Listening to the Bible the way one delights in the words of the one whom we love leads to wisdom. I don’t know how you define wisdom, but here’s mine:
Wisdom is the insight to make a sound moral judgment in light of the guidance of God’s Spirit speaking through God’s Word.
Your commandments — those instances of Torah that inform the listener what God wants them to do — make me “wiser” than my enemies (119:98). Listening to Torah leads to wisdom.

Wisdom is “insight”: it is knowing what to think and what to do in particulars.
Wisdom leads to “sound moral judgment”: wisdom includes knowledge (cognition) but always goes beyond cognition to doing good and to doing what is right.
Wisdom is prompted by God’s Spirit: again, it transcends simple cognition because it is prompted by God’s Spirit — who prompted the psalmist in his day and who prompts us in our day.
Wisdom is rooted in God’s Word: again, the Spirit who prompted the Word is the Spirit who will lead in continuity and development of that Word in our day.
If Wisdom is what we get, why not listen regularly to the Word?
More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad