Wisdom of the World

For Monday,September 3, 2006
Proverbs 3:19-20

Yahweh by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;
by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew.

Solomon has been telling us that wisdom is a precious jewel, and that in all our getting we should get wisdom.

Now he tells us that the wisdom we must seek to possess is of a piece with the quality that God possessed when he created the earth and heaven. This hardly seems possible: God is the great creator whose ways are far beyond ours.

But when we follow in the way of wisdom, we follow, as creatures, the paths tread for us by the creator. If we receive His wisdom, we receive His wisdom, in its depth and sufficiency. We are his image bearers, and we have been created to captain the creation that God established. Thus we pray with Moses (Psalm 90):

So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
...
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor[d] of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!