the decisions you’ve made so far today.

Based on your own independent judgment, you chose what you were going to eat for breakfast (if you ate breakfast). You chose to take a shower (if you took a shower). You chose to brush your teeth (if you brushed your teeth). You chose the clothes you’re wearing (if you’re wearing clothes). And on and on and on.

People face a multitude of choices and make hundreds of decisions every day of their lives. Some are too insignificant to even register as self-conscious thought. For example, those routine decisions that you hardly even know you’re making—like whether to open the carton of milk with your left or right hand, or in what order to put your socks on when you’re getting dressed. Those sorts of mundane choices tend to be inconsequential, and I don’t want to waste precious time micromanaging your microdecisions.

Instead, I want us to concentrate on those everyday choices that can have real-world significance. The ones that have the potential to impact the trajectory of your entire life.

Daily decisions, like:

 Will you choose to pursue God today? Or will you choose to stand in opposition to him?

 Will you walk in the upright way of wisdom? Or will you take the easy route like a fool and walk on the path of the wicked?

 Will you focus your romantic interests toward the right woman? Or will you blur the lines of your integrity with forbidden lusts?

 Will you make the effort to earn self-respect? Or will you waste your time chasing worthless pursuits?

These are everyday choices that every man must make. And believe it or not, your overall success or failure in life depends on how you handle these daily decisions.

A lifestyle that emphasizes good choices can lead to real success, while a series of bad choices can lead to untimely ruin. I learned this lesson early in life when I saw the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I was an eleven-year-old boy when this movie came to theaters in the summer of 1989. And to this day, the climactic scene involving Indy, the Nazi stooge, the beautiful-but-untrustworthy Austrian, the seven-hundred-year-old knight, and the Holy Grail still plays a role in my decision-making philosophy as a man in my forties. After all, the notion that the wrong choice could cause a man’s flesh to rot off, his eyeballs to sink into his skull, and his skeleton to disintegrate into dust all within a matter of seconds is the kind of idea that can (and probably should) recalibrate anybody’s understanding of the concept of consequences.

Let’s consider the scene. Donovan, the Nazi stooge, had one decision to make upon entering the ancient Grail chamber: choose the one true Holy Grail.1 But there was a twist. The true Grail was mixed in with dozens of other false grails. And anyone who sought to claim the Grail had but one chance to choose wisely. Drinking from the true Grail “will bring you life,” the guardian knight said. Drinking from the false grail, however, “will take it from you.” With the stakes set, Donovan scanned row after row of chalices and goblets with a gun in his hand and a blank stare of bewilderment in his eye. “I’m not a historian,” he said. “I have no idea what it looks like. Which one is it?”

The multitude of choices overwhelmed him. The pressure of having only one shot to choose the one true Grail from an excess of options paralyzed his mind. So instead of choosing for himself, he deferred to the judgment of a supposed expert: the beautiful-but-untrustworthy Austrian professor. He allowed her to make his choice for him. This, of course, resulted in Donovan’s aforementioned destruction.

“He chose poorly,” as the knight put it when Donovan drank from a false grail and melted away.

Donovan was a ruthless and self-absorbed man with a bad habit of making bad choices. That one short sip from the false grail was the bad decision that cost him his life. But it was hardly the first poor choice he had made in this story. A slew of bad choices got him to that point in the first place and contributed his demise.

These bad choices included:

 Lusting after the power of the Grail and attempting to manipulate the mighty hand of God to fulfill his own corrupt ends.

 Aligning himself with bad influences. In his case, the Nazis—or the armies of darkness, as Indy’s father aptly labeled them.

 Compromising his integrity by lying and cheating his way into the Grail chamber.

 Failing to possess the proper knowledge, especially regarding the character of Christ. As a result, he failed to make a wise decision as to which cup was the true Grail and which ones were deadly imposters.

 And in his final act of foolishness, surrendering the authority of his own mind to someone else—that is, letting the beautiful-but-untrustworthy Austrian professor make up his mind for him. This foolishness cost him his life.

