The Old Testament scholar, Umrad, has said that the wisdom of the wisdom literature can be defined by saying that man, through knowledge of the Lord, must learn to become competent with regard to the realities of life. Wisdom is concerned with practical life. It's grounded in the covenant of God. And it's under the priority of obedience to the word of God, but wisdom takes us out into the street, not into the temple, as Derek Kidner says in his excellent introduction to the book of Proverbs. The wise man is the knowledgeable man. He's the man who understands how life should be lived and also reflects on what life means. Wisdom, then, is concerned with the active direction of man's daily life before God. It is part of man's covenantal obedience. It is man's response to the Word of God. The wisdom by which men walk is distinct from the Word of God, but it is built upon the Word of God. And in Proverbs, we have reflection, too, of the law of God, those who forsake the law praise the wicked, Proverbs 28, 4 tells us. And in Psalm 119, we have a psalm that has the form of a wisdom psalm. You know, it's built in the form of an acrostic with eight verses for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and yet that entire psalm centers upon the Word of God. It is an affirmation of the importance of the Word of God for all of our life and all of our obedience. The wisdom literature is reflective then on life and directs life, and like the Psalms it is reflective. You see, there are two streams of meditation. to be found in scripture. One stream is the stream of meditational devotion, which characterizes the Psalms. The other is the stream of meditational wisdom directed toward practical life, and you find that in the wisdom literature. And it's not surprising then that the Book of Proverbs also is composed in a way that has many similarities to the Psalms in terms of the structure, the strophic structure of the Proverbs, the balance, the structure, the way in which you have parallels and sometimes an inversion of the parallels in the way in which the Proverbs are put together. It is distinct from praise because praise is the immediate response to the presence of God, but wisdom is nevertheless a response to God's presence because it is the desire to direct our steps in active obedience to God's commands. Wisdom is given to us from God. And the greatest thing that could be said of a wise man is that to inquire of him is like seeking counsel from God himself. You will remember that that comment is made about the wise man Ahithophel, who had his place in the court of David. The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his inmost parts. Wisdom, then, is concerned with active direction of our daily walk before God. It is also concerned with a reflective understanding of our relationships, of our relationships to the world and to the works of God in nature and in history. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. That statement is in Psalm 111, which is a wisdom psalm, and which concludes with the golden text of all the wisdom literature, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 111 is another acrostic psalm, and the statement is that we seek out the works of the Lord. We seek out that which God has done. We reflect on his works. And we think not only of the situations in the world in which we live, but also of men and of society. Wisdom in the Old Testament is particularly related to counsel that is to be offered in king's courts. I mentioned a moment ago the name of Ahithophel, and you will remember that Ahithophel was a wise man in the court of David, but he was loyal not to David, but rather he joined forces with David's rebellious son Absalom. And when David went into exile, another one of his counselors, Hushai, came with him into exile. But David said to Hushai, you're not of much assistance to me here in the wilderness. where we need fighting men more than wise men, but you're very much needed back in the court of Absalom, because unless the council of Ahithophel can be overthrown, everything is lost. So Hushai went back and feigned loyalty to Absalom in order to have an opportunity to overthrow the council of Ahithophel. And you remember the story The question was, what was the next move for Absalom to make? Should he at once pursue David and try to kill him, or should he wait and get a larger army together? And of course, Ahithophel gave very sage advice. He said, go and strike at once. Don't give your father any opportunity to gather an army, but pursue him immediately. And he's in flight now. You can catch him while he's fleeing. You can kill him, and then the kingdom's yours." Well, the advice sounded very good to Absalom and to the young men that were with him. But then he said, let's hear the counsel of Hushai as well. Remember how Hushai played on both Absalom's fear and also his vanity. He said to Absalom, well now, if you pursue David just now, that is not altogether a safe course, because David, after all, isn't alone. He has those mighty men with him, and they're well-known warriors. they'll be now like a bear robbed of her whelps. They're not going to be a pushover. It's going to be very difficult to fight David. And what if you should send an expedition after David, and they should suffer some initial reverse? Suppose they would be defeated. Well, it would only be a minor skirmish, but think of the impact. Then people would say, ah, David has defeated Absalom, and your whole cause would be in jeopardy. No, no, that's not the way to do it, Absalom. The way to do it is to wait, because with your great popularity, you know, everybody will flock to you. You can get all Israel together, and you can descend on them like the dew on the mountainside, and you can