My father used to say: “You can’t put an old head on young shoulders”. As I was growing up, I remember Dad would shake his head and encourage my mother with this particular pearl of wisdom when she was frustrated with the childish thinking and behavior of my siblings and me.

Dad was right. You can’t put an old head on young shoulders. But you can try. You can try to impart wisdom to a younger generation by speaking to chil­dren and young people about the things of life and about the way God would have us respond to circumstances and the views and lifestyles of others. This is precisely what wisdom literature in the Bible is designed to do, not just for young people but for all, whether younger or older.

There is an important distinction to take note of here. Wisdom in the Bible in not the same thing as knowledge. Imagine an encyclopedia that contains factual information about all sorts of subjects, fields of study, and periods of history. If you could memorize that encyclopedia from start to finish, and then call up that information at will, there is no doubt that you would be a very knowledgeable person. But you would not necessarily be a wise person. In the Bible, a wise person is one who knows how to make decisions in life that are pleasing to God and consistent with the truth of God’s Word. Wisdom is about what constitutes righteousness as opposed to wickedness in any given situation or set of circumstances. It is about how we are to serve the Lord in a good but fallen world.

Here is how Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14¹ puts it:

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

It sounds such a simple prescription. If you want to be wise and make deci­sions that are in accordance with God’s will, fear God and keep his command­ments, remembering always that God will bring every act into judgment. There you have it. Go to it. But here is one of the characteristics of wisdom litera­ture. Profound truths are often stated in simple ways that are easy to remem­ber and apply. In this case, the writer of Ecclesiastes, who describes himself as “the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1) has already explored what the world has to offer in terms of “wisdom” and “righteousness”. As the book unfolds, it is clear that he has con­sidered the world’s literature, pleasures, toil and ways of living, and his conclu­sion throughout is this: all that the world has to offer is “vanity” or “meaningless”. Some young people are deeply attract­ed to the world’s thinking and ways of living. They may want to “kick against the pricks” of God’s commands, which they find stifling and constraining. But here, a wise and very experienced teacher is attempting to put an old head on young shoulders. He is saying: “I’ve been there and done that. I’ve considered all that the world has to offer in terms of think­ing and ways of living and I’ve come to the inevitable conclusion that if you want to live like this, you are simply chasing after wind. Your life will be empty and void of meaning. Only God gives true meaning and significance to life, and only deep respect and honour for God and his commands will make a person righteous and wise.”

In that light, let’s consider the book of Proverbs as a source of wisdom. Walter C. Kaiser points out that proverbs are brief sayings that “possess a fullness of meaning with a wide application”. They also have “a bit of a kick or bite to them to ensure their saltiness and continued usefulness”.² Think, for example, of the “ring of gold in a swine’s snout” as a description for a beautiful woman who lacks discretion (11:22) or the dog that returns to its vomit as a picture of the fool who repeats his folly (26:11).

Proverbs convey general principles that are applicable across a wide range of instances, but they are not unbending rules to be applied in every conceivable situation. The classic example of this last point is Proverbs 26:4-5;

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Here one wise saying seems to con­tradict another. What should we do, then? Should we answer a fool accord­ing to his folly or not? The first proverb warns against engaging with the fool on his own terms. If we enter into his argu­ment, and we are not on our guard, we might find ourselves being persuaded that there is nothing wrong with his lifestyle. So watch out! The second proverb says that we should be prepared to correct a fool by pointing out the foolishness of his thinking or he will conclude that his own position is wise. If we say nothing, the foolish person might think that our silence means agreement with his point of view. The point is that both proverbs contain wisdom that we need to think about and apply if we want to know what God’s will is in a given situation.³

It is also important to consider the Proverbs overall, and to view particular proverbs against the teaching of Scrip­ture as a whole. For example, Proverbs 21:1 says: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases”. It might be concluded (wrongly) from this statement that every decision that “the king” or civil leaders make necessarily meets with God’s approval because he has directed the heart of these authority figures “like a watercourse”. However, the Bible makes clear time and again that civil leaders can and do make deci­sions that are contrary to God’s revealed will. Think of the Pharaoh’s attempt to wipe out the Israelites by ordering that infant boys were to be killed (Exodus 1:15, 16). Clearly, this directive was con­trary to God’s 6^th commandment, and would ultimately lead to a great judgment coming on the Egyptian nation. Does this mean that the proverb is untrue? Not at all. The proverb teaches that all decisions made by civil leaders are under the sovereign control of the Lord. Heads of nations, no matter how much authority and power they seem to have to make decisions and carry them out, can never act independent of the Lord. Civil leaders are firmly in the Lord’s hands and will answer to him for every decision that they make. When appealing to an authority figure, we can ask God with confidence to direct the decision made by this ruler. And even if the de­cision is against God’s revealed will, we can rest secure that the decision is part of God’s providential plan and purpose for us and for the nation. God’s purpose, which supersedes the purpose of every human ruler, will infallibly prevail and be worked out to his ultimate honour and glory. That’s something to remem­ber when dealing with those who are far more powerful than we. This gives us boldness, confidence and security no matter what the outcome is.

If we want to know what God’s will is in any given situation, the book of Proverbs is a veritable goldmine. Vir­tually every area of life is covered.⁴ Master these, and you will have wisdom beyond your years. In other words, you can have an “old head” even on “young shoulders”.