“Seven Pillars of Wisdom”
January 19, 2014
Proverbs 8:12-14
I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power.
Proverbs 9:1
“Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars.”
One of the spiritual disciplines I have made a part of my life is to read the Bible every day. I have been doing that for many decades now, but it has only been a year or so that I have made reading a chapter in Proverbs a part of that discipline. For years I have read a chapter in the Old Testament and a chapter in the New Testament daily, but now I include a chapter in Proverbs as well. Since there are 31 chapters in the Book I find it convenient to read the chapter that corresponds with the date; such as, chapter one on the first day of the month and chapter two on the second – and so forth.
It doesn’t take reading Proverbs very much before you are confronted with the subject of ‘wisdom’. The Book is full of this topic. In fact, ‘Proverbs’ means “Wise sayings”. The Book of Proverbs is a compilation of wise sayings – mostly from King Solomon, the wisest man who every lived. The Bible says,
“God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”
1 Kings 4:29-34
We miss so much of the wisdom of the Book reading it in English. Many of the chapters are acrostics and other poetic forms of expression. But one thing comes out quite clearly – Wisdom is to be desired and sought.
“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.” Proverbs 4:5-9
There are many wonderful benefits of wisdom and many hardships come from a lack of wisdom. I won’t take the time to go into them. You can research them for yourself. This morning I want to take a look at the seven pillars of wisdom. Wisdom is like a house. It is a compilation of things. As a house is a compilation of foundation, floor, walls, ceiling, roof and so one, wisdom is a result of seven important things in your life. You need to choose to have these seven attributes or character traits before you get wisdom. Without these pillars you are not wise; you will not attain wisdom. So I want to take a look at the ‘Seven Pillars’ wisdom is built on and then we will consider how to ‘get’ wisdom. Our Scripture says,
“Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars.”
Proverbs 9:1
In the previous chapter those pillars were described. Here is the first one.
“I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence...” Proverbs 8:12
Without prudence you don’t have wisdom. We better get a good understanding of what prudence is, don’t you think? Prudence is not a word we use very much. Its meaning is lost on most of us today, but at one time it was common and everyone understood what it meant. I had a pretty good idea of what it was, but I looked it up and here is what I found.
Prudence: 1. Caution with regard to practical matters; discretion.
2. Provident care in the management of resources.
Synonyms: Prudence, calculation, foresight, forethought imply attempted provision against possible contingencies. PRUDENCE is care, caution, and good judgment, as well as wisdom in looking ahead; FORESIGHT implies a prudent looking ahead rather far into the future: clear foresight in planning. FORETHOUGHT emphasizes the adequacy of preparation for the future.
To be prudent is to think ahead. It is to anticipate. Being prudent is to be prepared. I thought that was pretty cool since I am into Emergency Preparedness and lead an action group in the local Tea Party that deals with it.
When you read Proverbs you read quite a bit of stuff on being prepared and looking ahead. One of my favorite verses on the subject says,
“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools devours all they have.”
Proverbs 21:20
It is wise to be prudent. It is wise to plan ahead. It is wise to give careful thought to what lies ahead – and prepare for it. Wisdom is built on prudence.
Wisdom is also built on, 2. Knowledge and discretion. Knowledge is accumulating information. It is learning. But discretion is not usually associated with knowledge. Discretion is, according to the dictionary,
“The power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgment; freedom of judgment or choice. EXAMPLE : “It is entirely within my discretion whether I will go or stay.”
I think wisdom is built on using your discretion to accumulate knowledge. The wise person makes it happen. The wise person goes to school, college, take classes, and/or studies at home. We need to keep growing; we need to keep learning; we need to continue to acquire knowledge. It is a wise thing to do.
Wisdom is built on knowledge and discretion.
The third pillar of wisdom is to 3. Fear the Lord. The Bible says,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”
Job 28:28
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”
Psalm 111:10
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10
“Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord...” Proverbs 15:33
It is an unwise thing to not fear or respect the Lord. Yet some of the worlds most brilliant minds CHOOSE to not believe in or respect or fear God. And the Bible calls them ‘fools’. Why? Because God has made Himself plain in the things He has made. (Romans 1:18-21) Only a fool would choose to believe a lie is the truth and the truth is a lie. Choose to fear God; to respect Him is just the BEGINNING of wisdom. If you want to be wise – begin with belief in and respect for the Lord. And by the way, wisdom ‘hates’ or is separate from evil, pride, arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. The wise person does not have these qualities in his life.