completely obliterate David without any risk whatever. That was Hushai's advice. You will remember that Absalom took that advice to his own ruin. And when Hippophel heard that the council of Hushai had been accepted, he went home and put a few codicils on his will, straightened everything out, and went out and hanged himself. He didn't have to wait to see what would happen. He knew what would happen. I reminded you of that little story because, you see, it's a beautiful picture of how important counsel was in the courts of kings, and things haven't changed much to this day. In the United States, we're always a bit concerned, not just who might be in the president's cabinet, or who might be secretary of state, but we're always concerned of who is really the president's counselor, who is he listening to. And it's very important, you know, the kind of counsel that a ruler gets. And in the Old Testament, this is stressed a great deal. The wise man, the counselor, in the court of the king. So that wisdom isn't just a matter of fathers giving instruction to their sons, nor a matter of elders having wisdom for the government of a local village, but it's a matter of the wisdom in kings' courts, the wisdom of those who are the advisors to the kings. So whether it's a question of individual behavior, or whether it's a question of policymaking in king's courts, wisdom is what is needed. Notice, too, that in that little story that I referred to, the matter of timing is crucial. You see, Absalom is going to have to fight with the men of David sooner or later, obviously, but the question is when? And wisdom selects the right time. There is a time to strike. There is an opportunity to be seized. And if the timing is right, wisdom is justified of her children, you see. But if the timing isn't right, there can be disaster. element is later referred to in a cynical way in the book of Ecclesiastes, where you have this brought forward as a reputation of all wisdom, for if it's nothing but timing, well then, there's a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted, there's a time to build and there's a time to tear down that which is built, so if there's a time for everything, Wisdom is rather self-refuting. You can always say, well, the time's going to come around when the opposite advice applies, so what's the use of having advice anyway? That's the rather cynical comment that's being made in Ecclesiastes. But what it's talking about is something that was vital to wisdom, the matter of being able to discern the times and the seasons. Wisdom, then, is concerned with the relation to the world, it is concerned with the relation to man and to society, but wisdom is also concerned, naturally, with the relation to God. And here we have the great mystery of God's ways, and the struggle that men must have in understanding the ways of the Lord. Here you have the problem of Job. and the long controversy between Job and his friends. How is Job's suffering to be understood? How do you account for the suffering of the righteous? And of course, Job's friends have a very simple answer. Job suffers because he has sinned, and he suffers in proportion to his sin. dreadfully afflicted, therefore he must be a dreadful sinner. So he had better confess his sin, and then things can be straightened out. But Job realizes that this is a completely false description of the situation, and so he cries out to God for understanding. He cries out for the possibility of talking with God. of interceding with God, of seeking from God some explanation of this mystery as to why he should be visited with such dreadful affliction. But there's not only the question of the dealing of God with individuals, the question of why the righteous suffer, there's also the question of the dealing of God with nations. Not only do righteous men suffer, but wicked nations win. How can it be that great kingdoms are set up and move forward to accomplish their designs, and they worship their own dragnet, they adore their own military might, and yet they continue to be successful? How can that be? And so we have another form of wisdom, where you find Daniel as a wise man in the court of a Gentile ruler. And there you get the visions, the apocalyptic element, the visions of the great future, the answers that God will give to heathen might and heathen power, the time when the kingdom of God will come as a stone cut without hands and strike the great image that symbolizes the power of heathen empires, and they all will be ultimately destroyed. So you see, wisdom in the Old Testament has a very wide range indeed, going from folk proverbs, the sort of thing that would be repeated day by day by people in a village, to the wisdom of kings' courts, to the struggles of the righteous as they faced suffering, and to the whole course of human history and the development of empires. But the great center of all the wisdom literature in the Old Testament is in the conviction that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. In Proverbs 2.5 we read, Then thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. The knowing, the understanding, the reflecting that is prized in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament is that which centers on the Lord Himself. And so we have a theology of wisdom in the Old Testament, a theology of wisdom which gives us both an objective and a subjective principle. The theology of wisdom tells us that God's wisdom is the standard and source of all wisdom. Wisdom must begin with God. He is the one who possesses wisdom as his attribute. He knows all things, and in God and in God alone can the ultimate secret of wisdom be found. There's a beautiful description in the 28th chapter of the book of Job of the search for jewels and for rubies