Donovan’s pursuit of the Grail proved to be a quest of self-destruction because his decision-making skills were inept (to put it mildly). Indiana Jones, however, won the day by making a series of wise choices, proving yet again why he’s the most industrious swashbuckling hero this side of Han Solo.

Indy’s wise choices included:

 Fearing the power of God and respecting the power of the Holy Grail.

 Partnering with his wise father, Henry Jones Sr., and utilizing his guidance to succeed in his mission.

 Drawing upon his own vast knowledge of facts and employing a strong sense of reason to make informed choices. Examples include: using his father’s instructions to successfully navigate the lethal challenges in the Grail temple, and properly understanding the character of Jesus (“That’s the cup of a carpenter,” Indy said as he grabbed the cup of Christ) to discern the true Grail from the false ones.

 Backing up his decisions with action. Indiana Jones as a character is a rare breed of alpha male who is both intelligent and courageous. He’s smart enough to develop a plan and skilled enough to carry it out. He thinks quickly on his feet and never allows opposition stop him from achieving his goals.

 Being mentally strong enough to think for himself. Unlike Donovan, Indy didn’t need to rely on someone else to do his thinking for him. In the Grail chamber, he took responsibility for his own mind and made his own decision. And as a result, he chose wisely, as the knight said.

Son, as Indiana Jones proved, reality forces every man to make choices. Every day you will have decisions to make. Real-world decisions that your life depends on. If you want to find true success, a Donovan-esque evasion of this responsibility is out of the question.

The only question is: Day in and day out, will you make good choices or bad choices?

Wise decisions lay the groundwork for a life of meaning and productivity. A life worth living. And while not all bad choices immediately result in your face melting off, every bad choice does plague your life with wasted time and lost opportunities and long-term suffering.

The real world, as it turns out, has a lot more in common with that ancient Grail chamber than we realize. Every day the world is going to present you with a multitude of choices to make. The right choice can lead to abundant life, while any one of the wrong choices can result in certain failure. This overabundance of options has the power to overwhelm your thought process. It can paralyze your mind and make the truth seem ambiguous or even impossible to discover. Thus making the wise choice and finding that one right answer in any given situation can be difficult because there are often multiple answers that look and feel like the right answer.

If such everyday decisions have the potential to impact a man’s entire life, how then is he supposed to choose? How can anyone discern that one grail of truth from among life’s many falsehoods?

Well, as the knight said in the Grail chamber, any man who desires to go forth and lay claim to the gift of life must first take on the responsibility of making wise choices.

The Wisdom Equation

Since wisdom is the dividing line between life and death, let’s take a moment to sharpen our understanding of wisdom as a biblical concept.

The Hebrew notion of wisdom denotes both intellectual aptitude and physical skill.2 According to Old Testament scholars Andrew Hill and John Walton, “wisdom is basically the very practical art of being prudent, sensible, and skillfully insightful so that one might prosper and have good success in life.” Hill and Walton point out that wisdom involves “the ability to discern and achieve order” in the world, in political and social relations, and within one’s own heart. “Wisdom taps the life experience of accumulated years and harnesses that knowledge and understanding for the purpose of safety, long life, right behavior, sound moral character, happiness, material prosperity, and integrity.” They conclude: “Ultimately, wisdom results in the ability to steer through life in a way that wins favor and a good name in the sight of both humanity and God.”3

With this broader biblical context in mind, I will now give you my own refined definition of wisdom. In its most basic sense, wisdom is making knowledgeable, moral life choices and acting on those choices with an effective degree of rationality and skill.

Think of this four-part definition as a mathematical equation:

Knowledge + Morality + Rationality + Skill = Wisdom

Each constant within this equation is valuable in its own right. But a wise man will utilize all four in conjunction to find the correct answers to his everyday problems. To better understand how wisdom works as a life solution, let’s take a closer look at the value of each constant.

