the Book of Proverbs of Solomon begins with nine chapters of wisdom, from someone who has experienced many things in life and has seen God at work in many situations, to someone less experienced

these first chapters are written in the form of father to son but can be interpreted much more widely. the first seven verses set out the purpose and theme of the book

gaining wisdom and knowledge begins with fear of the Lord – giving God the appropriate respect and reverence

learning the fear of the Lord is putting to ‘death our narcissistic egos and self-assured opinions and superior neutrality’. (Ray Ortlund & R. Kent Hughes, ‘Proverbs: the wisdom that works, 2012)

we move from depending on our natural abilities, worldly wisdom and desires towards trusting God as the fount of all knowledge

like a novice learning to play the piano, who learns and practices their scales and arpeggios until they can’t play them wrong, so too must we listen and learn from proverbs and parables, helped by the Holy Spirit

like the virtuoso pianist who is so attuned to playing correctly, we train our receptive minds, hearts, and spirits to fear the Lord thus gaining wisdom and knowledge for all circumstances

it takes discipline and practice of the basics to develop mastery

it starts with: Let God be God for us