We don’t want to have to get to the place where we have to know reality, how things really work in the world, so well that we know what the result of a particular action is going to be. That takes a lot of experience and wisdom. We don’t want to have to think. We want to have a rule. But you know what? No matter how much you multiply rules, you’ll never cover all of the situations. It just doesn’t work. Wisdom is being in touch with reality, understanding reality.

What does that mean? What is reality? That’s what we’re going to look at in these passages in Proverbs. We’re going to see in the beginning we’re taught the persistence of reality (it’s really there), secondly, the problems with reality, and thirdly, how it gets healed.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 3, 2004. Series "Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living". Scripture: Proverbs 5:16-23.

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