Knowledge. A man kickstarts his quest for wisdom by seeking out the cold, hard facts of reality. Knowledge enables a man to make informed decisions. Knowledge, therefore, is the cornerstone of the wisdom equation. After all, you can’t do the right thing if you don’t first know on an intellectual level what the right thing is.

The man who has a handle on the facts is a man who’s well on his way to getting a handle on his life. To be clear: an astronomical IQ score doesn’t make a man wise. But knowledge is a foundational aspect of a wise mind. Take Indiana Jones for example. He had knowledge not only of the Grail itself, but also the cup’s Owner. As a result, when the time came to make a decision, he chose wisely. Donovan, by his own admission, lacked the knowledge he needed and paid for his ignorance with his life.

Son, as these men proved, a working knowledge of the facts kick-starts the thinking process. It leads to both mental and moral clarity, which lay the groundwork for good decision making.

Morality. And make no mistake: Morality and wisdom go hand-in-hand. Knowledge of the facts is not enough. If you want to make good decisions, then you must also be able to discern good from bad in any given situation. If knowledge is the foundation of the wisdom equation, then morality is the spinal cord—it signals your reflexes, coordinates your movements, and stabilizes your behavior. If you disregard morality in your decision-making process, you’ve paralyzed yourself from the get-go. The man who incorporates a strong sense of morality into his thinking, however, acts on noble motivations. He stands firm in his convictions and walks tall in his integrity. His attention to virtue facilitates self-respect and allows him to take genuine pride in his choices.

Morality facilitates wisdom by simplifying your choices. Making tough decisions is never easy. But an absolute sense of morality streamlines the process by dividing your options into two mutually exclusive categories: good or evil. With every decision you make, you’re either accomplishing righteousness or perpetrating wickedness. Like Indy and Donovan, you’re either drinking eternal life from the true cup of Christ, or you’re sipping death from a fatal pretender. There is no morally neutral middle ground. There is only morality and immorality—life and death—and everything you choose to think and say and do falls into one of those two categories.

Son, the world will try to label you a moral zealot if you refuse to operate in subjective shades of gray. But as a wise man, you must cut through the amoral dissonance of this world and see life for what it really is: a series of binary choices. The truth is there is no gray. There is only white or black. Wisdom or wickedness. Truth or lies. Life or death.

Moral subjectivity is an empty concept that fosters sympathy for the devil. So make sure you use absolute definitions of right and wrong to govern your behavior.

Rationality. Knowledge informs your choices. Morality empowers you to take genuine pride in your choices. But rational thinking enables you to make good choices in the first place. The man who thinks rationally is the man who can see the world as it truly is. He can distinguish between truth and falsehood. And he is wise not because he perceives the truth, but because he chooses to think and act in accord with the truth. This makes him a rational man.

The truth is that which corresponds to reality—that which is real. Reality itself is an objective and absolute fact. Existence is what it is, and it exists independent of our opinions or wishes or imaginations. Reality is absolute and firm. The truth, therefore, is absolute and firm. This means the truth is always true. Neither the passage of time nor the cycle of culture can change it. Rationality is the recognition of and the submission to reality. And the rational man is the one who lives in uncompromised harmony with that reality. With the truth. Rational thinking is an essential aspect of the wisdom equation because it grounds your decisions in the truth. A wise man doesn’t have to be brilliant. But he must think reasonably. He must be rational.

For an example of rational thinking in practice, look once again to the example of Indiana Jones in the Grail chamber. Indy knew Jesus was a modest carpenter and not a man of worldly means. Based on this fact, he deduced that the cup of Christ would not be some lavish royal vessel (as Donovan thought it should be). It would instead match the humble personality of a King who came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45). Unlike Donovan, Indy didn’t base his choice on what he thought the Grail should look like. He instead chose a cup that was battered and worn and humble in outward appearance, like its true Owner.4 Indy committed himself to a rational thought process which followed the facts rather than his personal preferences. And his success in choosing the one true Grail testifies to my point: The man who thinks rationally is a man destined to make wise decisions.