and for precious stones. And Job tells us a bit about how rubies and stones might be mined out. And he says, where can wisdom be found? You can dig down through the ground under the foot of man where the The bird has never flown by and you can dig up rubies, but where are you going to dig out wisdom? What mining expedition will ever produce wisdom? And at the end of that beautiful passage, which describes, the whole chapter describes the search for jewels on the part of miners who are digging out precious stones, but he comes to the very end And he says in verse 23, God understands the way thereof, and he knows the place thereof. And then verse 28, and unto man, God says, behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. So the search for wisdom can lead at last only to one, that is, to God himself. God who possesses all wisdom, and God who is able to make wisdom known. In Psalm 147, the psalmist is reflecting on this, and we read in verse 5, Great is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite. There is no bound to the wisdom, to the knowledge of God. The attribute of God is wisdom. And then we have that passage that is so often referred to in the eighth chapter of the Book of Proverbs, where wisdom is personified, spoken of as a woman. There is a contrast, you know, between the woman of the streets who calls men to follow her to their destruction and the wisdom that is the wisdom of God, the wisdom of God's attribute, dame wisdom, lady wisdom, you might say, who calls men to follow her. And in the eighth chapter we have wisdom crying in the streets and putting forth her voice, calling men not to sin and to destruction, but calling men to the Lord and to the understanding of his ways. And we read in verse 22, ìThe Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth was, when there were no depths I was brought forth. when there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth." A beautiful description of wisdom. Verse 30, "...then I was by him as a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him." So that wisdom that God possesses is personified, seen as a companion to God, rejoicing in all of his works. everything that God has done has been done in wisdom. And God, of course, who possesses all wisdom, also gives wisdom. He does so in his works of creation. He has made the world, and the world shows forth his praise. world declares the glory of God and utters forth the reality of His wisdom because of the beauty and power of His works. As you know, Psalm 19 speaks first of the wisdom and glory of God seen in His creation in the world, and then the wisdom and glory of God seen in His work. The heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament showeth His handiwork. day and today utter a speech and night and tonight shall acknowledge. The wisdom of God is declared in his revelation in that which he has made. But God speaks to us and he reveals to us his wisdom in his word. Not only is the work of God in nature, the evidence of his understanding, but also the words spoken gives us his truth and his wisdom. Proverbs 30 verse 5, every word of God is tried. He is a shield unto them that take refuge in him. I referred a little earlier to Psalm 119 and the way in which that psalm reflects on the wisdom of God in his word. Psalm 119 has that form of meditation that would be called in the East the lotus form of meditation. That is, as a lotus petal starts at the center and goes out and comes back to the center and out and back and out and back and out and back. Well, that's what that form of meditation is like in Psalm 119. It's not designed for speed reading. It's designed for reflection. But you see, you take the thought of the Word of God, and then you see how all of life relates to that Word, how all of the ways of a young man are in the Word of God, and how all the darkness that covers our path is illumined by the Word of God that's a light and a lamp to our feet. And so the psalmist goes on and on, thinking of the different aspects of life and bringing them always back to the revelation of God in His Word. And of course, God not only gives us his wisdom in the world that he has made and in the word that he has spoken, but God also illumines our mind to give us understanding. The 23rd verse of Proverbs 1, turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you. I will make known my words unto you. God calls to us to receive his word and to understand by the power of his spirit. There is a reference in connection with the building of the tabernacle to men who were filled with the Holy Spirit and given wisdom as skilled craftsmen in the construction of the tabernacle. We have that referred to in the thirty-fifth chapter of Exodus. is found with God, God has it, he has the understanding and the knowledge, and all truth is his, so that his knowledge is comprehensive, infinite, all-inclusive, penetrating to every aspect of created reality, since all of created reality has been formed by God himself. If then all wisdom comes from God, and he's the only source of it, and it's his attribute, then obviously our possession of wisdom must be a relationship to God, so that the fear of the Lord must be the beginning of wisdom. Without the fear of the Lord, there can be no wisdom at all. That is to say, the fear of the Lord must be the foundation of our thinking. Human reason is not autonomous. Our minds are in subjection to our Creator. They are subordinate to the Lord. We are not God. We do not have understanding. We cannot in ourselves comprehend any of the mysteries of life, or for that matter, understand or write anything about life. In the third chapter of the Book of Proverbs, we read, Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths. Without knowing the Lord, it