WISDOM is an attribute of God, and “wise” is one of those essential Biblical descriptor words that defines good living. Wisdom literature in the Bible, primarily found in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job, brought to light the full meaning of YHWH’s wisdom.
Wisdom, often personified in female form, was a beautiful thing to possess:
Proverbs 4:4b-9
[Father to son:] “Let your heart take hold of my words; keep my commandments and live; acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not abandon her [wisdom], and she will guard you; love her, and she will watch over you.
The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; and with all your possessions, acquire understanding. Prize her, and she will exalt you; she will honour you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”
It seems to me that this world is seriously lacking wisdom. The internet is a portal where knowledge is easily reachable, searchable and attainable, but wisdom seems further and further out of reach and harder and harder to find. There are a lot of wisdom sound bites… but very little Creator-driven practical wisdom expressed in this world today. The Bible consistently repeats that the fear of the LORD (or the overwhelming respect and reverence towards our Creator) is where wisdom begins (see Proverbs 9:10).
Solomon, who was renowned for his wisdom expressed, at the very beginning of the scroll of Proverbs, that only through wisdom could we gain good knowledge and increase in it:
Proverbs 1:1-7
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to receive instruction in wise behaviour, righteousness, justice, and integrity;
To give prudence to the naive, to the youth knowledge and discretion, a wise person will hear and increase in learning, and a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Let’s not be foolish! Let’s start at the beginning and pray for wisdom because wisdom is essential to increasing the quality of our knowledge. And when we are wise we are worshipful!
For more on the Hebrew concept of wisdom click below:
WISDOM
Next week: REJECTED
Hebrew Word Lessons 