Wisdom: Missing in Action

Proverbs 4:3-9 NKJV

³ When I was my father’s son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
⁴ He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.
⁵ Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶ Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
⁷ Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
⁸ Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
⁹ She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”

Anyone who has been a Christian, or a Jew, for more than 10 seconds knows the story of Solomon, David’s son and successor to the throne of Israel.  Honestly, people who claim no connection with Judeo-Christian teachings whatsoever have at least heard, in passing, the phrase, “the wisdom of Solomon.”  They may not know why, or who he was, but most folks know that the words wisdom and Solomon go together, like peas and carrots, bacon and eggs, Mickey and Minnie, Sonny and Cher, the Captain & Tenille.  (Yes, I’m dating myself.  You young’ns go ahead and Google that. I’ll wait.)

I was reading the end of 1 Chronicles, and the beginning of 2 Chronicles.  At the end of 1 Chronicles, it records David’s preparations for building a house for the Name of the Lord.  He had been pricked in his heart about the fact that he lived in a palace, and the Lord still dwelt in a badger-skin tent.  David was well aware that God had chosen Jerusalem as the seat and capital of Israel, and that they were to roam as a people no more.  The necessity of the tabernacle being mobile had ceased, for they, as a nation, were putting down their roots for good.  David just couldn’t reconcile his personal life in the lap of luxury with God’s holiness being consigned to a temporary teepee, if you will.  With the blessing of Nathan the prophet, David began the preparations, understanding that he himself would not be given the honor of building the house, but there was nothing stopping him from collecting every single building material that would ever be needed.  It became the final legacy that he would list among his myriad accomplishments during his 40-year rule as King.

But David knew that, for this monumental task to be accomplished, the person at the forefront of the project was going to need some special qualities.  He had already passed on the vision to Solomon when he was still “young and tender” (1 Chronicles 22:5 KJV), and had “charged him to build an house for the Lord God of Israel.” (1 Chronicles 22:6 KJV) He told Solomon:

1 Chronicles 22:19 KJV

¹⁹ Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord.

What a commission!  What a task!

What PRESSURE!

David realized this.  So, he also prayed for Solomon…and what a prayer.

1 Chronicles 29:16-19 NKJV

¹⁶ “O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own. ¹⁷ I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here to offer willingly to You. ¹⁸ O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your people, and fix their heart toward You. ¹⁹ And give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision.”

In the King James Version, “loyal heart” is actually rendered “perfect heart.”  David knew it would take a perfect, loyal heart to do any justice to this project, or to God’s people.  And in 2 Chronicles 1, we see that Solomon knew it, too.  He pursued God’s blessing with passion and intention, going straight to the tabernacle of the congregation, and offering 1,000 sacrifices.  His extravagance and his persistent recognition of his need for God’s blessing and direction certainly got God’s attention.  It moved God to appear to Solomon in the night!

2 Chronicles 1: -7-12 NKJV

⁷ On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

⁸ And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. ¹⁰ Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

¹¹ Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— ¹² wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”

Did you catch that?  God had begun to answer David’s prayers.  Solomon set his heart and soul to seek the Lord, and because the priorities were right, the dividends were unexpected and spectacular!

Of course, the initial thought I was mulling over here was not the building of the Temple, but the thought of the quality of wisdom.  Wisdom!  Oh, wisdom…you are in short supply these days!

All you have to do is look at our news through the lens of wisdom, and the lack of it is perfectly breathtaking.  It's like a soldier, captured and hidden away in a POW camp.  Mankind is holding wisdom hostage, operating primarily on feelings and flesh, using their own misguided desires as their guide.  Solomon’s proverbs regarding wisdom speak so directly to this present age, he could be sitting in the next room, perusing the internet. In fact, the entire collection begins this way:

Proverbs 1:1-7 NKJV

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

² To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
³ To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
⁴ To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
⁵ A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
⁶ To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Oh, my. Could it be any more clear? Wisdom IS the principal thing.

Where do we get it?  Doesn’t it come standard when we are born?

