Wisdom and Understanding


Where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?--Job 28: 12.

After raising this question, Job continues:

“Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Whence then cometh wisdom? Where is the place of understanding? God understands the way thereof, and He knoweth the place thereof. And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

The man who pursues evil is devoid of wisdom; he has no understanding of life and its meaning--never will have unless he departs from evil and begins to live in the fear of the Lord, in fear of offending God’s love and incurring His displeasure.

The treasures we so feverishly seek and so greatly cherish--such things as gold and silver and precious stones--are as dust in comparison with wisdom and understanding. Wealth is no substitute for God. You may make a god of gold, but it cannot supply the wisdom and understanding necessary for wholesome and happy living.

The answer to Job’s question is in the words, “God understands.” Things that perplex us do not perplex Him. There is comfort in the truth--God understands us! He understands our weakness, knows our need. That is the basis of our confidence, our hope, our comfort, our happiness.

God revealed His wisdom and understanding in Christ. “In Him life lay, and this life was the Light for men (John 1: 4, Moffatt)--light making clear the way of wisdom and understanding. If we walk with Christ in the way He marks out, we shall not walk in darkness; we shall walk in the light, even as He is in the light (I John 1: 7). We shall have nothing to conceal, and do nothing we would wish to hide. He will be Light, to guide our feet into the way of peace, to shine upon us, so that we shall be able to see through all the mists and shadows that may overcast our pathway (Luke 1: 78-79);

“Sun of my soul! Thou Savior dear, It is not night if Thou be near” (Hymn).