Son, God has blessed you with a miraculous, one-of-a-kind mind that is like nothing else on this earth. He has equipped you with the ability to think: to know, analyze, understand, discern, prioritize, and decide. A man of true wisdom is a man who knows not simply what to think, but how to think. He knows how to distinguish good from evil. Right from wrong. Truth from lies. Wisdom from foolishness. A wise man never stops thinking. He uses his mind to discover the truth. And he exercises wisdom when he strives to live a rational life—that is, in harmony with the God-given truth that governs reality.

Skill. Thinking, however, is time wasted unless it is a precursor to action. Knowledge is worthless, morality is ineffective, and rationality is pointless until they are brought to life by skillful action in real-world situations. A man of true wisdom is serious about his life and the choices he makes. He is wise because he carries out his knowledgeable, moral, and rational decisions with an effective degree of skill. Thus he is productive in achieving his goals. In short, he is both a thinker and a doer—for as Jesus said, true wisdom is vindicated by her deeds (Matt 11:19; see also Jas 1:22–25).

In the Grail chamber, Indiana Jones didn’t hesitate to act. He saved his father’s life. He overcame the armies of darkness. And he preserved the Grail’s integrity because he was confident enough to bring his decisions to life in real-world situations. Son, as Indy proved, personal values are worthless unless you have the grit to act on them. Even in the face of extreme danger. The man who has the will to act is the man who achieves real-world success with the choices he makes.

On paper, the wisdom equation is straightforward and simple. But real life doesn’t exist on a wrinkle-free piece of two-dimensional paper. Nor does it unfold within the safe confines of a movie screen. It unfolds in the chaotic four-dimensional space of the here-and-now.

So how does the wisdom equation play out in real life? With all due respect to fictional heroes like Indiana Jones, the best way to answer that question is to observe the behavior of a living, breathing, real-world wise man.

And what better case study is there to learn from than that of the wisest man who ever lived?

Wisdom in Real Life

Son, that man is not me.

I am not the wisest man who ever lived. I am not a genius, nor do I claim to know all there is to know about life. I am, however, a thinker. I’m also a doer. That means I make great efforts to understand how the world works and I work just as hard to govern my life by the truth that governs our existence. I may not be a world-renowned action hero like Indiana Jones, but I am a wise man—and I am your father. And those two facts make me more qualified than any other person on this planet to provide you with the instruction you need to grow into a man of wisdom and strength.

My goal as a father is simple: I want to help you transform from a child into a man. To achieve this goal, I will do what a good father does. I will honor my God-given responsibility and train you up in the truth so you can learn how to think like a man, how to act like a man, and how to build a life worthy of a man. I will instruct you in the wisdom you need to get up off the couch, go to work in the real world, and reap the rewards of a meaningful life. I will come alongside you, not as a drill sergeant or a boss, but as your daddy—and I will teach you how to handle the responsibilities of manhood.

I will guide you every step of the way—but I will not live your life for you. I will protect you—but I will not overprotect you. I will provide for you as I teach you what it means to be self-reliant. I will tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear—but you have my word: I will always speak to you with a sense of love and respect.

My hope is that together, as a team, you and I will take that unsophisticated mess of testosterone and insecurity the world calls adolescence and mold it into a chivalrous mindset of godly masculinity.

Son, I’m here to let you know that manhood starts not in the muscles, but in the mind. And wisdom is the key that unlocks that treasure chest of masculinity within you. We are going to unlock that treasure together. But we’ll need a guide to show us how it’s done. Fortunately for us, I know just the man for the job. The man God himself proclaimed to be the wisest man who ever lived.

Israel’s King Solomon.

With these letters, I will guide you through the mind of the world’s wisest man. We’re going to go verse by verse through the first nine chapters of the biblical book of Proverbs. Solomon dedicated these chapters to instructing his son in the principles of godly wisdom and the practices of authentic masculinity.5 He looked to God as the ultimate source of wisdom. And I will do the same.

