A Reflection on Seeking God with the True Vision of Wisdom
At the start of every new year, we often evaluate our lives and make resolutions to produce an improved personal life in the coming year. However, perhaps a better focus for the new year should be how we might obtain more Godly wisdom in our relationship with God and with others in our families and communities as we demonstrate our commitment to our Christian faith.
What is wisdom, and how does one attain such an allusive and valuable gift? The Prophet Isaiah identifies wisdom as one of the gifts of the Spirit of God to the promised Messiah: A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse, a new shoot (branch) will grow from his roots. On him will rest the spirit of Yahweh, the spirit of wisdom and insight, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and fear of Yahweh (Isaiah 11:1-30. All these gifts we receive as Christians from the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation that empower us to serve the glory of God and His Kingdom of the Church.
In the Old Testament, "wisdom" prefigures both the Living Word, Jesus Christ, who was with God and who was God and became the Incarnate Christ who dwells among us (John 1:1-14), and God the Holy Spirit sent by the Father and the Son after Jesus's Ascension (Acts 1:5). Old Testament books like Proverbs, Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus (Ben Sirach) personify "Wisdom" in the feminine. This personification does not suggest that God the Holy Spirit is feminine. On the contrary, the New Testament writers always identified the third person of the Trinity in the masculine. The personification of "Wisdom" in the feminine is a literary device used to expand our understanding of the role Godly wisdom played in the Creation and God's plan for humanity's salvation.
Chapters 6-9 of the Book of Wisdom present King Solomon's quest for wisdom. The search climaxes in Wisdom 8:2b-9:18 with a beautiful prayer petitioning God for the gift of wisdom in the tradition of young King Solomon's prayer found in 1 Kings 3:6-9 and 2 Chronicles 1:8-10: I prayed to the Lord and entreated him, and with all my heart I said: "God of our ancestors, Lord of mercy, who by your word have made the universe, and in your wisdom have fitted human beings to rule the creatures that you have made, to govern the world in holiness and saving justice and in honesty of soul to dispense fair judgment, grant me Wisdom, consort of your throne, and do not reject me from the number of your children. For I am your servant, son of your serving maid, a feeble man, with little time to live, with small understanding of justice and the laws. Indeed, were anyone perfect among the sons of men, if he lacked the Wisdom that comes from you, he should still count for nothing. You have chosen me to be king over your people, to be judge of your sons and daughters. You have bidden me build a temple on your holy mountain, and an altar in the city where you have pitched your tent, a copy of the holy Tent which you prepared at the beginning. With you is Wisdom, she who knows your works, she who was present when you made the world; she understands what is pleasing in your eyes and what agrees with your commandments. Dispatch her from the holy heavens, send her forth from your throne of glory to help me and to toil with me and teach me what is pleasing to you; since she knows and understands everything she will guide me prudently in my actions and will protect me with her glory. Then all I do will be acceptable, I shall govern your people justly and be worthy of my father's throne. What human being indeed can know the intentions of God? And who can comprehend the will of the Lord? For the reasoning of mortals is inadequate, our attitudes of mind unstable; for a perishable body presses down the soul, and this tent of clay weighs down the mind with its many cares. It is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth, laborious to know what lies within our reach; who, then, can discover what is in the heavens? And who could ever have known your will, had you not given Wisdom and sent your holy Spirit from above? Thus have the paths of those on earth been straightened and people have been taught what pleases you, and have been saved, by Wisdom" (Wisdom 8:21b-9:18).
Book of Wisdom was written approximately 100 years before the beginning of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth in circa AD 28. The entire book, including the "Prayer of Solomon," is not written by the great Solomon, king of the United Kingdom of Israel during its Golden Age in the 10th century BC. Instead, it was written by a Greek culture Jew in the 1st-century BC from Alexandria, Egypt (see Wisdom 9:1; 10:15), in which he presents the teaching of one of Israel's greatest kings, Solomon son of King David.
In the Book of Wisdom, the inspired writer personifies "Wisdom" as a woman pursued by a man seeking to make her his bride and, therefore, his lifelong partner. Wisdom is described as both immanently present and pervading the universe, as God is present among humankind and Creation, yet can be elusive and hidden from those who do not seek an intimate knowledge of God. Wisdom cannot be separated from God because true wisdom remains in an unbroken union with God since wisdom's very essence is the expression of God's divine will or "mind," as expressed in human terms. Union with wisdom is possible for humans because they are already linked to wisdom as part of God's work in the created order (Wisdom 7:21; 8:17; 10:1). Wisdom's intimacy with God (Wisdom 8:3; 8:9, 16; 9:9) is uniquely expressed by the inspired writer of The Book of Wisdom: For Wisdom is mobile beyond all motion, and she penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity. For she is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing that is sullied enters into her. For she is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of his goodness (Wisdom 7:24-26) ... and even the Lord of all loved her (Wisdom 8:3b).
