“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom …” (Job 28:28).
Job proclaims in chapter 28 that only true wisdom can enrich our lives and sustain us through the hardships of life. But fallen humanity has no idea of the inestimable worth of wisdom, how it outshines all the riches of this world. If it did know it, mankind would not spend all its time and energy trying to unearth the treasures of this world; instead it would search for the treasures of heaven. But we fail to grasp true spiritual understanding because we do not know where true wisdom can be found. In our fallen existence, we have turned our back on God, we have rejected Him and His ways. We ask, “Where may wisdom be found?,” but we cannot find it because we do not know God.
Wisdom cannot be found in vain philosophies that only reveal a shadow of the truth. It cannot be found in exploration of science, in the study of mathematics, in the intricacies of technology. It cannot be found among the pragmatists who aim simply for “what works.” Nor can it be found in political parties that offer grand solutions to the ills of humanity while ignoring the spiritual ramifications of their policies. Wisdom can be found in only one place—God’s revelation. There is a wisdom that is in God Himself, which is beyond our comprehension, but there is a wisdom that comes to us through the Scriptures and by the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures alone direct us in what we should know about God and how we are to live. “We cannot attain to a right understanding of God and His will, of ourselves and our duty and interest, by reading any books of men, but by reading God’s book and the men of God,” Henry wrote. “Such is the degeneracy of human nature that there is no true wisdom to be found with any but those who are born again, and who, through grace, partake of the divine nature. As for others, even the most ingenious and industrious, they can tell us no tidings of this lost wisdom.”
Job reminds us, just as we learned in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, that true wisdom is to fear God and to depart from evil. Only those who give God the glory He is due, who worship Him in holiness and obey His commandments, will find the wisdom that leads to life.
Begin today or tomorrow by commencing a study of James, the New Testament book on wisdom.