I have followed Solomon’s lead and written this book as a personalized discourse. As a series of letters to you, my son. These letters are for you because the truth of God’s wisdom is the best instruction I could ever give you. Be aware, though, that the wisdom in these letters did not originate with me. I am not qualified to hand out eternal truths (I can only discover them). God, however, is very much qualified to define wisdom and truth. And it’s his divinely inspired wisdom and truth that I will impart to you because that is my highest responsibility as your earthly father.

I have used Solomon’s proverbial discourse as the basis for these letters because even though Solomon and his son lived thousands of years ago, they were regular people just like you and me: a father and his son, men created in the image of God, seeking to live wise and meaningful lives in a world filled with foolishness and confusion.

We are going to learn by example. By observing a wise and insightful man. Let’s begin our study by looking to the good example of Solomon to understand what wisdom looks like in real life.

Solomon, the Wisest Man

Prov 1:1

In the time of the Old Testament, God raised up Israel as his special people to receive and proclaim the wisdom of his word.

God blessed Israel with many wise and mighty leaders, beginning with Abraham and continuing with other wise men like Moses, Joshua, and Solomon’s father, King David. David was so devoted to walking in the wisdom of the Lord that the Bible calls him a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). He was a brave warrior, a wise king, and a godly but imperfect man who, like every human being who has ever lived, had moments in his life when he abandoned God’s wisdom and lapsed into foolishness. Although his sins rendered real consequences, the Lord brought David to repentance. And through his forgiveness, God restored their fellowship.6

David walked closely with God in humility and wisdom, and Israel flourished under his leadership. When he grew old and died, his son Solomon succeeded him as the new king of Israel.

Solomon was young and inexperienced when God put him on the throne. By his own estimation, he was not ready to lead. He even went so far to describe himself as a little child who didn’t know if he was coming or going in life (1 Kgs 3:7). Ready or not, however, the throne was his. And the legacy of an entire nation now rested upon his fledgling shoulders. Needless to say, the inexperienced Solomon felt overwhelmed by the weight of his newfound responsibility.

The Bible tells us that “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places” (1 Kgs 3:3)—meaning, in a very basic sense, that up to this point in his life, Solomon was inconsistent in his walk with God. He loved his Heavenly Father, and he followed in the wise footsteps of his earthly father. Yet Solomon had not committed himself to walking full-time in the wisdom of the Lord. His indecisiveness—his failure to take on the full responsibility of manhood—rocked his youthful spirit back and forth like a tiny paper boat struggling to stay upright in an angry sea of insecurity.

Reality, however, waits for no man; and like it or not, the throne was his responsibility. In that moment of high anxiety and self-doubt, reality forced Solomon to make a choice. Would he allow his insecurity to master him? Or would he man up and master his insecurity?

By this time, David, his earthly father, had died. But Solomon still had a Heavenly Father who recognized his dilemma. One night, God appeared to Solomon and offered his support.

“Ask what you wish me to give you,” was how God began the conversation (1 Kgs 3:5).

Solomon had a genuine heart for God. He loved the Lord because he had seen with his own eyes how loyal God was to his wise father, who had walked full-time in the principles of God’s wisdom. So Solomon took God up on his offer.

This was his prayer:

“You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet 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 which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. . . . Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?” (1 Kgs 3:6–8; 2 Chr 1:10).

Notice that Solomon did not back down from his responsibility as the king. Nor did he look to abuse his newfound authority by asking God for worldly glory or tyrannical power. Instead he asked for something of real value. Something only God can give: true wisdom.

Solomon’s mature choice pleased God. And he responded to Solomon’s request in this way:

“Because you had this in mind,” God said, “and did not ask for riches, wealth or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you . . . behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.” (2 Chr 1:11–12; 1 Kgs 3:12)

Solomon could have asked God for anything. But instead of wealth or fame or power, he asked for what he decided was his highest value: to know the ways of God’s wisdom in full.

