What is wisdom?

It’s a word most of us are familiar with, and yet might have trouble defining. It’s also a word we encounter more than a few places in Scripture, but probably most notably in the Book of Proverbs. That’s kind of what the whole book is about:

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight… (Prov. 1:1-2).

Throughout the proverbs, we see that wisdom is something to be grown in, sought after, nurtured, and treasured. We see that it’s not only useful, but extraordinarily valuable – so valuable, in fact, that Solomon himself when given the chance to ask God for any single thing, chose wisdom. And the Lord was pleased:

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be (1 Kings 3:10-12).

So, then, what is it?

I’ve always found J.I. Packer to be helpful in this respect, not only in understanding what wisdom is, but what wisdom is not:

According to Packer, wisdom is not “a deepened insight into the providential meaning and purpose of events going on around us, an ability to see why God has done what he has done in a particular case, and what he is going to do next.”

Rather, wisdom is like driving. 

“What matters in driving is the speed and appropriateness of your reactions to things and the soundness of your judgment as to what scope a situation gives you… you simply try to see and do the right thing in the actual situation that presents itself. The effect of divine wisdom is to enable you and me to do just that in the actual situations of everyday life.”

So there you go. Wisdom is about reality. It’s about real-life decision-making in real-life situations. But also this:

Wisdom tends to deal less in right and wrong decisions and more in left or right decisions. And those are two very different kinds of decisions. We face both every day; right and wrong decisions deal in terms of morality. And those decisions are not easy, but they are, most of the time, simple. 

Left and right decisions are different. These are the kinds of decisions in which there is no decision that is inherently more moral than the other. These are times when you just have to choose – to choose this home or that one. This town or that one. This job or that one. Neither choice is sinful, and that’s why these decisions are more complex. And these are the decisions in which you move from morality to wisdom. 

Here is where we need wisdom not from ourselves, but instead from above. These are the decisions in which we need to exercise all our faculties – our experiences, our reasoning, council from others – but most of all, faith. Because these are the times when, at the end of the day, we will just have to make a choice and move forward.

Thankfully, we can do that confidently. Not confident in our own ability to make the best choice, but confident in the guidance of the Lord and confident that He will be at work no matter which decision we make.