Articles
What Is Wisdom?
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"Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" (1 Kgs. 3:9)
"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?" (2 Chron. 1:10)
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When Solomon took over as king following the death of David, he recognized the challenge that lay before him. His father had laid the foundation for Israel to become a great empire, but that opportunity could be squandered if his successor failed to act with prudence. So on the eve of his coronation, when God gave Solomon a blank check ("Ask! What shall I give you?"), the young king knew exactly what he wanted. It wasn't wealth, power, fame, or the demise of his enemies. It was something far more vital to his success.
Solomon knew that a major function of his role as king was to serve as a judge in all manner of disputes and issues that would come before him. But when we read the two accounts of his response to God's offer, we find a significant difference in wording. According to 1 Kings, Solomon asked for "an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil." In 2 Chronicles, that language is truncated to a simple "wisdom and knowledge." Reconciling these disparate accounts can help us chart our own direction in life.
Knowledge is the foundation of a good life. Knowing the truth about physics, history, math, economics, human nature, and (of course) the Bible is useful in making good decisions. People who are ignorant of the basic rules of life are easily duped and misled. But knowledge alone "puffs up" (1 Cor. 8:1); that is, knowledge can become arrogant, even destructive. Knowledge needs to be tempered with a polishing agent.
Wisdom takes us beyond mere head knowledge into the realm of what is prudent, measured, beneficial, thoughtful. Wisdom is concerned not only with what is right, but also how and when and why the right is to be pursued. Wisdom involves "an understanding heart" that endeavors to "discern good and evil," a process that often involves nuance and subtlety. Wisdom is the catalyst that renders our knowledge constructive.
Solomon understood that wisdom--an understanding heart that can discern between good and evil--was essential to becoming an effective ruler of his people. The first test of that wisdom came in the case of the two harlots fighting over ownership of a single infant (1 Kgs. 3:16-28). In his decision, Solomon displayed an astonishing ability to tease out the truth from a tangled body of information. His people "saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice" (v. 28).
We may not be ruling an empire, but we, too, need wisdom--an understanding heart in knowing how to discern good and evil. Whatever else we may pray for, wisdom needs to be at the top of our list.
--David
