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Wisdom

Proverbs 1:7

What is wisdom? The definitions abound. Samuel Coleridge proposed that wisdom is common sense in an uncommon degree. Charles Spurgeon suggested that wisdom is the right use of knowledge. Frances Hutchison maintained that wisdom is pursuing the best ends by the best means.

Long before these ideas were heard, Cicero characterized wisdom as the knowledge of things human and divine and the causes by which those things are controlled. Other, more contemporary, definitions of wisdom include the art of succeeding in life, the ability to cope, knowledge using its head, doing the right thing without precedent, the right deed or word for the moment, the discipline of applying truth to one's life in the light of experience, and the quest for self-understanding and for mastery of the world. But the Book of Proverbs tells us that wisdom begins and ends with fear of the Lord.

In Scripture, wisdom always refers to knowing the course of action that will please God and make life what God wants it to be. When God promises wisdom, He promises a way of life that is superior to the way of the world.

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