A Sermon on Proverbs 1:1-9
Happy Mother’s Day to you mothers and grandmothers! Few books of the Bible say more about the family than Proverbs. It is fitting, then, for us to turn to this book on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Because verse 8 of chapter 1 mentions both mothers and fathers, my sermon will have both parents in view.
Mom and Dad, which of you does not want your son or daughter to do well in life? Most parents have concerns about practical matters such as money, sex, friends, or work. You want your children to be educated and master social and vocational skills. You want them to take their place in the work force and make some money. You want them to enjoy life, acquire some possessions, and make memories. You want them to find others whom they can enrich and by whom they can be enriched.
But do we not know that there is more to life than worldly success and fulfillment? Otherwise, we would not be in church. We know that self-actualization is not all that it is made out to be. We know this because we have tried it and been let down. Either life’s vicissitudes have kept us from reaching our goals, or achieving our ambition has left us with a hollow feeling that there must be more. We come to church because we have been made as the image of God and created to do more than “be all that we can be.” Our chief end, according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is to glorify God and enjoy him. This is true for us and our children.
Proverbs 1:8 refers to a father’s instruction and a mother’s teaching. Mom and Dad, you have the biggest influence over your children. They learn more from you than anyone else. What does the book of Proverbs want you to teach your children?
Before answering that question, let’s be clear about who our children are. Verse 4 says that Proverbs was written to give prudence to the simple. The word simple has to do with what we might call raw youth or even adolescence. Raw youth is untutored, inexperienced, and naïve. It is not stupid or incapable, but untrained and unprepared. Your children are not ready to manage the demands, complexity, and temptations of life. They cannot handle easy sex, fast money, available drugs, and peer pressure. Because raw youth is untrained, your children lack discernment and so are gullible or naïve. Anyone can influence the simple person.
As raw youth, however, your children are not a blank slate. They have inherited a sin nature. Proverbs 22:15 says that folly is bound up in the heart of a child. Similarly, Proverbs 14:18 says that the simple inherit folly. These verses teach that our children are neither morally good nor morally neutral. Our children do not naturally do what is right or make good choices. In fact, they are predisposed to make the wrong choices under the wrong influences. What’s more, their stubborn wills resist correction and crave autonomy. Sadly, the result of an inherited sin nature is often a shattered life. Such a life may involve violence, broken relationships, and costly mistakes on the one hand or complacency, aimlessness, and drifting on the other. Maybe a simple person has a combination of these sad traits of raw youth.
All of us, both children and parents, enter the world as raw youth. We have a lot of energy but little knowledge about what to do with it. If left to ourselves, we can become dangerous to ourselves and to others. Proverbs 29:15 says that raw youth will never find the truth, only disgrace. Raw youth does not look for truth and cannot find it on its own. Instead, it proceeds headlong toward disaster. So what can be done?
The simple person—your child—needs a father’s instruction and a mother’s teaching. One is not more authoritative than the other. The word instruction comes from a root that means “correction.” In Proverbs 3:11, the father says that Yahweh is the ultimate source of correction. So then, God stands behind the father in the book of Proverbs. The father passes along God’s teaching, not merely his own. Here in 1:8, to obey one’s father is to obey God. Similarly, the word for teaching is torah, which in the rest of the Old Testament is divine revelation. As you may know, Genesis-Deuteronomy is called the Torah. So then, God also stands behind the mother and to obey her is to obey God. She is passing along God’s Word to her son or daughter.
Again, let me be clear. Verse 8 is not telling your child to listen to you without question. Not all parents are wise and worthy of blind or unhesitating obedience. Proverbs is aware of old fools who never learn and so give bad counsel. In verse 8, however, the parents are teaching God’s Word to their children and not merely dispensing advice based on their opinion or experience. They look at life through the lens of God’s Word. They are godly, and they want their children to be godly. They want their children to act wisely when so many other people act foolishly. You parents should want the same for your children. What, though, is the secret to wisdom?
Verse 7 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Similarly, Proverbs 9:10 says that the fear of the Lord is also the beginning of wisdom. These parallel verses do not say that knowledge and wisdom lead to the fear of the Lord. Rather, the fear of the Lord leads to knowledge and wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the prerequisite for being wise, not the result of being wise. In other words, you cannot think of being wise until you are in a right relationship with God. You or your child can have an NTU or Harvard Ph.D. and still not be wise. Biblical wisdom presupposes knowledge of and commitment to God.
How does a person—whether you or your child—get in a right relationship with Yahweh? The fear of the Lord begins with God’s objective revelation. What this means is that we do not fear or dread the unknown. The God of Proverbs has not left humans to grope after him. God has revealed himself in history, prophetic word, and his incarnate Son. We do not approach this God and set the terms for the relationship. Rather, God graciously approaches us. We do nothing to merit God’s friendship and faithfulness. In fact, our sins deserve the opposite, viz., his wrath and judgment. That God establishes a relationship with us is due to his grace and mercy in Jesus. God gives us what we do not deserve (that’s grace) and does not give us what we do deserve (that’s mercy). We do not deserve the righteousness of Jesus, but God graciously imputes it to us. Our sins deserve judgment, but Jesus mercifully bears that punishment in our place. The fear of the Lord, then, involves the intellectual content of the gospel. Fearing God starts with getting to know him as he has revealed himself in redemptive history.
Second, we must subjectively submit to God’s revelation. The fear of the Lord moves from the intellect to the will. Knowledge of what God has done produces assent and commitment in us. Proverbs teaches a relation between fear and humility. Knowledge of God should lead to self-denial and loyalty. In other words, you turn over the reins of your heart to King Jesus and obey him. Because you appreciate what God has done for you in Jesus, you humbly accept your subordinate place before a loving God. You cheerfully acknowledge, respect, and trust God’s rightful authority. You want his will to be done in your life for the glory of his Son.
The parents in Proverbs 1:8 have experienced the grace of God in Jesus and so fear God. They are in a saving relationship with God and live obediently for his honor. For this reason, they are wise. Parents, if you want your children to be wise, you have to introduce them to Jesus. When they understand that they were created to glorify Jesus in every area of life, then they have the fear of the Lord and have become wise. They have the stable foundation in place to navigate life’s challenges and storms for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom. Without that foundation, they remain raw youth in danger of being influenced by anyone.
Verse 9 calls the godly teaching of godly parents a garland of grace. Your teaching of biblical truth is a means of grace from God to your son or daughter. It informs him or her how to live successfully in God’s world and so protects him or her from making poor choices and reaping disastrous consequences. If your child listens, then his or her life will become graceful or attractive. He or she will possess the beauty of being reconciled to God and living in harmony with God. Your child’s life will not fall apart and so cause others to shake their heads in pity or else say that he is getting his just deserts for the ugly mess that he made of his life. Rather, others will be drawn to your child because they see the winsome effects of a life lived unselfishly out of love for God and love for one’s neighbor. They will see the confidence, courage, and perseverance of someone who can graciously weather life’s storms because of his or her relationship with this God.
Moms and Dads, God has placed you as his representatives over your children. If your children are to realize God’s purpose for making them, i.e., if they are to honor the Lord Jesus and advance his kingdom, then they need biblical instruction in your words and by your example.