Lacking Wisdom?

“Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”” (1 Kings 3.9, ESV)

Solomon asks God for a לֵב שֹׁמֵעַ (lēb šōmēaʿ, “a listening heart”). He does not ask for brilliance or advantage. He asks for moral discernment. He wants to tell good from evil and to lead God’s people uprightly. God grants that wisdom and leaves it with Israel in Scripture as a guide against folly.

Jesus’ preaching presses hearers toward obedience. He contrasts the wise and the foolish. He warns against hearts divided by desire. He calls people to hear His words and do them. Wisdom, in Jesus’ teaching, is choosing the path that leads to life and refusing the moral shortcuts that end in ruin.

“and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”” (Mark 1.15, ESV) 

James then brings this wisdom directly into the life of the church. Writing to believers under pressure, he urges them to ask God for σοφία (sophia, “wisdom”). This wisdom is moral clarity for endurance. It steadies the heart, restrains desire, and gives insight to avoid collapse when trials expose what lies within.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1.5, ESV)

From Solomon to Jesus to James. God grants wisdom so His people may live rightly before Him. He has given us wisdom in Scripture, shown us wisdom in Christ, and remains present when we ask. When we pray for wisdom, we ask God to guard us from moral folly and to form lives marked by upright faithfulness.

~PW 🌮🛶

Reference:

• Brown, F., Driver, S. R., & Briggs, C. A. (1979). The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Hendrickson.
• Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., Arndt, W. F., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3rd ed.). University of Chicago Press.