The theme of this powerful book is finding wisdom through the fear of the Lord, and we have titled the course “Wisdom for the Wise and Foolish,” because Proverbs can help the foolish become wise and the wise become wiser. It is one of the most practical books in the Bible.
True godliness gets down to where we live our everyday lives and involves every activity and relationship. It is first of all a book for young people, being addressed to “my son” and “my children.” Youth is the best time to learn wisdom, and this is where Proverbs begins, but it is also a book for saints of all ages.
The book of Proverbs contains more wisdom about human life and the operation of home, society, commerce, and government than all of this world’s secular colleges and universities combined. There is more sound information on child training in the little book of Proverbs than in all of the child psychology books that have ever been written.
The breadth of Proverbs is amazing. It contains practical wisdom for every type and class of person, for the king and the subject, the simple and the prudent, the male and the female, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the master and the servant, thewise and the foolish, the married and the unmarried, the husband and the wife, the parent and the child, the angry and the calm, the patient and the impatient, the sluggard and the diligent, the friend and the enemy, the sad and the joyful, the one who talks much and the one who talks little.
The book of Proverbs is a mirror that shows us the condition of our hearts. This course contains four major sections: (1) an introduction to Proverbs, (2) a verse by verse study of Proverbs 1-9 and Proverbs 31, (3) studies of the major themes of Proverbs 10-30 (Anger, Child Discipline, Counsel, the Fool, Friendship, the Poor, Pride, the Sluggard, the Talebearer, the Tongue, and Wine), (4) and studies of many of the important individual proverbs.