God's Wisdom for Navigating Life
Page 1
ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
The Reason for God
The Prodigal God
Counterfeit Gods
Generous Justice
Jesus the King
The Meaning of Marriage
Center Church
Every Good Endeavor
Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering
Encounters with Jesus
Prayer
Preaching
The Songs of Jesus
Making Sense of God
Hidden Christmas
VIKING
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Copyright © 2017 by Timothy Keller and Kathy Keller
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Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblic, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.
ISBN 9780735222090 (hardcover)
ISBN 9780735222106 (e-book)
Version_1
To Bruce and Missy Terrell
Wise leaders and friends
whose wisdom and love have guided both us
and Redeemer Presbyterian Church for many years.
CONTENTS
ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
KNOWING WISDOM: What Is Wisdom? January 1
January 2
January 3
January 4
January 5
January 6
KNOWING WISDOM: What Is Foolishness? January 7
January 8
January 9
January 10
January 11
January 12
January 13
January 14
January 15
January 16
KNOWING WISDOM: How Do We Become Wise? January 17
January 18
January 19
January 20
January 21
January 22
January 23
January 24
January 25
January 26
January 27
January 28
KNOWING WISDOM: The Case for Wisdom January 29
January 30
January 31
February 1
February 2
February 3
February 4
February 5
February 6
February 7
KNOWING GOD: The Fear of the Lord February 8
February 9
February 10
February 11
February 12
February 13
February 14
February 15
February 16
February 17
February 18
February 19
February 20
February 21
February 22
February 23
February 24
KNOWING GOD: God’s Order Perceived February 25
February 26
February 27
February 28
March 1
March 2
KNOWING GOD: God’s Order Disrupted March 3
March 4
March 5
March 6
March 7
March 8
March 9
March 10
March 11
March 12
KNOWING GOD: God’s Order Hidden March 13
March 14
March 15
March 16
March 17
March 18
March 19
March 20
March 21
March 22
March 23
KNOWING THE HEART: Understanding the Heart March 24
March 25
March 26
March 27
March 28
March 29
March 30
March 31
April 1
April 2
KNOWING THE HEART: Reordering Desires April 3
April 4
April 5
April 6
April 7
April 8
April 9
KNOWING THE HEART: Understanding Temptation April 10
April 11
April 12
April 13
KNOWING THE HEART: Understanding Emotion April 14
April 15
April 16
April 17
April 18
April 19
April 20
April 21
April 22
April 23
April 24
April 25
April 26
April 27
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: Anger April 28
April 29
April 30
May 1
May 2
May 3
May 4
May 5
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: Envy May 6
May 7
May 8
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: Pride May 9
May 10
May 11
May 12
May 13
May 14
May 15
May 16
May 17
May 18
May 19
May 20
May 21
May 22
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: Gluttony May 23
May 24
May 25
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: Sloth May 26
May 27
May 28
May 29
May 30
May 31
June 1
June 2
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: Greed June 3
June 4
June 5
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: Lust June 6
June 7
June 8
June 9
June 10
June 11
June 12
KNOWING OTHERS: Friendship June 13
June 14
June 15
June 16
June 17
June 18
KNOWING OTHERS: Words June 19
June 20
June 21
June 22
June 23
June 24
June 25
June 26
June 27
June 28
June 29
June 30
July 1
July 2
July 3
July 4
July 5
July 6
July 7
July 8
July 9
July 10
July 11
July 12
KNOWING OTHERS: Gossip July 13
July 14
July 15
KNOWING OTHERS: Listening July 16
July 17
July 18
July 19
July 20
July 21
July 22
July 23
July 24
KNOWING OTHERS: Conflicts July 25
July 26
July 27
July 28
July 29
July 30
July 31
August 1
August 2
August 3
August 4
August 5
August 6
August 7
August 8
August 9
August 10
KNOWING THE TIMES AND SEASONS: Guidance, Planning, and Decision Making August 11
August 12
August 13
August 14
August 15
August 16
August 17
KNOWING THE TIMES AND SEASONS: Insights for Our Age August 18
August 19
August 20
August 21
August 22
August 23
August 24
August 25
August 26
August 27
August 28
August 29
August 30
August 31
September 1
September 2
September 3
KNOWING THE SPHERES: Marriage September 4
September 5
September 6
September 7
September 8
September 9
September 10
September 11
September 12
September 13
September 14
September 15
September 16
September 17
September 18
September 19
September 20
September 21
September 22
September 23
KNOWING THE SPHERES: Sex September 24
September 25
September 26
September 27
September 28
KNOWING THE SPHERES: Parenting September 29
September 30
October 1
October 2
October 3
October 4
October 5
October 6
October 7
October 8
October 9
October 10
October 11
October 12
October 13
October 14
KNOWING THE SPHERES: Money and Work October 15
October 16
October 17
October 18
October 19
October 20
October 21
October 22
October 23
October 24
October 25
October 26
October 27
October 28
October 29
October 30
October 31
November 1
November 2
November 3
November 4
November 5
November 6
November 7
