Teaching Notes are Bible studies we taught before GraceLife Ministries began publishing articles online in 1995. Some were presented as sermons, others as group studies.
Our hope is that these older studies will be a blessing to you in your life and ministry. Please use them in any way God leads you.
These teaching notes are from a study in the Book of Proverbs. If you haven’t read part 1 of the study, please click here.
[These notes are from a study taught more than 40 years ago. The notes are in outline form.]
E. Exhortation from Proverbs (Chapter 4)
Here Solomon remembers the words of his own father, King David, concerning the importance of achieving wisdom.
Is it any wonder that when God offered the young King Solomon anything he wanted, the king asked for wisdom.
F. The appeal and invitation of Wisdom in Proverbs (Chapters 8 and 9)
Turn in your Bible to Proverbs 8 (read 1-21 and 32-36)
G. Sayings from Proverbs
I was impressed with how realistically Proverbs dealt with life. Some of the life situations dealt with are:
- work
- diligence
- ambition
- speech
- truth
- stability
- honesty
- integrity
- fidelity
- guidance
- graciousness
- kindness
- being a guest
- parental discipline
- family
- leanding and borrowing money
- good manners
- getting rich
- peace at home
- gossip
- good and bad leaders
- pride and humility
- how to deal with a quarrelsome person
- laziness
- violence
- anger
- hatred
- emotional healing
- drinking problems
- honesty in business
- rebuking and being rebuked
- physical health
- the sovereignty of God in every situation
- how to take advice
- being a successful child
- faithfulness as a friend
- how a woman can build a successful home
- gaining knowledge
- the natural medicine of laughter and joy
- being a good witness
- patience
- envy
- setting goals and priorities
- finding good counsel
- the joys of being a grandparent
- love and forgiveness
- how to really understand another person
- how to be an effective counselor
- responsibility to the poor
- quick tempers
- gluttony
- stealing and its effects
- making vows
- giving gifts
- making bribes
- how to stay away from danger
- how to find life, prosperity and honor
There are many other categories, but we don’t have time to go through all of them in one study.
If you are interested in getting involved in a regular way with the Book of Proverbs, let me give you several ideas of how to make the study more meaningful.
- Read Proverbs through each month for one year. Day 1 – Chapter 1; Day 2 – Chapter 2; etc. Each day write out one verse that speaks to you in a special way and make any comments or observations that you want. By the end of one year you will have 12 insights from each chapter of Proverbs. You can spend the following year reading through your insights and applying them to your daily life.
- Read Chapter One of Proverbs every day for a month. Read Chapter Two of Proverbs every day for the second month. (Example: Ch. 1 every day during January, Ch. 2 every day during February, Ch. 3 every day during March, etc). You will read through the entire book of Proverbs every 31 months. Reading the same chapter every day for a month has a powerful effect on both your memory and understanding of the wisdom in this amazing Book.
- Another way is to read through Proverbs at a slow pace stopping at verses that deal with personal needs you have at the time. Stop and develop a project that will help you apply the truth of that proverb to your daily life. As you continue to read, you will find other verses that will fit into life projects you are developing. Continue reading until you stop at another verse that is meaningful to you on another topic. Develop a project that will help you apply the truth of that proverb. Include other verses that address the same topic as you find them. This could take years to complete, but when you finish the Book of Proverbs you will have attained great wisdom and a plan for using that wisdom in your life. You will also have a powerful tool to share with your family and others in your life.
- Get a complete concordance to the Bible and run a word of interest through for a topical study: wisdom, fools, strange women, work, discipline, family, riches, poor, etc. Then, place those on a piece of paper or poster and keep them in front of you and your family every day.
- Create your own unique way to read, study and apply wisdom from Proverbs. The key is to make use of these great sayings every day.
One interesting observation to Proverbs –
Solomon was writing to his son. [The only recorded son of Solomon in the Bible is Rehoboam.] When Rehoboam became king after his father’s death, he immediately showed himself to be an unwise leader. It was because of his lack of wisdom that the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms. The 12 Tribes of Israel were divided: 10 tribes in one group and 2 in the other. Why did this son who lived with the wisest man on earth turn out to be so unwise? Read 1 Kings 1-14; 2 Chronicles 1-12; and the Book of Ecclesiastes.
[Thank you for reading these teaching notes from more than 40 years ago. My prayer is they will be a blessing to you and your ministry.]
Published by gracelifethoughts
Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
