Wisdom From Above

King Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba, was purportedly the wisest man who ever lived, and he had much to say about foolishness and wisdom. Three books of the Bible are generally attributed to him–Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. These three books and the additional books of Job and Psalms make up what is known as the “wisdom literature,” because all five books share a perspective on the value of wisdom and how to achieve it.

How did King Solomon become so wise? The story is told in 1 Kings 3: 3-14. Take a moment to read the story:

Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt-offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask what I should give you.’ And Solomon said, ‘You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart towards you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?’

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, ‘Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honour all your life; no other king shall compare with you. If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.’

Perhaps the most well-known account of Solomon’s wisdom is “The Judgement of Solomon,” which tells the story of two women who each lay claim to being the mother of the same child. Solomon tells them to cut the child in half in order to discern which woman is telling the truth. Spoiler alert: the child in question was not cut in half.

Moving on to Proverbs 2:6, we read that  “…the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Knowledge and understanding are gifts from God! That shouldn’t really be a surprise, should it? I always suspected that the Creator of the Heavens and Earth was wise. Proverbs 1:7 tells us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Does that mean that we should be afraid of God? Well, yes and no. Yes, because if we don’t follow His ways, we won’t end up any place good. And no, because God wants us to love Him rather than to be afraid of Him. A better word for “fear” in this verse might be the word “awe”—our awe of God is the beginning of wisdom. My father, on more than one occasion, told me to think before I speak (or act). Dad must have been reading Proverbs 14:8, because Solomon wrote that “the wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.” My awe and fear of disappointing my dad kept me on the right path more than once.

In Ecclesiastes 10:2, Solomon tells us that “the heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.” As delightful as it would be to imagine that Solomon’s words were a prophetic metaphor about the state of American politics centuries later, that would not be entirely accurate. Since ancient times, right has been positively regarded “as the position or direction associated with blessing, favor, or reward …while left has been negatively associated with disfavor or condemnation, stemming from such considerations as the majority of people being right-handed.” Additionally, the right hand was, and still is, used for taking vows. In the “olden times,” that’s why some of our moms tried to make us lefties use our right hands.

While Solomon’s use of right and left was a metaphor, it was not a political metaphor. In his article published by History.com, author Evan Andrews writes:

Today the terms “left wing” and “right wing” are used as symbolic labels for liberals and conservatives, but they were originally coined in reference to the physical seating arrangements of politicians during the French Revolution. 

The split dates to the summer of 1789, when members of the French National Assembly met to begin drafting a constitution. The delegates were deeply divided over the issue of how much authority King Louis XVI should have, and as the debate raged, the two main factions each staked out territory in the assembly hall. The anti-royalist revolutionaries seated themselves to the presiding officer’s left, while the more conservative, aristocratic supporters of the monarchy gathered to the right. 

Regardless of whether we sit to the left or the right of an earthly king, if we want to be “right” with God, we need to incline our hearts to wisdom. The heart that inclines to wisdom also leans toward goodness and love. The New Testament also gives us advice about wisdom. In James 3:17, we learn that “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peacable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” Before we go to the polls in November, it would be worth our time to evaluate the candidates by the wisdom displayed by their words and actions–not the wisdom that is assumed by acquiring fancy advanced degrees or hefty bank accounts, but by the wisdom by King Solomon called “wisdom from above.”