Thoughts On Wisdom

Scripture ties the fear of the Lord to wisdom.

Proverbs 1:7 -
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:29 -
since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.

Job 28:28 -
And he said to the human race,
The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom

Proverbs 2:5 -
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.

And so, since true wisdom is to fear the Lord, what then is fear of the Lord? What does it mean to fear God? The wise person would want to know this. Here are two scriptures that not only drive home the point so well summarised in Proverbs 1:7 above, but also begins to show what fear of God is …

Proverbs 8:12-13 -
“I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
I possess knowledge and discretion.
To fear the Lord is to hate evil;"

And it would seem obvious that we must hate evil – even those who do not know God or believe in a false god hate evil. So what hatred of evil is fear of the Lord? In the next scripture we will see that the evil which we must hate most and which the hatred thereof is the fear of God – is the evil within ourselves! That is where wisdom (and the Gospel) begins …

Proverbs 9:10 -
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

This is the key verse!

And look at what word is used here to describe Him whom we are to fear? The Holy One. The conclusion is that if we come to understand the holiness of God we will see our own unholiness and become aware of our unworthiness to be with Him in his presence. We will begin to feel the gulf between us and our inability to cross it.

Take an extremely holy man and present him with the holiness of God and watch his reaction. There are few who can claim to be as righteous as Isaiah - as holy men go he is in the top ten. Yet when he saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple in a vision what did he say?

Isaiah 6:5 -
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

The true beginning of true wisdom is becoming realistically aware of the difference between our perfect, holy, consistent and loving creator and ourselves – we who are NOT perfect, NOT holy, INconsistent and UNloving at the core. From that very uncomfortable realisation flows four thoughts (and these thoughts are the beginnings of wisdom):

One: That we need to somehow bridge the gap, somehow be reconciled, somehow be justified.

Two: That we are too inconsistent, too selfish and too imperfect to bridge the gap.

Three: That only God is infinitely able to bridge such an infinite gap.

Four: That God is loving enough to do so.

In the Old Testament the men and women of faith trusted that God would do this amazing thing and in the New Testament, from the cross onwards, we who have faith, trust that He has done such a thing - in His Son. This is true wisdom.

Now all this is not to say that human wisdom isn't wisdom. I mean it is clearly wise for me to, for example, pay attention to the small talk of my wife or to get my car regularly serviced or to occasionally turn my computer off and actually talk to people. The wisdom of the great minds of humanity is certainly valid in our daily lives. DO strike while the iron is hot and a bird in the hand IS better than two in the bush etc. But the best that human wisdom  can achieve is to give you a good life in this world and make you more effective in your home and in society.

But then you die.

Where will any human proverb get you after that? Will knowing anything that is in this world - any fact or witty saying help? Will the ability to speak different languages aid you? How about mathematical skill, or music talent or philosophical dexterity? What of any of even the finest endeavours of human thought will help you after you die? Not one.
 
The scripture tell us that after we die we will face God. At that point the only wisdom that will count will be the kind that allows us to know first how holy He is, second how unholy we are and third that He has done something about it. The only wisdom that counts is the knowledge of Jesus and the Gospel; the knowledge of our rescuer and the reason why we needed rescuing; the knowledge of an already established and lived-in relationship with God! That is true wisdom. All else - wise though it may seem - is in comparison sheer folly. Get wisdom therefore and fear the holy God and trust in the saving Lord and come to know Him. I pray that you do.