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The Bible Year

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 18, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 25.

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The Bible Year

Assignment for May 21 to 27

To Think About as You Read

May 21: The source of true wisdom. May 22: Importance of giving heed to instruction. May 23: Have I in my life “the beginning of wisdom”? May 24: The value of sincerity. May 25: Do my ways please God? May 26: Temperance and talebearing. May 27: How does my life measure up to the standard of these chapters?

The Book of Proverbs

This book “was written chiefly by Solomon, probably in the early part of his reign. It comprises a collection of wise sayings, poetic in style, gathered from the three thousand spoken by him. Some of the proverbs were written by Hezekiah and Agur. Jehovah is set forth as the creator and governor of the universe, and the disposer of human destinies, rewarding piety and punishing evil. The proverbs themselves relate to almost every part of moral and religious duty, forming a storehouse of practical wisdom, a summary of life’s experience and wise counsels, and a faithful exhibition of the moral philosophy of the Bible. The book of Proverbs is in fact a manual of practical rules of life, as the book of Psalms is a manual of daily devotion. Notice especially the invitations and counsels to mankind by Christ in the character of Wisdom, and study each maxim in the light of Scripture examples.”
As a whole, the book of Proverbs is a collection of sayings relating to the common experiences of everyday life. It deals with our duties to our families, our neighbors, our friends, and the faithful performance of our service to God. Modesty, chastity, temperance, forbearance, gentleness, industry, and other virtues are placed before us in vivid language. Praise and flattery are sweet to the human heart, but it is loath to accept reproof. The necessity of submission to correction is one of the most prominent lessons set forth in the Proverbs. The woes of intemperance are clearly portrayed, and the warnings against this sin are appropriate to all time.

How to Read the Bible

George Müller was one of the greatest Bible readers who read it reverently and with profit every day, and his directions for reading it may well be adopted:—
“Read the Scriptures regularly through. Read alternately portions from the Old and New Testaments. Begin at the beginning of each. Mark where you leave off, and begin there next time. When you have finished each Testament, begin it again.”
“Read with prayer. You cannot by your own wisdom understand the Word of God. In all your reading of the Scriptures, seek carefully the help of the Holy Spirit. Ask, for Jesus’ sake, that he will enlighten you.”
“Read with meditation. Ponder over what you read; the truth is thus applied to your heart. You see new and deeper meanings. It is better to think over a little than merely to read a great deal.”
“Read with reference to yourself. Never read only with a view to instructing others, but for your own teaching. Receive blessing yourself first, and you will communicate it to others. Always ask yourself, ‘How does this affect me?’”
“Read with faith—not as statements which you may believe or not, but as the revealed word of God. Receive every word as true, with simple, childlike trust. Rest upon the promises. Read them as made for you.”
“Read in order to carry into practice. We must accept his word as being the revelation of his will. In it he tells us what to be and what to do. He expects us to be ‘obedient children.’”