When reality called on him to make a decision, Solomon put the wisdom equation into effect:

Knowledge. Solomon knew what he needed from God. Israel was God’s covenant people and he was their king. He was young and inexperienced, but the responsibility of the throne was his nonetheless and there was no getting around that. His firm grasp of these facts put his situation in context and informed his next move.

Morality. Solomon made the moral choice in asking for wisdom. He could have asked God for something easy and cheap. But he instead took the more responsible route. He sought the wisdom he needed to govern with justice and righteousness and integrity. Solomon pleased God with his maturity, when he proved his heart was virtuous like his father David.

Rationality. Solomon made the rational choice in asking for wisdom. Solomon was inexperienced and scared. But he refused to surrender to his fear. He stood strong and accepted his responsibility like a man. He allowed his mind to rise above his emotions, and he made a good choice when he decided that long-term wisdom, not some easy or shortsighted scheme, was the solution to his inexperience.

Skill. Solomon put his God-given gifts into action; and with God’s wisdom as his guide, he led Israel into a golden age of prosperity.

Notice, though, that Solomon didn’t face his challenges on his own. When reality forced him to make a choice, he turned to two reliable sources for support.

 He looked up to God, his Heavenly Father, as the singular source of all that is right and true.

 He also looked back on the godly example of his earthly father to see what wisdom looked like in real-world everyday life.

Solomon saw with his own eyes that David was a man who walked before God with integrity. He saw how God rewarded his father’s wisdom with great and faithful love (1 Kgs 3:6). He acquired the wisdom he needed to be a successful king by focusing his attention on both his Heavenly Father and his earthly father. He took what they taught him, all those things that are proven to be good and right, and governed his life by those truths day in and day out.

And he found great success along the way.

Solomon understood the insecurity that comes along with raw youth. But he also understood that God’s wisdom was the answer to solving the problems that inexperience and immaturity can bring about.

The truth never changes

Like Solomon, we all have a choice to make. In our daily decisions, we can choose to think long-term and act with wisdom. Or we can choose to pursue some short-sighted scheme and get tripped up by our own foolishness.

The reason foolishness continues to thrive in our world is because, as sinners, we would rather trade knowledge, morality, rationality, and skill for their opposites: ignorance, immorality, irrationality, and incompetence.

Even wise men like Solomon are not immune to the temptation to indulge in foolish behavior. As Israel’s king, Solomon developed a worldwide reputation for unparalleled wisdom. But later in his life, he shifted his focus away from God and lapsed into severe disobedience. This does not mean that he stopped loving God or that God stopped loving him. It means that Solomon made a series of bad choices that caused him to stumble in his personal life and in his relationship with God. He chose to reject God’s wisdom for the sake of sinful distractions; and for a time, he sought fulfillment in the pleasures and possessions of this world. But after he considered all his foolish behavior, he realized such empty pursuits were “vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun” (Eccl 2:11). Solomon knew well the rewards of wisdom. But he also experienced firsthand the painful consequences of folly.7

Before we pass too harsh of a judgment upon Solomon, however, let’s keep this fact in mind: The Bible tells us he was a wise man, not a perfect man. Since the beginning of time, the world has been full of people just like him: men who possess the capacity to be wise yet still choose to do foolish things. Even today, the wisest among us stumble over our own foolish choices because foolishness is easy. Acting like a fool requires no real effort. Living like a wise man, however, requires much effort. It demands self-control, rational sacrifice, and long-term thinking. The straight and upright path of wisdom is a challenging path to walk. But the wise man remains devoted to this way of life because he understands this simple fact: the rewards of living wisely make all the work more than worthwhile.

God created us to live wisely because there is true happiness in it. Like any good father, he wants his children to do well. But to achieve the success God has in store for us, we must make the choice to put his wisdom into action in every area of our everyday lives. That’s why God inspired Solomon to share these words with us in the book of Proverbs: to instill wisdom in God’s people so that we may live meaningful lives and walk in a covenant relationship with our Lord forever.

