The prophet Baruch (6th century BC) admonished his fellow Israelites, who were exiled, living in the land of their foes, growing old in a foreign land:
“You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom! Had you walked in the way of God, you would have dwelt in enduring peace.”
He didn’t rebuke them for their politics, for following the wrong leader or belong to the wrong partisan group.
He didn’t criticize them for greed or egoism, for feathering their own nests, while indifferent to the destitute and powerless.
He didn’t denounce them for their faithlessness, worshiping false gods that seemed to promise power and prestige, wealth and influence, lands and lordships, sensual satisfactions and fulfillment.
He didn’t waste time and words on symptoms and side effects. His diagnosis was of the root cause of all their failings and corruption:
“You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!” You have forsaken the wellspring, the precious source, the essence of life.
“Learn where prudence is,
where strength, where understanding;
That you may know also
where are length of days, and life,
where light of the eyes, and peace.
Who has found the place of wisdom,
who has entered into her treasures?
“Yet he who knows all things knows her,
he has probed her by his knowledge…
Traced out all the way of understanding,
and has given her to Jacob his servant,
to Israel, his beloved son.
Since then she has appeared on earth,
and moved among men.
“She is the book of the precepts of God,
the law that endures forever;
All who cling to her will live…”
Solomon, David’s son, the third king of Israel was famed for his wisdom. When the Lord promised to give him whatever he asked for, Solomon asked for “a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil.”
The Lord responded, “I now do as you request. I give you a heart so wise and discerning that there has never been anyone like you until now, nor after you will there be anyone to equal you.” (1 Kings 3:5-14)
Alas, although King Solomon still remains the very prototype of the wise man, he had many failings in spite of his many achievements. History has been kind to him!
Wisdom is not merely knowledge; in fact one can have great wisdom without great knowledge.
Wisdom is to know what is true or right coupled with just judgement as to action; it involves sagacity, discernment, and insight.
The root and fountain of all wisdom is God and God’s revelation to humankind. To be wise is ever to seek to discern the will of God, the design and purpose of the Creator—and to conform our lives to it.
When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert, the evil one showed him all the kingdoms of the world and offered to give him all their power and glory if Jesus would worship him.
Jesus, embodiment of wisdom, told him, “You shall worship the Lord, your God,, and him alone shall you serve. (Luke 4:1-13)
We all have been given something of Solomon’s gift of a heart wise and discerning, and we all are tempted by worldly power and glory.
No more wise guys and gals, please, but more wise and discerning men and women.
13 December 2020