Where Can I Get Wisdom? - March 24

Read Job 28:12-15, 20-21, 23-28

“But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighted as its price…From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air…God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure, when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”

Reflect

Have you ever sought wisdom? Where did you look? Did you find it there?

In today’s passage, Job answered the question, “where shall wisdom be found?” similarly. He opened chapter 28 telling of all the treasures of the earth and how men will go to great lengths to search for precious jewels. They’ll break their backs mining the earth and they’ll find all kinds of beautiful stones and precious metals. But they won’t find wisdom. No matter how deep they drill.

We can study the ocean and all of God’s wonderful creation, but if God has not revealed it, we cannot know it. We can’t find wisdom in this world and we can’t buy wisdom either. So, where do we find it? In verse 28 Job said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”

You see, Job was suffering and his friends were trying to reason with him about why God had allowed so much pain in his life. His friends assumed that God was punishing him because, in their minds, God would never allow the innocent to suffer. They urged Job to repent, but Job knew that he was innocent. Job’s friends thought that they could use their wisdom to figure out the mind and purposes of God while Job sought to demonstrate that God’s wisdom is far beyond our ability to understand. Job argued that God alone knows the way to wisdom (v. 23), after all, He can see everything that we can’t see (v. 24). He created the world, so He alone fully understands it.

Because we can never fully grasp the wisdom of God, Job concluded that the wisest thing for man to do is fear the Lord and turn away from evil. John MacArthur explained: “Job had made the connection that the others would not. While the specific features of God’s wisdom may not be revealed to us, the alpha and the omega of wisdom is to revere God and avoid sin, leaving the unanswered questions to Him and trusting in submission. All we can do is trust and obey and that is enough wisdom. One may never know the reasons for life’s sufferings.”

We can search the whole world over, but wisdom is only found in the fear of the Lord.

Respond

Lord, “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, LORD, do I seek’” (Psalm 27:8). I praise You because You are God and yet, You are near to me. I know that You hear me right now. Thank You for Your presence and Your peace. Amen.

Reveal

Do you have a friend who could use a reminder of God’s presence? Prayerfully consider how you can reveal the Lord’s presence to that friend this week.