is impossible to gain wisdom, because our knowledge is not original. Our knowledge is derived. Our thinking is not sovereign. Only God's thinking is sovereign. We must think God's thoughts after him, and only as we do that do we think rightly. Only then do we have understanding. It's significant that in our day there is so much talk of information and so little talk of wisdom. We seek to reduce all knowledge and all understanding to plus and minuses in a computerized program. And we even seek to reduce all human understanding to nothing but information storage and information retrieval. And we think of ourselves as rather remarkable data banks and are both amazed and chagrined by the operation of the computer that has been installed between our ears. And of course, from the account of contemporary science, it's really rather remarkable how the thing ever got there by process of evolution over all these centuries, but somehow it did. And then you can trace the nerve patterns, you know, and make studies of the synapses as they go popping away inside there. But you see, it's all reduced to a matter of how many plus charges and how many minus or lack of plus charges there are, whether the little jolts come through or whether they don't come through. And that is knowledge. Well, it isn't the Old Testament conception of knowledge, you see. Wisdom includes not just data storage. Wisdom includes a mysterious further step that's described as understanding or reflection or seeing in its setting that which we are considering. Well, for that matter, even physiologists in brain studies tell us there's a difference between the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere of the brain. And one is more concerned with the matter of logical thought, and the other more concerned with intuitive perception. And so we're beginning to recognize that there is such a thing as intuition. It's necessary for understanding. and that that intuitive understanding is somehow remarkably general. It puts things in perspective. It doesn't just analyze, it puts things together. So even in terms of brain function, we have to think about putting things together as well as taking them apart by analysis. But don't you see, there is even more being said here. wisdom is truly to be found with God, then we do not live in an empty universe. We do not live in a universe where the greatest truth is abstract. We live in a universe in which the truth is ultimately personal. When Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life, We often think of that as being really figurative language, that real truth can't be personal, that only by a kind of figure of speech can truth be given a personal name. But, you see, if as a matter of fact we live in a world that has been created by the infinite, eternal, and unchanging God, and if we have been formed by his wisdom, And if our minds have been formed as well as our brains created by the power of that infinite God, then to know the Lord is the heart of all wisdom, of all understanding. And if he's left out, whatever is left is necessarily distorted and is at last nothing but foolishness. You cannot leave God out. You cannot have wisdom without God. And you don't really understand anything apart from God, because you haven't put that thing into its perspective. Without God, knowledge is not only partial. Without God, knowledge is misconceived. Because wisdom cannot be simply reduced to pluses and minuses. that are right or wrong, whether or not God exists. Wisdom for us as preachers, made in the image of God, is not knee-jerk responses. Wisdom is understanding the situation in perspective. So, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's the beginning of all the understanding that we may possess. And so, of course, it is also the reason for the fruitfulness of thought. We have all sorts of discussions these days about the whole matter of theory and praxis. Karl Marx, of course, has called attention to this, saying that praxis comes first, and theory is developed as ideology, and that people defend their practice by their ideological extrapolations, and there's a great deal of discussion as to how one relates theory to practice. teaching as I do in a theological seminary. I'm in an environment where that question comes up every day. We are studying theory, in a sense, as we study theological truth. At least, I'm afraid we often turn it into theory. But you see, theology is to be practiced before God, isn't it? And understanding involves practice. It's not just abstract conceptualizing that is a real grasp of theological truth because of the character of theological truth. because God is truth, because we are related to him. So you see, the practice of theology and the understanding of theology go together. Without the practice, you won't really have the understanding, and without the understanding, you won't have the practice. So in the picture of wisdom that you have in the Bible, theory and practice are fused together in a way that is quite different. from the problem that men have who cannot relate knowledge to the presence of the living God. For you see, if God isn't there, then we really have no way to join theory and practice. If God isn't there, then there is no absolute truth. So then truth is always an extrapolation of whatever we like to do. And then truth does become a kind of rationalizing, the way in which we convert into abstract concepts our own preferences of behavior. But if God is there, and if truth is there, and if reality is there, then there's a completely different situation. Then the abstractions have their meaning only in the context of their application, because truth at last is personal, not abstract. The ultimate is not being with a capital B in which God