God's Prescription for Attaining His Wisdom
Proverbs 2: 1-6 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
How many pages of history and theology have been devoted to trying to understand the will of God for our lives? How many times have we sought to find His perfect pleasing will in our own lives? We often speak of wisdom and knowledge as being somehow interchangeable but they are not. The definition of wisdom is:
Knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action
Knowledge is a part of wisdom, but only a part. We often times know what is right in our lives and still do not do it. We possess the knowledge but do not act with wisdom according to that knowledge. It is when the knowledge of what is true or right is partnered with just judgment resulting in an action, that we have true wisdom. And whose wisdom do we seek? Are we busy seeking the wisdom of man or the wisdom of God? The wisdom of man is at odds with the wisdom of God. The world embraces self-help, not reliance upon God. The world values scientific observation, not faith. How often do we embrace the wisdom of the world only to see it crash down around us? Unfortunately, we usually seek the wisdom of God when our backs are against the wall; from following the wisdom of man. If only we would seek Him first and always!
Our key verses above spell out the prescription God has provided for us for hearing directly from Him and the wisdom He has for us in our daily walk through this world. Verses 1-4 contain the elements we need to follow and 5-6 is the result. Working backwards through the verses, we see verses five and six indicate that true wisdom, what we desperately need in our lives, comes only from God; directly from His mouth into our lives! Note that the Proverb distinguishes between knowledge and understanding. It is the understanding that allows knowledge to transcend into wisdom. I am sure we can think of people we know who possess plenty of knowledge but not a lot of wisdom. In the world it may be described as having book smarts but not street smarts. And how much is wisdom worth? The Book of Job describes the value:
"But
where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding
dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the
living. The deep says, 'It is not in me'; the sea says, 'It is not with me.' It
cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver.
It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires.
Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of
gold. Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond
rubies. The topaz of
So if we want the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, we need to follow the prescription God has outlined for us. The Job verses reveal how valuable it is and why. God understands all; He views the ends of the earth and sees everything. He has seen all time beloved. Man often cannot see more than the next step he is trying to take in vain.
The first step in the prescription of God's wisdom is faith. Verse one above tells us that we need to accept God's words. That sounds simple enough but how many people in the world do not accept the words of God almighty? What was your acceptance level before He saved you? Even within the realm of believers we see compromise when it comes to the Word of God as many practice "salad bar theology." This is where some pick and choose what they like from Scripture but ignore what makes them uncomfortable. That is not faith; it is making it up as you go along. If we know that God contains all knowledge and understanding and is the only true source of wisdom; shouldn't we follow what His Word says and not what makes us feel good? Step one is not just faith to believe in His Word but also that we study it. The verse also says we need to "store up" the commands within ourselves. The Psalmist reminds us:
