Countless numbers of people spend a great majority of their lives on college campuses, sitting in counseling sessions and self-help conferences, and traversing line after line of book after book that claims to hold the answers to the assortment of questions we have about life. And we do all of this to gain what every one of us desire to obtain--wisdom. But, what the textbooks fail to cover is that all of the great mysteries of our existence are transcribed in the hearts of those who are filled with the knowledge of Christ. It is a byproduct of God's masterful design revealed through creation.
Take Solomon for instance. When he succeeded his father, David, as king, the Lord appeared to him, stating, "Ask! What shall I give you?" (1 Kings 3:5). Solomon, aware of his frailty as an inexperienced ruler, requested "an understanding heart to judge God's people and to discern good and evil" (1 Kings 3:9). The Lord, pleased by this response, granted Solomon not only "a wise and understanding heart", but that which he did not ask, "both riches and honor" (1 Kings 3:12-13). The Lord concluded, "So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days" (1 Kings 3:14). It was in Solomon's humility that God unleashed a great wealth of wisdom upon him that none before him nor none after would know. Solomon recognized his inadequacies and trusted that God would strengthen him to take on such a feat. I'm sure he was reminded of his father's counsel, who rightfully proclaimed, our "help comes from the Lord" (Psalm 121:1). The words spoken over Solomon in this dream serve as a precursor to what would later be revealed through him in the book of Proverbs.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). Solomon gives us an example of upholding the fear of God. In the early years of Solomon's reign, he did not seek wisdom of his age in order to better serve the nation of Israel. He did not look to God as a magical genie in a lamp, ready to grant every request at his command. On the contrary, in this particular moment recorded in scripture, Solomon's desires were the desires of God's heart. This portrays a true fear of the Lord. In the book of Ecclesiastes, also written by Solomon, we find that he deems all of the honor and riches he receives as vanity. He has a God-fearing perspective that does not place its hope in the things of this world, but in the hands of its Maker. Just as the apostle Paul tells us, "Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all garbage, so that I could gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8 NLT). Paul demonstrated a fear of God and through this was filled with wisdom, evidenced in the epistles he penned to the early church.
We have missed the mark if we are striving to gain wisdom for wisdom's sake. Proverbs 1:28-29 addresses such people, "They will call upon me [wisdom], but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke" (Proverbs 1:28-29). The wisdom referred to in these verses is not what we know today as philosophy or new-age teachings. This wisdom is the same wisdom bestowed upon Solomon at his request. Just as God promised Solomon, this wisdom has the power to lengthen our days by helping us to navigate the course of life and problem-solve through the various obstacles that come our way. Wisdom has the power to do this provided it comes from God.
In studying Proverbs 1:28-29, I recognized that wisdom is personified and addresses those who do not fear the Lord in the same manner as God addresses the nation of Israel in Jeremiah 29:12-13. The only difference is the resolution. Jeremiah 29:12-13 states, "You will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart". Wisdom in and of itself can't respond to our beckoning, but God can. He will acknowledge the person who calls upon Him and prays to Him. He will reveal Himself to those who search for Him with all their hearts. It is just like God's nature to use the heart as the gateway through which His hidden wisdom is revealed. It is no wonder society refutes this idea. Matters of the heart are too simplistic for the complex individual, the "brilliant" minds of this world. And spiritual wisdom is but foolishness to the natural man. It is what the world esteems as ignorance that God deems desirable. Perhaps the reason for this is that it is in one's worldly ignorance that he is free from the entrapment of the worldly mind--the mind that demands authority over the soul. Souls free in Christ are compelled to trust and depend on God, not one's self. It all boils down to this: God desires "that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him [we] are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord'" (1 Corinthians 1:29-31).
When we search for God with all of our hearts, we are met with a promise--that we will find Him, and all of the wisdom and knowledge hidden in Him (ref Colossians 2:3). For it is the "Lord [who] gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" (Proverbs 8:6). God gives us an invitation to partake in this wisdom when we accept Jesus Christ as "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
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