The fourth pillar of wisdom is ‘counsel’. I think what this means is that the wise man will take counsel. To not listen to counsel is unwise. The Bible says,
“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
Proverbs 15:22
“Mockers resent correction, so they avoid the wise.” Proverbs 15:12
Too many people do not seek out counsel when they embark upon a course of action. In fact, some get down right irritated and angry if you try to give them advice. The wise person seeks counsel. The wise person goes first to the source of wisdom. The Bible says,
“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.”
Job 12:13
The truly wise person always begins by listening to God and seeking His counsel by reading and knowing His Word. The result?
“Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise.”
Proverbs 15:31
The fifth pillar of wisdom is sound judgment. Sound judgment is,
“the capacity to assess situations or circumstances shrewdly and to draw sound conclusions.”
It is the wise person who is able to check out a situation and intelligently draw a solid conclusion to it. There is a process here. There is fact finding, information examination, and thoughtful deduction before reaching a sound judgment. A foolish person is rash. A foolish person does things and says things without any thought process; without any thought of the consequence or result.
“The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.” Proverbs 15:2
“The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.” Proverbs 15:28
“To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.” Proverbs 18:13
Do you begin to see that it is foolish to speak before thinking? It is foolish to say whatever pops into your mind. It is foolish to answer before listening - really listening to a person. Sometimes you may have to understand the tone of the voice or the body language or the background of the individual before you can answer wisely. The wise person calculates; he thinks; he ponders – before speaking and reaching sound judgment.
The sixth pillar of wisdom is ‘understanding’. If you don’t understand you can’t be very wise. So, how do we get understanding? The Bible says,
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:1-6
“But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.” Job 32:8-9
I think it is clear that understanding comes, first from the Lord, and secondly, by applying our heart to it. The Scriptures says to call out for it; to cry out loud for it. It tells us to search for it like we would for hidden treasure or precious metals. Jesus said to ask and seek and knock. That is how we get understanding. We are to hunger and thirst for understanding. We need to deeply desire to know and understand.
In our day and age the majority of people are lulled into ignorance by the media and the entertain industry. Have you heard of the “dumbing down of America”? It’s real. I could give you all kinds of facts and figures. But let me encourage you to try to understand what is going on. Dig for it. Seek for understanding. It’s the wise thing to do. The bible says,
“Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2
The last thing wisdom is build on; the last pillar is “Power”.
Have you ever heard the saying, “Knowledge is power”? That’s not entirely true. It is in wisdom that the power lies. The Bible says,
“Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.”
Ecclesiastes 7:19
When a person is wise he has influence. When a person is wise he can control the strong and the influential and the wealthy. The wise person has power over rulers and armies and countries. Do you want power like this? The Bible tells us where it comes from.
“...the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” Psalm 68:35
It is God who is the source of true power. If we want power – we go to God. Do you sense a reoccurring theme here? God is the source of all that is good.
Well, wisdom is built seven pillars. Let’s list them.
1. Prudence; 2. Knowledge; 3. Fear of the Lord; 4. Counsel; 5. Sound Judgment; 6. Understanding; and 7. Power.
We need more wisdom in our lives; in our Church and in our Country. So how do we get it? If we want wisdom we go to God. Solomon Wrote,
“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5
When we began I mentioned that one of the disciplines I have incorporated into my life and have made a habit is daily Bible reading. Another one is daily prayer for wisdom. I make a lot of mistakes and do a lot of foolish things. I say the wrong thing at times and often put my foot in my mouth. But I’m learning. I’m seeking. I’m trying to do better. The intent of my heart is to be more Christlike – and for that I need daily wisdom. And I ask for it – daily.
Do you understand that wisdom may be lost? I began by talking about the wisest man who ever lived – King Solomon. But He got away from God and lost His wisdom and His kingdom and caused the Lord to become angry with Him. He turned away from God (1 Kings 11:4-11) and God turned away from Him. I pray that never happens to you. My prayer for you is for more wisdom. Paul said,
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” Ephesians 1:17
That is my prayer for you as well. We need wisdom so we can know Christ better. May God give you and me more wisdom so we may know Him even better.
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