“Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: ‘To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man….The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.’” (Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-23)
Wisdom as defined by God’s word is not what we humans call wisdom. The wisdom of God as revealed in the Word of God is an essential attribute of God Himself. He knows all things and how all things interact. By wisdom He created all things so that all things work together for His purposes, for His glory. To deny the wisdom of God is to deny His essential nature.
We human beings think we are wise and insightful. Yet our wisdom is primarily a grasp of knowledge of some aspect of the forces of the universe and the way they work and interact. Wisdom is what we use to make profitable or advantageous choices and decisions or to impress people with the level of our expertise. But the COVID pandemic has revealed to us the limitations of human wisdom. Few had the wisdom to anticipate the possibility of an incurable virus being unleashed upon the world and few knew what to do to cope successfully with it even though millions claimed such wisdom in the government, academia, as well as the mainstream and social media. Yet three years in, many of the things so forcefully pronounced have been disproven. They may have sounded authoritative, but they did know what they were talking.
True wisdom is imparted to human beings by the Lord. It leads to faith in Christ Jesus. Wisdom reveals to us our sin nature in the light of God’s holiness. Wisdom tells us we need a savior. It teaches us to honor the Lord alone in all we do. Wisdom is not given just to a chosen or elite few, but offered to all mankind so that all may see that the Lord is the Creator of all that is and the giver and sustainer of life. Wisdom proclaims the benefits of prudence, discretion, discernment, humility, honesty, and temperance and the way to implement them. Wisdom tells us we are weak and sinful people who need the grace of God.
Wisdom teaches righteousness. It is the basis for the counsel and sound judgment that those who govern should possess but often do not. An understanding of God’s sovereignty over man and all creation should enable earthly rulers to make just laws that protect people from violence and harm, encourage and reward righteousness, and punish wickedness. We would do well to heed wisdom for since the Lord created all that is He is the one who knows how things work as well as the consequences of selfishness and the blessings of righteousness. He alone knows better than we what will give us satisfaction and fulfillment in life.