happens to participate. The ultimate is the person of the living God. And it isn't that God is defined by being, it is that being is defined by God. And you see, that carries all the way in the universe that God has made. That has implications for everything. It means we don't think out in the blue. We think before God. We don't theorize without reference to life. But all theorizing has to be responsible theorizing. You see, Marx, in a sense, blew the whistle on a lot of irresponsible theorizing that didn't take account of the real needs of people. But if you just follow Marx, then you end up without any absolute truth at all, and therefore with the most callous kind of pragmatic manipulation of men and exploitation of men. But the word of God comes at this from a completely different perspective, because you have the absolute truth of God. You have the living God as the truth. You have men created in his image. and you have practice and theory joined together in the scriptural conception of wisdom. To realize the will of God in our lives becomes the calling of God to us, and the focus of our understanding is in the knowledge of the Holy One. What I have said is very imperfect, but I do hope that you will continue to reflect on this. You know, we can be so daunted by the pretensions of scientific thought in our time. We can be so daunted by supposing that because we are not eminent scientists, that we really must wait on their word and be delivered to a tyranny of the experts in all areas of life. But you see, the real expertise for living, if I may put it that way, is something quite different. Yes, there is knowledge to be gained by analyzing the world that God made, because God made There is knowledge to be gained by reflecting on men and on situations. That's true. And in the book of Proverbs, there are Proverbs very similar to Proverbs that were in Egypt. That's right. But nevertheless, really to perceive, really to understand, really to be able to relate to the world that God has made requires of us that we should know Him who is the maker. and that we should live and walk in fellowship with him. Now, the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, I've spoken of the theology of wisdom, the objective principle and the subjective principle, but I want to add at this point, a point that's not in the outlines that were distributed, the redemptive context of wisdom. You see, wisdom is not only to be put in the context of God as the creator, Wisdom is put in the context of God as the Redeemer, and I want to stress that point this morning. The wisdom literature blossoms and blooms in the period of the Solomonic age in Israel, and even the later wisdom looks back to the Solomonic period as the great apogee of wisdom. Now, there's a rationale in that. The rationale is what I was saying to you the other morning, that God promised Israel that he would pour out his blessings upon Israel, and he did. And those blessings were all poured out and reached their fullness in the time of Solomon. And Solomon, when he dedicated the temple, prayed and thanked God that he had kept all his promises, that the blessings had all been poured out. You have that in 1 Kings chapter 8. Solomon says, Lord, you kept all your promises, all the things that you said you would do, you have done. And Moses says, Bless, excuse me, Solomon says, Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest to his people, Israel, according to all that he promised. There hath not failed one word of all his good promises, which he promised by Moses, his servant. The Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers and so on. Now, at that point, when God had kept all his promises, Israel was in the land. They possessed the inheritance. The enemy had been driven out. The Philistines were defeated by King David. The house of God was built. The glory of God filled that house. And at that point in the history of Israel, God gave to Israel a king who was blessed with wisdom. And so the nations of the earth came to learn of the wisdom of Solomon, and that's described in the fourth chapter of First Kings, and a remarkable passage there. It surprises me that more attention hasn't been given to this passage in our considerations of the Old Testament. First Kings four verse twenty-nine and God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding, exceeding much and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men, and Ethan the Ezraite, and Heman, and Calchol, and Darda, and the sons of Nahal, and his fame was in all the nations round about." Now, we don't have any remaining traces of any of these wise men of the East that are described here, but we're told that Solomon was the wisest of them all. And he spake three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five, and he spake of trees from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even under the hyssop that springeth out of the wall. The flora of the area was well catalogued by Solomon. He spake also of beasts and of birds and of creeping things and of fishes. His biological science was well developed. And there came of all peoples to hear of the wisdom of Solomon from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. Now you see where wisdom fits in. God blesses Israel, gives them peace, and gives to Israel's king in particular, to the Lord's anointed, the great gift of wisdom. And that becomes like a magnet. And the kings from all the earth come in to learn of the wisdom of Solomon. They've got practical problems too, you know. They need counselors, they've got to run things in their courts, and Solomon knows how to do it. So, you come to Solomon and you learn of him. The famous story of the Queen of Sheba, which in the Hollywood version becomes, of