Wisdom from on High
Maybe you know, maybe you don’t, but the greatest thing a human could strive for in the world is wisdom. It’s not knowledge, intelligence, insight, wealth, power, beauty, or strength. Wisdom is the ability to take all of those attributes I just listed and know how to apply them to the many difficult decisions and situations of life. In the book of Proverbs, it says that wisdom shouts in the streets! The book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon, and that is who we will be looking at this Sunday.
As the son of David and Bathsheba, it would be through the line of Solomon that Christ would come. It was Solomon’s desire for wisdom, when God asked him in a dream what he desired most, that would set up his path for the rest of his life and give us another Old Testament picture of the coming Messiah. Wisdom is a tough word to define. The dictionary says wisdom is “the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise.” It’s funny to me how the definition of the word uses the word itself to help define it, a common fallacy when defining a word.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word most often used to describe wisdom is a word that means training, discipline, and coming under authority. In the Old Testament, there’s no such thing as wisdom without coming under the authority of something, serving something, and giving yourself to it completely. We have come full circle back to the concept of authority in our lives and what we are submitted to. A little over a month ago, I spoke about the importance of Godly authority, but only touched on God’s delegated authorities in our lives. As we look at the life of King Solomon and prepare to wrap up our Old Testament time with Israel’s kings, I want us to learn from this wise king and see what of his story can be applied to our own lives.
You can find Solomon’s story starting in the beginning of the Book of 1 Kings. If you take some time to read those first 3–4 chapters, it will give you a good foundation for who we will be talking about this Sunday.
Peace,
Nathan Bentley