The Wisdom of the Wise

Proverb 34: 30 – 34                NIV

I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

This passage reveals two principles of success, the more obvious, perhaps, the lesser of the two. The clear message of this text shows that it only takes a little slumber, just a little bit of laziness to bring poverty upon us quickly. The bigger lesson to me is how Solomon gained this wisdom.

Solomon made a real world observation. He saw the thorns and the dilapidated wall. That, however, is only information. The wisdom came later. Solomon wrote that he applied his heart to what he observed and from that he learned a lesson. Revelation came, wisdom came because he applied his heart to what he observed.

It is surprising that Solomon applied his heart rather than his mind to the data. I mean, what does that even look like? You can probably easily picture a person thinking over what they saw. What picture forms in our minds of a person applying their heart to the situation? Could it be that Solomon meditated in his heart about what he saw? Did he take the information before God and ask His explanation?

Solomon was the wisest person to have lived. He wrote the entire book of Proverbs. We know that when God gave him the opportunity to ask for whatever he wanted, he asked for wisdom. Was it the operation of that wisdom which taught him to seek answers with his heart rather than his mind? From the exercise of his heart, he gleaned further wisdom. It is like a seed which keeps producing a new harvest especially as seed from the harvest is reinvested.

The long and short of this is that we must connect with God if we are to walk in wisdom. Our minds are valuable in their own right but the communion with God must take place in the heart. This truth necessitates that we cause our hearts to be tender, not tough. We also have to learn how to go into our hearts and listen to what is going on there. This is not the way most of us are trained so it requires a proactive effort on our part to train ourselves in this mode of thought. You have heard the expression, “soul searching.” We know this process is available to us. Now, we just have to train ourselves to that we can jump into our inner self at any time.

The greatest truths are not in what you think. They are in what you glean out of your spirit as you commune with God in your heart. Practice “applying your heart” to situations and you will walk in wisdom too.