KNOWING THE SPHERES: Power November 8
November 9
November 10
November 11
November 12
November 13
November 14
November 15
November 16
November 17
November 18
November 19
November 20
November 21
November 22
November 23
KNOWING THE SPHERES: Justice November 24
November 25
November 26
November 27
November 28
November 29
November 30
December 1
December 2
December 3
December 4
December 5
December 6
December 7
December 8
December 9
December 10
December 11
December 12
December 13
December 14
KNOWING JESUS, THE TRUE WISDOM OF GOD December 15
December 16
December 17
December 18
December 19
December 20
December 21
December 22
December 23
December 24
December 25
December 26
December 27
December 28
December 29
December 30
December 31
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
REDEEMER
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
INTRODUCTION
There may be readers picking up this book who profited from our earlier yearlong devotional book, The Songs of Jesus. In that case especially, it is helpful to reflect on the differences between Psalms and Proverbs. The Psalms are filled with expressions of emotion, of pain, joy, and praise. They show us how to process our experiences before God. Proverbs is a very different book. It calls us to study, to think, to learn the practical discipline of centering all our thoughts and actions on God. Indeed, one of the main messages of Proverbs is—you’ve never really thought enough about anything. Psalms is about how to throw ourselves fully upon God in faith. Proverbs is about how, having trusted God, we should then live that faith out. If the Bible were a medicine cabinet, Psalms would be the ointment put on inflamed skin to calm and heal it. Proverbs would be more like smelling salts to startle you into alertness. Here are a few pointers for studying the book of Proverbs with profit.
Proverbs as Poetry
Proverbs is not a s
et of “simple steps to a happy life” for quick consumption. A proverb is a poetic art form that instills wisdom in you as you wrestle with it. As English readers we cannot receive the full force of the original, and yet we can still learn enough about the features of Hebrew poetry to discern layers of meaning that we would otherwise miss. Perhaps the most fundamental mark of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. Two phrases, clauses, or sentences are brought into close connection with each other so that they modify and expand on each other. The second may magnify and extend the thought of the first, or it may instead offer a counterpoint that limits and softens the first idea.
In each case the two thoughts mutually clarify each other, sharpening our understanding. So Proverbs 13:6 says, “Righteousness guards the person of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.” The first clause helps us understand “wickedness” in the second clause more specifically as a lack of integrity. Because of parallelism, the words “wicked” and “righteous” and “wise” and “foolish,” which show up constantly and (seemingly) repetitiously, actually mean somewhat different things in each proverb. We miss much of the meaning of a proverb unless we compare the clauses very closely and watch for the interplay between words.
Another prominent feature of Hebrew poetry, as in all poetry, is the importance of vivid images. A beautiful but foolish woman is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout (Proverbs 11:22); a lazy employee is like vinegar to the teeth (Proverbs 10:26). Images and metaphors are always invitations to think out the many ways that “this is like that.” A thoughtful reader can list five, then ten, then more ways that the image explains the principle.
Proverbs as Puzzle
Goethe once said of languages that “whoever know only one, knows none,” and that is likely true, but it is even more true of proverbs.1 If one proverb says, “The morally good always have a good life,” and later another says, “Sometimes the morally good suffer,” we modern readers think we’ve found a contradiction. That’s because we think of proverbs either as individual stand-alone promises or commands. But usually they are neither. Each is a description of some aspect of how life works. One proverb on marriage, taken all by itself, seems to apply to every instance. A later proverb, however, reveals that there are some marriage situations in which a different practice is required. Only taken and fitted together, with each one modifying the others as the parallel clauses do, do the proverbs yield a full, multidimensional picture of a particular topic.
Proverbs, then, give up their meaning only cumulatively. No one saying gives you the whole picture. Proverbs 29:19 says that servants simply can’t understand the reason they should do things, so you just have to be very strict with them. This seems to be a sweeping statement about their capabilities, but Proverbs 17:2 tells us that a wise servant can end up being better than a family member. Only when the two are placed together can we see that 29:19 is not talking about all servants and employees but rather about those with an unresponsive, sullen attitude.2