course, a little different. But the Queen of Sheba comes in because she wants wisdom. It isn't that Solomon's handsome, it's that he's wise. And she comes, and when she comes and learns of the wisdom of Solomon, she's absolutely enthralled, and she says that it's absolutely amazing. The half wasn't told her. And she says, verse eight of First Kings 10, happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants that stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, who delighted in thee to set thee on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever. Therefore, made he the king to do righteousness and justice. Well, of course, this opens all sorts of doors. Wisdom issues in justice. Wisdom issues in righteousness. Wisdom issues in a rule of a king that is a blessing to Israel. And the Queen of Sheba sees that, and all nations hear about it, and people come in. So you see, the blessing of God to Israel is culminated in the blessing of wisdom given to Solomon. And so the setting of the wisdom literature, ideally in the Old Testament, is in that period where God has given Israel rest. Now that accounts in part for the universalistic character of the wisdom literature. There is here instruction for all peoples. manner to come and hear this wisdom, which has its source in God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but which issues in very practical maxims as to how to conduct daily life, how you go out in the street to live each day. It's all summarized in this wisdom that has its core in the fear of the Lord. But in that setting, friends, wisdom also points to the promise. Wisdom also points to the great future that has to come. Now, wisdom does that in different ways. One way that wisdom does that is in showing the unresolved issues that remain. Now, think about that for a moment. Suppose all that God was going to give to his people was peace in a little country under a wise king. Would that be salvation? Think about that, you see? All God's promises have been kept in a certain perspective. He's done everything he said he would do. Yes, he's given them the land, he's given them peace, he's given them a king. He's done all that. If you follow me, now Israel has it made, right? This is all the heart could desire, right? Now you've got everything, right? Life in the suburbs. The whole bit. But there are problems. There are problems. There's Job, you see. When you think about him. And he had it all made. But then, he lost it all. Nowhere was he. And what about all the suffering that came on him? Then you have the book of Ecclesiastes. And Ecclesiastes looks at death. What does it profit a man? Why is the wise man better than the fool? They both die. Where does it get you? The rain comes down, waters the fields, fills the brooks, flows down into the ocean, then it goes up as vapor, and fills the clouds, then it goes back, and then it rains. It goes down, it goes up, and goes over, and rains, and around, and around, and around. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher, all is vanity. Where does it get you? There's a time to plant and a time to pluck up. In the 60s, that passage from Cretaceous was in all the college dorms in the United States. I think it was mostly because it has a statement. There's a time to love and a time to hate. And at the college age, you know, there's a lot of loving and hating that goes on there. love affairs dissolve and pick up again and so on. I think that's really why it got such a play. But nevertheless, there was that thought, you see, that life goes around and around. And where does it get you? Do you see how important it was that the wisdom literature should show that? Should show that just the physical blessings won't do it. Just being in the land won't do it. Just having wealth and riches won't do it. Even peace won't do it. There's got to be something more. For there's still the mystery of suffering, and there's still the mystery of death. And how is there going to be an answer to that if God's blessing is at last to triumph? The wisdom literature confronts us with that problem. Then, of course, not only the personal problems that we have, but the political problems. Israel sins. Israel is driven into captivity. Israel goes off and is made captive in Mesopotamia. And then what happens? Then Daniel sees the vision of the stone cut without hands. Then we have the future of the nations revealed to us. Ah yes, wisdom takes us into the apocalyptic. Wisdom takes us into the fact the kingdom of God has to come in a way that it hasn't come. God has more in view. God will do more. God will come. The kingdom of God will come. Yes, and that one likened to a son of man will come. And he will be He will come in the clouds of heaven and sit in the right hand of the Ancient of Days, and to Him will be given God's kingdom." You see, the wisdom literature, too, leads us forward into prophetic prophecy by way of the apocalyptic, but also by way of showing us the problems that are unresolved. Yes, wisdom literature leads us forward to Jesus Christ. Matthew, the eleventh chapter, verse twenty-eight. Jesus says, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Here you hear the summons of Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of wisdom. and his call is the call of wisdom. Listen to these words from the wisdom of the son of Sirach. This is the book of Ecclesiasticus, the book written in the wisdom literature in between the Old Testament and the New. Hear this word from the son of Sirach. Draw near to me, you who are untaught, and lodge in my school. Why do you say you are lacking in these things, and why are your souls very thirsty? I opened my mouth and said, Get these things for yourselves without money. Put your neck under the yoke and let your soul receive instruction, for it is to be found close by. See with your eyes that I have labored little and found for myself much rest." Now you notice the similarity in the vocabulary. A little labor, much rest. Take the yoke upon you. There's also a notable difference. The son of Sirach is calling men to take wisdom's yoke. Jesus is calling men to take his yoke. The yoke of Jesus is the yoke of wisdom, for Jesus is the Lord of wisdom. Now, how can Jesus demand that we come to him and take his yoke as the yoke of wisdom? Well, the answer is given in the verses that precede. Jesus said, All things have been delivered unto me and my Father, and no one knoweth the Son save the Father. Neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him." If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Jesus Christ is the only one who can teach us the fear of the Lord. He is the only one who can reveal the Father. and he is the only one who can be revealed by the Father, and therefore he has a monopoly on wisdom. If you want to know wisdom, you must take Christ's yoke, because he knows the Father as the Son. The only Son, the beloved Son, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he So Job's search for wisdom is at an end. We come to him who is the Lagos, the Alpha and the Omega, the Alpha light of the Father's knowledge of the Son, the Omega light of the Son's knowledge of the Father. And Jesus speaks the word that is full wisdom. He has that which he's received of the Father. That passage, the tradition of the Father given to Jesus. All things have been delivered unto me of my Father. That's the word tradition. There's the tradition of knowledge that we need. The tradition of the knowledge given by the Father to the Son. and Jesus reveals himself. Read the Gospel of John and look at the message of Jesus in the Gospel of John, and you see that Jesus's message is himself. Jesus presents himself. He is the wisdom of God. He is made unto us wisdom and sanctification and redemption. Oh yes, Jesus in his teaching uses the means and the forms of wisdom Jesus uses beatitudes. He speaks of the scribe of the kingdom. He expounds the law and wisdom. He engages in controversy like a wise man. He speaks his parables, which are the forms of wisdom. He speaks in terms of apocalyptic, about the times and the seasons. Jesus picks up all the forms of wisdom from the Old Testament, and his teaching is formed in those categories of the wisdom form. But Jesus presents himself as the royal counselor, the one who is wonderful. His name shall be called the wonder of a counselor, wonderful counselor, the one who has all wisdom, the very wisdom of God, and the one who can reveal to us and who alone can reveal to us the word of God. His example is in the meekness of wisdom, in the gentleness of Christ. in that wisdom that can be revealed unto babes, but the wisdom which is full of the glory of God. You learn of Jesus, the lowly Lord, the explanation of the mysteries, the mystery of suffering. Job cries out in his suffering, but now the mystery of suffering will be revealed, for Jesus comes as the suffering servant. And then you understand how it is that the righteous can suffer. Then you understand that his suffering as the righteous one is vicarious. He suffers in our place. He suffers for us. He bears for us. Then he calls us to take up our cross and follow him. And after Jesus, the mystery of suffering has a completely different cast, because now we know that we suffer for him. We bear the sufferings of Christ, that is to say, we suffer for his sake and for his name's sake. And although he has borne all the wrath of God against sin so that we do not have to suffer in a penal sense because of the fruit of our sins, he delivers us from all of that. Yet he allows us to suffer, and since he leaves us in the world where we do suffer, we suffer in fellowship with him. and suffering is transformed, and the disciples rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer shame for the name. Job's problem of suffering is given a completely new perspective when we come to the fullness of Jesus Christ. Oh yes, and then all the wisdom of men is shown to be foolishness, but the wisdom of God is revealed. That which is foolishness to men is the wisdom of God, the wisdom of the cross of Jesus Christ. That God's victory should be by defeat, that eternal life should come by death, that resurrection should come through crucifixion. That all of these things should happen makes no sense to the wisdom of man. No computer would ever generate such a solution. This is the will of God. This is the wisdom of God. This is the law of God. And that which is foolishness to man is the knowledge of God. And God gives that richly indwelling Word of Christ to you. And that richly indwelling Word works wisdom. in you. You grow in wisdom through the richly indwelling Word of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of wisdom. And in wisdom you are called to walk, and in wisdom you are called to obey. not simply in understanding the Proverbs like little bits and pieces of good advice. The New Testament picks up the Proverbs and uses the Proverbs. Paul uses them in his ethical instruction. Peter uses them. The book of Hebrews uses them. But now they're all put into the structure of their real meaning, their true significance in the fulfillment of redemptive history in Jesus Christ. And we are called now to walk in wisdom by the power of the Holy Spirit and to discern the things that differ. You see, we do not live carelessly or thoughtlessly or unreflectively as Christians, but the Apostle Paul says, verse 9 of Philippians 1, and this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in all knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent. Or