In Solomon’s day, both the Babylonians and the Persians (who were to the east of Israel) were known for their wisdom. In general, the ancients were much more interested in wisdom than modern cultures. Today, someone with a quick comeback (a wise-guy like a late-night talk show host) is more admired than someone with wise counsel.<\/p>\n
Acquiring information\/data\/knowledge is often mistaken for the ability to use that information well. The Bible asserts that knowledge alone is not enough to grasp life and live it with skill. Soaring divorce rates, broken families, runaway opiate use by teenagers, and suicide all underscore the need for something more\u2014more than just more information. What we lack, what\u2019s missing, the Bible says, is wisdom.<\/p>\n
Wisdom is knowing<\/em> and doing<\/em> what is right. Notice it isn\u2019t simply knowing but making right use of that knowledge. We can acquire a vast storehouse of information and still be unwise. In Scripture, the foolish man or woman is the one who fails to receive correction, either by ignoring it or outright refusing its counsel. Evangelist Billy Graham said it this way:<\/p>\n Knowledge leads us from the simple to the complex; wisdom leads us from the complex to the simple. Knowledge is horizontal. Wisdom is vertical\u2014it comes down from above.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “LORD, give us Your wisdom today to heed Your counsel and walk in Your ways.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kings 4 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0So king Solomon was king over all Israel.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And these\u00a0were<\/em>the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,\u00a0\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>the priests:\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And Azariah the son of Nathan\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>principal officer,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>the king\u2019s friend:\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And Ahishar\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda\u00a0was<\/em>over the tribute.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And these\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:\u00a0\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan:\u00a0\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him\u00a0pertained\u00a0<\/em>Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:\u00a0\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:\u00a0\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Baana the son of Ahilud;\u00a0to him pertained\u00a0<\/em>Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>unto\u00a0the place that is\u00a0<\/em>beyond Jokneam:\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him\u00a0pertained\u00a0<\/em>the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>in Gilead; to him\u00a0also pertained\u00a0<\/em>the region of Argob, which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:\u00a0\u00a014<\/sup> Ahinadab the son of Iddo\u00a0had\u00a0<\/em>Mahanaim:\u00a0\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0Ahimaaz\u00a0was<\/em>in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife:\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0Baanah the son of Hushai\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>in Asher and in Aloth:\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:\u00a018<\/sup> Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0Geber the son of Uri\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>in the country of Gilead,\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and\u00a0he was\u00a0<\/em>the only officer which\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>in the land. 20<\/sup>\u00a0Judah and Israel\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>many, as the sand which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. 22<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon\u2019s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,\u00a0\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0For he had dominion over all\u00a0the region\u00a0<\/em>on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon\u2019s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where\u00a0the officers\u00a0<\/em>were, every man according to his charge.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>on the sea shore.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon\u2019s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Solomon’s day, both the Babylonians and the Persians (who were to the east of Israel) were known for their wisdom. In general, the ancients were much more interested in wisdom than modern cultures. Today, someone with a quick comeback (a wise-guy like a late-night talk show host) is more admired than someone with wise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6701"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16233,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6701\/revisions\/16233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}