The key to understanding "The Prayer of Solomon" in the Book of Wisdom is to read the prayer within the context of the entire Book of Wisdom. The book's opening passages explain the impact of wisdom on human destiny, and contrasts the life of the righteous to the life of the unrighteous, and the fate of each in physical death. Especially noteworthy is that Wisdom 2:12-24 foreshadows the Passion of Jesus Christ, the "righteous man" condemned by the unrighteous. The passage is written in the voice of the unrighteous conspiring to destroy "the righteous man": Let us lay traps for the upright man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life, reproaches us for our sins against the Law, and accuses us of sins against our upbringing. He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. We see him as a reproof of our way of thinking, the very sight of him weights our spirits down; for his kind of life is not like other people's, and his ways are quite different. In his opinion we are counterfeit; he avoids our ways as he would filth; he proclaims the final end of the upright as blessed and boasts of having God for his father. Let us see if what he says is true and test him to see what sort of end he will have. For if the upright man is God's son, God will help him and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies. Let us test him with cruelty and with torture, and thus explore this gentleness of his and put his patience to the test. Let us condemn him to a shameful death since God will rescue him "or so he claims. At this point, contemplate what comparisons can be made between what the unrighteous maliciously plan for "the righteous" and what transpired in the testing and condemnation of Jesus Christ.
The second section of the book, Wisdom in Chapters 6-9, contains the "Prayer of Solomon" and focuses on the origin and nature of wisdom, and how one acquires that gift. The last section of the Book of Wisdom (Wisdom chapters 10-19) focuses on the role wisdom played in the history of humanity, beginning with the first man, Adam, and then addressing wisdom's role in preserving God's chosen people, Israel, in the Exodus experience. Notice how the text is presented. Whose is the "voice" of the inspired writer and to whom is his message addressed? See Wisdom 1:1; 6:1-11, 21. The passage is composed as though Solomon was addressing the reader (see Wisdom 1:1; 6:1-11, 21) except for the middle section, which is the prayer of Solomon in which he petitions God to grant him divine wisdom in ruling the covenant people. In Wisdom 9:13, "What now can men comprehend," is reminiscent of Isaiah 40:13-14; Isaiah 55:8; and Proverbs 30:2-4.
Can you think of any Old Testament passages concerning the life of Solomon that may have inspired "The Prayer of Solomon" in Wisdom 9:1-18? Solomon's prayer in the Book of Wisdom was likely inspired by young King Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings 3:6-9 and 2 Chronicles 1:8-10. The writer of Wisdom modeled his prayer after these passages. He imagines Solomon addressing aspects of his own life but then broadening the view to include the impact of the gift of wisdom or the lack of it on the condition of the human family.
Which part of Solomon's prayer in Wisdom speaks most deeply to you and why? My favorite portion of Solomon's Prayer is verses 13-18, where divine wisdom impacts God's plan of salvation for humanity. Consider how this prayer and the Old Testament define Godly "Wisdom." The key to this prayer and the entire Book of Wisdom is in understanding how wisdom is defined Biblically. Wisdom is not defined by humankind's achievements but by the will of God!
A man or woman who possesses wisdom is the man or woman who welcomes the gift of vision that allows the humble and obedient believer to see the will of God for their life. Wisdom helps us see the world from God's perspective. Father John Harden wrote: "Wisdom makes the soul responsive to God in the contemplation of divine things. Where faith is a simple knowledge of the articles of Christian belief, wisdom raises us to a certain divine penetration of the truths themselves. Built into wisdom is the element of love which inspires contemplative reflection on these divine mysteries, rejoices in dwelling on them, and directs the mind to judge all things according to their principles."