that could be translated that you may prove the things that differ. You see, what Paul is praying for, that we have knowledge and discernment in order to judge in situations what we ought to do. And you see, you learn in the situation. You don't get it all in advance, you learn it in the situation. You have to prove out the things that differ. The wisdom of God given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit is not a total action plan given to us in advance. Many Christians feel that their guidance has to come by some form of revelation that will give them detailed instruction as to what they're supposed to do every day. And they forget that the pattern is wisdom, that you're to understand, you're to get a comprehension of what God is doing in your life as you reflect on it and as you work it out day by day seeking to obey Him. You don't get it all in advance. You get it moment by moment, day by day, as you prove and approve the things that are excellent, as you make the discriminating decisions that help you to grow in wisdom. Many Christians wish that we still had the Urim and the Thummim. Now, that was very convenient. It was something in the breastplate of the high priest, but it worked like a computer. It gave you yes or no answers. And David, when Biothar brought the breastplate to him, he put it to use at once. He said, Now, God had told him to go deliver a city from the Philistines, and he had done it, so the city had good cause to be grateful to David. So David knew Saul was chasing him, and so he said to Abiathar, I need to check with Urim and the Thummim. If I go to that city, will Saul chase me there? And Abiathar checked with Urim and the Thummim, and the answer was yes. And if I go to that city and Saul chases me there, will the men of that city give me up to Saul? Buyeth our checks, he rimmed the thumb, and yes, takes care of that. David doesn't go anywhere near that city, needless to say. Now, don't you wish you could get one at the cross the street at the Church of Scotland bookstore? Wouldn't that be handy? I mean, it would no doubt add to the income of the establishment as well. And it could be done up in Lucite, and you could hang it around your neck, you see. It would be a lovely thing to have. You'd get your yes and no answer right away. Wouldn't that be good? Why didn't the Lord give us the urn and the thumb and nail? Isn't the new revelation, new covenant, better than the old? Why don't we have an orderment from it? Well, for a moment think. Here's a little boy, he's three years old. Daddy, may I go out in the garden and play? Father, well, it's a few minutes before supper. All right, just stay in the garden. Twenty years go by. A phone call comes from London, where he's in the university, and he says, Daddy, may I go out and play? And you say, well, this young man has a problem. He's obviously a bit retarded. We worry about him. Yes, well, don't you see what I'm getting at? What's the Lord doing? He wants you to become mature. He wants you to know what's pleasing in His sight. He wants you to grow in wisdom. Did you ever stop to think if God kept giving you yes and no answers, you wouldn't grow in wisdom at all? You'd just be told, yes, do it. No, don't do it. You know, some parents keep trying to do that to their children when they're 23 years old, and it's a disaster. You know, they still want to give them oom-and-thum-um answers to all their problems, and it's very tough on the young people. But an understanding parent wants his child to grow in wisdom. So the boy, when he's 23, knows what's pleasing to his father and what isn't, and he doesn't have to call up to ask every moment in that sense, does he? Ah, yes. The Lord wants us, filled with the Holy Spirit, to grow in the mind of Christ, to know what is pleasing to the Lord, that we may walk in that way. So don't try to force yes and no answers out of God on the assumption that you have a right to them on all occasions. God hasn't promised that. Some Christians do it, you know. They don't have the Urim and the Thummim, so they make their feelings to be the Urim and the Thummim. And they say, now, should I do this or not? Is this pleasing to God or not? I'll start doing it. So they walk off and start doing it. Then they do a quick spot check. How do I feel about it? And if I feel real good, then obviously it's the will of the Lord. And they'll even say later, the Lord told me to do it. But if they don't feel so good, then it's obviously not the will of the Lord, and so they'll stop doing it. Now, the remarkable thing about that is it usually works. And the reason, I think there are two reasons why it usually works. One is the wonderful goodness of God. If we get mixed up ideas about guidance, the Lord will sometimes, in his marvelous loving kindness, guide us by our mixed up ideas of guidance. I think he really does. But the other thing is it may work because it's our conscience giving us the answers. We've been rationalizing all the time, trying to persuade ourselves it was really all right to do this. And yet when we start really to do it, then our conscience hits us and we say, oh, no, that's really wrong. And of course, it is wrong. But you see, The Lord hasn't promised us infallible answers. He hasn't given us the Urim and the Thummim. That isn't the wisdom of Christ. Wisdom is growing in understanding. Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that God doesn't, in his providence, even give us hunches sometimes, and we'd better pay attention even to hunches. All right. But don't think they're infallible. Don't class them with the urim and the thummim, please. But realize that what God is after, as he works in your life and heart, is for you to grow in the wisdom that is in Jesus Christ.