Get Wisdom (3)

And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David … 1 Kings 3.3

To make us wise
Getting wisdom is not simply a matter of desiring to be wise. Of course, we must set our heart to desire wisdom. But we must also dedicate our mind to acquiring those wise insights and perspectives that allow the conscience to process thinking and feeling, through our Kingdom values, into wise and loving actions. When we desire wisdom and work to learn it, wisdom will take root in our conscience, flourish in our soul, and bear its fruit in our lives.

So we need to apply ourselves diligently to those sources that can prepare our soul for wisdom, beginning with the Law of God.

As I have previously explained, the Law of God is a much-neglected resource for gaining the wisdom of the Lord. While the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, real growth in wisdom comes from steady exposure to and immersion in the wise and holy Law of God.

And in all His Word, of course, but especially His Law. If, in our study of God’s Word, we neglect the Law of God, we deprive ourselves of the foundational resource, not only for wisdom, but for loving God and our neighbors (Matt. 22.34-40).

David wrote that the Law of God can make even simple men wise (Ps. 19.7). God explained through Moses that His Law would make the people of Israel a nation wise and to be admired: “Therefore be careful to observe [God’s statutes and judgments]; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” (Deut. 4.6).

Because Solomon loved and feared God, it was natural for him to turn to the Law of God to get the wisdom he sought for serving the Lord and the people of Israel. And it should be natural for us to do so as well.

Solomon, Jesus, and the Law
Let us assume that, in turning to the Law of God as his father David had, Solomon followed the protocol prescribed for all the kings of Israel (Deut. 17.18-20). This would have required Solomon to prepare a draft of the Law of God in his own handwriting, to submit that draft to the priests for review and approval, and then keep that draft of the Law with him always. As king, Solomon was expected to read from the Law daily, to learn the fear of God from the Law, to allow his heart to be shaped in humility by all that the Law teaches, and to walk in the paths of righteousness marked out therein. Thus he would begin to acquire the wisdom that would mark the early and middle years of his reign.

Even the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, followed this same protocol, as He Himself tells us in Matthew 5.17-19. He, the very Wisdom of God incarnate, perfectly fulfilled all the Law of God, and determined that it should be foundational for teaching in His Kingdom.

We who have been redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ, are now a “royal priesthood” unto the Lord (1 Pt. 2.9, 10). God has made us kings and priests, each in our own sector of His Kingdom (Rev. 1.6). We must therefore make it our business to seek the wisdom of God in His Law, so that we might walk in the same path that Solomon and Jesus walked (1 Jn. 2.1-6) and get the kind of wisdom Solomon did for serving God and others.

Repenting of our neglect
If we would be wise, we must repent of having neglected the Law of God so long. Those who neglect the Law of God will find that even their prayers run afoul of the Lord (Prov. 28.9). But if we apply ourselves to the Law of God, reading and meditating in it daily and seeking to walk in its holy and righteous and good path (Rom. 7.12), then we will find that the wisdom of God will be more readily with us in everything we do.

The wisdom of God is that skill in living that reflects His indwelling Presence in our lives. We are on the right path to wisdom when we nurture the fear of the Lord along with our love for Him. And when we daily submit to the Law of God, and, indeed, to all the teaching of God’s Word, we begin to discover wisdom from the Lord for every aspect of our lives, every day of our lives.

Add to your daily time in the Lord some meditation in the Ten Commandments. Read regularly through the precepts, statutes, judgments, and testimonies of the Law, especially as we find these in Deuteronomy. Pray through a section of Psalm 119 each day. Meditate on the ways the apostles cited and used the Law as instructive for our lives in the Kingdom of God. Pray that God will give you wisdom as you seek it daily in His Law.

We do not study and keep the Law hoping that this might save us. Neither did Israel of old. It was only after their deliverance from Egypt that God gave them His perfect Law of liberty to guide them in wisdom and love (Jms. 1.22-25). We learn the Law, obey it, and encourage one another in it because this is the way to wisdom (Deut. 4.5-8) and greatness in the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5.17-19), and because God’s Law outlines the good works God has prepared for us to walk in as His redeemed and saved people (Eph. 3.8-10).

We cannot get wisdom merely by asking for it or desiring it strongly. We must apply ourselves to the work of getting wisdom, and this will mean learning from those whom we know to have been wise. For Solomon and Jesus – as for Paul and all the apostles, and great saints throughout the ages – getting wisdom meant reading, meditating in, studying, and living in obedience to the Law and Word of God. 

For reflection
1.  What is the Law of God? What should be the Christian’s relationship to the Law of God? Meditate on Psalm 1 and Matthew 5.17-19 in your answer.

2.  The Law of God is not unto salvation, but for the sake of salvation, that is, to realize more of God’s great salvation. In the light of Ephesians 2.8-10 and Philippians 2.12, explain this.

3.  Meditate on Romans 7.12. Why does it make sense to think we might be able to gain wisdom from meditating in God’s Law?

Next steps – Transformation: Spend this day meditating on Psalm 1 and Matthew 5.17-19. At the end of the day, complete this statement: “I need to become more familiar with God’s Law because…” Pray your completed statement back to the Lord, and begin working on it the next morning.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.