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel” (1:1) are just as applicable to us today as they were to the people of ancient Israel because God’s absolute truth never changes. It stands the test of time because God has woven his truth into the very fabric of our reality. Wise living is living in harmony with reality. With God’s truth. And any man who makes the day-by-day choice to live in harmony with the truth is a wise man in the making.

vvv

Son, wisdom itself is a choice—it’s your choice.

If you choose to dedicate yourself to a life of wisdom, you will quickly mature beyond your youthful inexperience and grow into a strong man of good judgment.

Throughout the course of these letters, I will use Solomon’s words of wisdom to teach you how to think, speak, and act like a man of true wisdom. I will impose upon you the highest standards of behavior so that you can grow into a man of personal excellence. That excellence includes these features: a strong mind, solid values, powerful principles, righteous confidence, and a healthy sense of self-respect.

I invite you to follow Solomon’s example—to join with your Heavenly Father and with me, your earthly father, as we work together to train you in the wisdom of the truth and help you mature you into the man God has fearfully and wonderfully made you to be.

Love,

Dad

1. The Holy Grail is an artifact of lore. It is the chalice Christ used at the Last Supper and, according to legend, possesses supernatural powers. In the cinematic universe of Indiana Jones, the Grail has the power to grant eternal life and healing to anyone who drinks from it.

2. Mounce, Complete Expository Dictionary, 793.

3. Hill and Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 390.

4. Regarding the Messiah’s physical appearance, the prophet Isaiah said the Christ would have “no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him” (Isa 53:2).

5. Regarding the Solomonic authorship of Proverbs, Hill and Walton note, “The book of Proverbs represents the literary legacy of the Hebrew sages, or wise men.” These wise men were generally associated with the king’s royal court. The Solomonic authorship of the proverbs credited to him is in dispute among some scholars. The arguments for or against Solomonic authorship extend beyond the scope of these letters. However, the following points are worth noting. Hill and Walton do not claim a Solomonic authorship. They do point out, though, that “King Solomon’s sagacity is well attested in the Old Testament.” Solomon is credited with uttering some three thousand proverbs (hundreds of which are preserved in the book of Proverbs). “According to 1 Kings 4:29–34, Solomon’s knowledge and understanding surpassed that of all the other sages in the academies of the ancient Near Eastern World. King Solomon stands as the ‘patron of the arts’ in ancient Israel. Not only did he popularize the wisdom tradition of the Hebrews, but also his example as sage and scholar served as the model for future generations” (A Survey of the Old Testament, 443). Raymond C. Van Leeuwen makes the following claim: “it is clear that Solomon is not the author of the book in its present form . . . though some have argued for the origin of sections of the book in the Solomonic court.” He goes on to point out that for the ancients, the issue “was not authorship in the modern sense, but the authority of works written in the ‘spirit’ of the archetypal lawgiver, psalmist, or sage” (Introduction to Wisdom Literature, 20). With all this in mind, I treat “Solomon, son of David, king of Israel” (Prov 1:1)—be it in the archetypal or literal sense—as the author of Prov 1–9. For as Duane Garrett notes: “The biblical assertion that the Solomonic monarchy witnessed a great literary renaissance and that Solomon himself was the fountainhead is reasonable” (The New American Commentary, 52). I likewise treat his son—again, be it in the general or literal sense—as the intended audience.

6. David’s most notable sins were murder and adultery. Read about David, his temptation, his sin, the Lord’s discipline, and his restoration in 2 Sam 11–12.

7. The final two verses of Ecclesiastes indicate that Solomon learned his lesson and repented of his wayward actions: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether good or evil” (Eccl 12:13–14). Although the human author of Ecclesiastes is technically anonymous, as the author simply refers to himself as “the Preacher,” he also refers to himself as “the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (Eccl 1:1). Solomon was indeed the son of David and king in Jerusalem (compare with Prov 1:1). Therefore, Solomon is the probable author. Traditional scholarship also credits Solomon as the author.