Wisdom Is The Principal Thing
WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING
August 12th and 13th, 2000
1 Kings 3
3 Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5 ¶ At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."
6 Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.
8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
11 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,
12 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.
13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for-- both riches and honour--so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.
14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."
15 Then Solomon awoke--and he realised it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord's covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. {Traditionally peace offerings} Then he gave a feast for all his court. 16 ¶ Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
17 One of them said, "My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me.
18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no-one in the house but the two of us.
19 "During the night this woman's son died because she lay on him.
20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast.
21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son--and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn't the son I had borne."
22 The other woman said, "No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours." But the first one insisted, "No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine." And so they argued before the king.
23 The king said, "This one says, `My son is alive and your son is dead,' while that one says, `No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.'"
24 Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword for the king.
25 He then gave an order: "Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other." 26 The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!" But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!"
27 Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother."
28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
Pr 4:7 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, {Or Whatever else you get} get understanding.
Pr 8:11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
PRAYER
-Obviously today we are looking at the subject of Bible Wisdom.
-This is a great story of Solomon asking for and receiving the wisdom of God.
-We know that that it was very wise because the real mother would never let the baby get hurt.
-That is the way wisdom is…..after the fact we see that it was the right thing to do…before…we just don’t think of it.
1.WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING/SUPREME
-It is the most important thing….WHY?
Pr 17:16 ¶ Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?
(NIV)
Proverbs 3
13 ¶ Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
-Wisdom is the key to everything else.
-We know or have heard of people who had wealth and privilege but no wisdom.
-Without wisdom…all of those other things are worthless.
-Wisdom is the ingredient that makes the rest of life worthwhile.
-The Scripture says, WISDOM IS SUPREME.
2. WISDOM INCLUDES THE OTHER THINGS
-Solomon asked for wisdom and God said He would also give him:
RICHES
HONOR
LONG LIFE
-The Scripture in Proverbs 3 says,
16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour.
-Wisdom is the key to everything else.
3. WISDOM COMES FROM GOD
Ps 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
Isa 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--
Isa 11:3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
-The Hebrew word for wisdom there (chochmah), means skills for living correctly, craftsmanship.
Isa 33:6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. {Or is a treasure from him}
Isaiah 33:6 with WORD WEALTH from NKJV
-We know the Scripture in James 1 that says:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
4. WISDOM MAKES GOD’S WAYS YOUR WAYS
Isaiah 55
6 ¶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
-That shows the total contrast between the way we think and the way God thinks.
-His ways are wisdom.
-If we walk in His ways….we are walking in wisdom.
-We see a connection between HUMILITY/THE FEAR OF THE LORD and wisdom.
-That simply means we see things properly…GOD IS GOD.
-Humility and the fear of the Lord is a re-ordering of things according to the truth.
WISDOM:
APPLYING SPIRITUAL REALITY TO A PHYSICAL WORLD
IT IS WALKING IN GOD’S WAYS IN THE MIDST OF YOUR WAYS
See Word Wealth:
Isaiah 11:2
Isaiah 33:6
-Everything in you wants to respond and act according to your natural man…wisdom calls out to STEP UP to God’s ways.
Ps 25:4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
Ps 119:15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
Pr 3:6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. {Or will direct your paths.}
-I want to end by looking at what James says about EARTHLY WISDOM vs. GODLY WISDOM OR WISDOM FROM ABOVE.
James 3
14 But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
Chapter 4
1 ¶ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?
2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.
-The context is GODLY WISDOM HAS A MOTIVE OF LOVE while EARTHLY WISDOM HAS A MOTIVE OF SELFISHNESS.
-That was why God was pleased with Solomon’s request…it was wisdom to help others….not just to play the stock market better.
PRAY FOR WISDOM