In the prayer of Solomon, there is the acknowledgment that without "wisdom," the direction of the will of God for his life, Solomon could not reign effectively (Wisdom 9:7-12). But the climax of the prayer, and my favorite section, addresses the gift of salvation wisdom brings to humanity before the coming of the Messiah (Wisdom 9:13). Men and women cannot conceive the Lord's will without actively seeking wisdom, defined as God's will, through prayer and the exercise of obedience to God's laws (verse 17). To exercise wisdom in this way is to do what the Old Testament called "walk/walked/walking with God" (i.e., Genesis 5:22; 6:9; 17:1; 24:40; 48:15; Exodus 16:6; 1 Samuel 12:2; 1 Kings 3:6; 8:25; 9:4; etc.). The expression of God's will as "wisdom" is a mission of God the Holy Spirit, as expressed in Wisdom 9:17: And who could ever have known your will, had you not given Wisdom and sent your Holy Spirit from above? This verse connects wisdom as a gift of the Holy Spirit and the path to salvation. Wisdom provides the spiritual union with God "to enter into the wisdom of God was the only possible union with the Holy Trinity before the coming of Jesus Christ. Wisdom 1:7 also links "wisdom" to God the Holy Spirit. This verse is in the liturgy of celebration of the Feast of Pentecost, the event in salvation history when God the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven to fill and indwell the New Covenant Church of Christ's disciples assembled in the Upper Room. The Holy Spirit gave the Church the gift of supernatural "wisdom." Being filled with God's wisdom made it possible for the Church to live out the will of God in bringing all the nations of the earth into God's covenant family and union with the life of the Most Holy Trinity.
How do I personally view the desire for wisdom, and how do I seek this gift? First, I understand that wisdom, like faith, is a gift of God's grace (Wisdom 8:17-21). I also understand that, for humanity, the application of "wisdom" as knowledge of God is only possible by establishing love and justice through the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ as a universal code of moral and ethical conduct as humanity journeys to eternal life. Without wisdom, no human endeavor can succeed in doing what God deems success (Wisdom 9:1-6). The world's definition of a successful life is not what God rewards as a successful life. I know from sacred Scripture that wisdom is identical with God's divine mind or will and is a work of God (Wisdom 8:4 & 9). I know that wisdom served as the instrument of humankind's Creation (Wisdom 9:8) and continues to be a gift that must be desired by every believer as a continuous force, flowing from the Godhead. I seek wisdom through those things, which bring me closer to understanding the will of God for the salvation of all humanity and His will for my life personally.
Therefore, I seek wisdom in the study of Scripture, the words of God written down in human terms so that I might understand. I also seek wisdom in understanding God's will for my life by investing time in prayer, in praying the Rosary, and in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist "time invested in both conversation with God, petitioning God for His mercy, and simply listening to God with my heart. I seek wisdom in actively living the teachings of Jesus Christ (James 2:26). I follow the moral law set down for me in both the Ten Commandments and Jesus's two great all-encompassing commandments to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind, and to reflect my love for Him in extending His love to my neighbors in the human family. I must reach out to the unloved and the dispossessed because Christ loved without exception and because injustice is the antithesis of wisdom (Wisdom 1:1).
God promises that true wisdom yields piety and virtue. However, I understand that seeking wisdom does not mean the absence of struggle or suffering; two aspects of living that humanity inherited from the fall of our first parents. I understand that I cannot experience Christ's glory without also embracing His suffering (Romans 8:17). And, I know that when I transgress that God, as my loving Divine Father, will discipline me. But I understand that God's punishments expressed as the "Holy Spirit of discipline" (Wisdom 1:5) can be yet another avenue for obtaining the gift of "wisdom" and drawing closer to God (Job 36:11-12; Revelation 3:19-20).
I understand that to grow in wisdom is a life-long pursuit because the road to salvation is narrow and sometimes a difficult path (Matthew 7:14). Still, I have confidence that "wisdom," the intimate knowledge of God, will sustain me in the struggle. Guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit on my faith journey, I will persevere when I grow weary (Jeremiah 31:25; Galatians 6:9-10). I will try to avoid the pitfalls of sin, but when I fail, I know that repenting and turning to God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation will restore both grace and wisdom, and once again, I shall accept God's destiny that He has ordained for my life. I have confidence that God will never leave me (Matthew 28:20b; Hebrews 13:5). I have God's promise that, with His help, I shall persevere in overcoming life's challenges. I shall grow stronger in faith, and with "wisdom" as my companion, I shall continue the journey to the promised destination of eternal life and union with the Most Holy Trinity (John 6:40; Revelation 3:21).
Michal E. Hunt, New Year's day 2022
All Scripture quotes are from the New Jerusalem Bible.
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © January 2022 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.