Study# | I Want Her!

Text:

Proverbs 4:4-8:

4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

Theme:

I Want Her!

Introduction:

In the early 1990’s, Keith Sweat released a record, not CD but recordJ, entitled “I Want Her”. It was the single to launch his “begging” career to the top of the R&B charts.
- This song depicted the situation of a man who intensely and perpetually wanted the physical “companionship” of a certain unnamed individual.
- “Let me do ya’ like that, baby. Let me do ya’ like this, sugar. You know what I need girl. You know what I like girl. You turn me on and on and on and on, girl. I want her!”
  - If you listen to the song enough and allow the traveling of your mind’s eye to find a destination, don’t tarry…because you will find you, yourself, exclaiming…I WANT HER 🙂
- The Keith Sweat song flows much differently that the proverbs in our text.
- The Book of Proverbs is one of the books of poetry written by Solomon, son of David and King of Israel…the man, who when praying to God and requesting additional resources, asked for WISDOM. One result of this request was believed to be three thousand proverbs written by Solomon of which the book of Proverbs is an excerpt or portion.
- The book, Stanley’s Jewish Church, explains well the book of Proverbs,

“philosophy of practical life. It is the sign to us that the Bible does not despise common sense and discretion. It impresses upon us in the most forcible manner the value of intelligence and prudence and of a good education… It deals, too, in that refined, discriminating, careful view of the finer shades of human character so often overlooked by theologians, but so necessary to any true estimate of human life”

Proverbs deals with the reality of life
- As the Master said in John 17:11, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”
- We have to be in the world, but we must not be OF IT!
- But, the passion of both lyrics are the same. Keith Sweat gets it across to you that he is genuine and intent in the energy in “I Want Her”. He can see as well as feel the reality of her through the intensity of his desire.
- However, the words of our text have a very different understanding of the pronoun “HER”
  - Keith Sweat is referring to a woman when saying “HER”
  - Solomon in our text is referring to WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING when saying “HER”
    - Verse 6 says, “Forsake HER not, and she shall preserve thee: love HER, and she shall keep thee.”
    - Verse 8 says, “Exalt HER, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace HER.”
  - As Verse 7 exudes, WISDOM is the main element that is illuminated and enlivened by UNDERSTANDING – They are our the substance of our spiritual and intellectual relationship with God, Himself!!!
    - FOR EXAMPLE: It is wise to know that God is Love. However, the person’s life is not impacted unless the understanding exists that there is no true and everlasting love outside of the Love of God!
Just like in the Keith Sweat song, if you meditate on God enough, if you decide to sit in your secret closet long enough, if you just think about the goodness of God and all that He has done for you, you, yourself, will follow Solomon’s plea to desire wisdom and understanding and exclaim, “I WANT HER!”

Body:

The focus of the passion of the exclamation, I WANT HER, in both the song and proverb is the concept of a RELATIONSHIP with the object, be it a woman or Wisdom and Understanding. (The Book of Ephesians for the man or Woman and the Book of Proverbs for the Wisdom and Understanding)
- Relationship with INSIGHT
  - Man or woman
    - Ephesians 5:24-25, “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”
  - Wisdom and Understanding
    - Proverbs 4:18-19, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.”
- Relationship with INTENSITY
  - Man or woman
    - Ephesians 5:28, “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.”
  - Wisdom and Understanding
    - Proverbs 4:13, “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.”
- Relationship with INTIMACY
  - Man or woman
    - Ephesians 5:31, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”
  - Wisdom and Understanding
    - Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
The question to that we must ask ourselves is — You may want HER, but how are you gonna treat her when you get her!
- Verses 6 and 8 of our text give us this understanding:
  - “Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee”
    - Man or woman
      - Stand by your Man or Woman!! Your commitment adds power. We all need someone whom we can depend on!!
    - Wisdom and Understanding
      - Psalms 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
  - “love her, and she shall keep thee”
    - Man or woman
      - True Love, which is of God, cannot be lost or fallen out of!!
    - Wisdom and Understanding
      - Deuteronomy 11:13-15, “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.”
  - “Exalt her, and she shall promote thee”
  - “she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her”
    - Man or woman
      - The power of an embrace! You only get out what you put into a relationship. Why should a relationship embrace and comfort your when you don’t embrace the one whom you are with?
    - Wisdom and Understanding
      - Acts 20:9-10, “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.”

Conclusion:

There are a lot of “HER”s that we may want in this life, but there is not one greater than Wisdom and Understanding!
- Proverbs 16:16, “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!”
True Wisdom and Understanding come from God!
- Proverbs 2:6, “For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”
Don’t waste your time with other sources. You’ve tried the rest now try the best!
- Psalms 119:104, “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”
  - Turn from your own intellect
  - Turn from family
  - Turn from friends
  - Turn from alcohol
  - Turn from drugs
  - Turn from money
  - Turn from that bad relationship
  - Turn from those ugly attitudes
  - Turn from that lying tongue
    - Tell God, I WANT HER!
    - Tell your enemies that abuse you, I WANT HER!
    - Tell your friends that misuse you, I WANT HER!
    - Tell that nagging carnal self, I WANT HER!!
Don’t worry cause when you ask you shall receive – I WANT HER!!

There’s nothing so precious as Jesus to me;

Let earth with its treasures be gone;

I’m rich as can be when my Savior I see;

I’m happy with Jesus alone.

I’m happy with Jesus alone,

Tho’ poor and deserted, thank God, I can say

I’m happy with Jesus alone.

Should father and mother forsake me below,

May be upon earth be a stone,

I’ll cling to my savior who loves me, I know,

I’m happy with Jesus alone.

I Want Her!

Proverbs 4:4-8:

I Want Her!

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