Proverbs 2:1-9 NKJV

My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
² So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
³ Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
⁴ If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
⁵ Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
⁸ He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.

So.  It’s not standard equipment.  We have an investment to make.  Those who know me know I’m a word-nerd.  Let’s review the verbs, the action words, in this passage.

Verbs requiring action on our part:

·      RECEIVE His words

·      TREASURE His commands

·      INCLINE our ears

·      APPLY our heart

·      CRY OUT for discernment (By the way, you can’t cry out silently.  Just saying.)

·      LIFT UP our voice for understanding

·    SEEK for wisdom as for silver (picture the mania of the Gold Rush, if you need an image)

·   SEARCH for wisdom as for hidden treasure (every pirate movie you’ve ever seen, minus the killing and the rum)

I count EIGHT very actionable items there!  It doesn’t say, “Sit on your bottom and wait for the magic wisdom fairy to come and sprinkle sparkly dust upon you, and then you’ll get wisdom.”  We must RECEIVE His words into our lives, hearts, and situations—and TREASURE the commands that He gives us!  This means that, instead of RESENTING what He asks of us, we embrace any and everything He asks with a willing and honest heart!  We must INCLINE our ears, leaning in TOWARD HIM as He speaks into our lives, not stuff our heads in the sand because we’re afraid of what He will ask of us.  We must APPLY our heart.  Ever heard a teacher or a mom or a dad or a coach tell a kid, “If you’d just APPLY yourself, you’d be amazed at what you could accomplish?”  WE are NO DIFFERENT.

We must CRY OUT for DISCERNMENT!  Why?  Because generally speaking, we don’t have a clue of what it the best way to go or the right thing to do. Not. A. Clue.  So, get to crying out, if you need some discernment!  Crying out isn’t a quiet thing, in my experience.  It’s bold, and out there, and meant to get the attention of whomever is being called for.  It’s desperate.  It’s demanding.  It’s intended to provoke a response!  Why won’t we cry out?  Is our PRIDE bigger than our desire for wisdom?  LIFT UP your voice!  Don’t you need understanding?

SEEK for wisdom as for silver.  Those crazy miners pursued the idea of gold, or silver, or copper, or whatever they were mining for at risk of great personal peril.  Mines were not the safest place they could possibly work.  They knew the reward was worth the risk.  SEEK wisdom, knowing the REWARD is worth ANY RISK.  And SEARCH for wisdom, as for hidden treasure.  How many stories have we all heard of those who have turned the pursuit of some hidden, buried, sunken treasure into their life’s work—and all for something that’s going to burn one day anyway, something that will outlive them, and pass into the hands of another. 

So, what’s the payoff of the pursuit of Wisdom at all costs?  Let’s look at the second half of the passage:

Then we will

·      UNDERSTAND the fear of the Lord

·      FIND the knowledge of God

·      GAIN the Lord’s wisdom

·      HEAR the knowledge and understanding that comes from His mouth

·      HAVE ACCESS to the stores of sound wisdom He preserves for the upright

·      HAVE PROTECTION, for He is a shield to those who walk uprightly

·      HAVE PROTECTION, for He guards the paths of justice

·      HAVE PRESERVATION, for He preserves the ways of His saints

·      HAVE UNDERSTANDING of righteousness, justice, equity, and every good path

Who is foolish enough to prefer their own ways, when we can have all of that?

We could go on, and on, and on with dissecting every verse that has to do with wisdom, for the word appears over 230 times in the NKJV alone, beginning in Exodus, and going straight through to Revelation.  I imagine wisdom is a pretty important theme, even if our world is sorely lacking.  Let me encourage you, though, that if we will pursue His wisdom, one day we will join others around the throne of God, and hear this tribute to our God together. 

Revelation 7:9-12 NKJV

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”

Seek wisdom.  Pursue it.  Receive it.  Treasure it.  Apply it.  Incline your ear to it.  Cry out for it, for heaven’s sake!

It’s going to be worth it all, some beautiful, happy day.