It’s such a simple, well-known, almost a cliché phrase. Learn from the past.  There’s nothing new under the sun.  Well, the latter comes from the Bible in the mouth of Solomon, Ecclesiastes (1:9) and suggests that man’s nature and the cycles of history are just new words on an old tune.  Considering how long ago Solomon wrote, it is to be expected that the wisdom of the Bible, along with all the other wisdom literature in the world, (the Egyptians, the Orient such as ancient China and India, and the Greeks to name but a few) would make our modern life easier.

Yet, it is clear that we are fighting the folly of the hour on a daily basis.  The inherent qualities of evil have also not changed one bit and wreak havoc exactly as Jesus described it in John 10:10.  Evil, the devil, satan, or whatever you want to call it, is the force that always opposes the good. It steals, murders, and destroys at every possible level of human existence, whether individual or public, physical or spiritual.

The remedy for this pitiful state of affairs that we see and experience around us every day is, of course, wisdom… and love and truth, but more on that later.  Wisdom is the ability to choose the good; that which builds up and does not break down, concrete and abstract, physical and spiritual. It is every person’s decision WHAT to do WHEN and of course HOW to do what is good.  We need to know how to choose and that is why wise living is a noble life goal to determine not only our own life, but what is going on around us as much as we can and at least influence our world with good judgment and peaceful words.

Wisdom is defined by one scholar as: a sustained critical reflection on lived experience in order to discern the hidden shape of reality that lives in, with and under the specifications of daily life.

A wise life implies that the person can perceive the hidden form of reality, understand the distinction of such formation, and then apply it to his “path of life,” realizing that the contradiction with it is harmful and “the path of death.”  The hidden form of reality sounds like a lofty philosophical concept, but it really means only what we all know.  Wisdom is not tangible, it is not “something” that we can take in hand, buy or possess to dispose of forever.  It is something that is hidden, invisible and therefore a mystery.

Just as our modern secular society encourages every human being to live his own truth, it implies each individual’s right to choose his own wisdom.  However, this is the path of chaos, for what seems good to one person may be a tremendous violation of another’s freedom and good morals.  Just as every culture, in its most primitive form, wanted to pass on to the children the wisdom of lived experience in order to counteract destruction and imprudence it is necessary for us to learn the wisdom of history.

Cultural wisdom is often found in proverbs and idioms. A bird in hand is more than two in the woods… Still water runs deep… where there’s a smoke, there’s a fire… He who laughs last, laughs best.

Wise choices and a lifestyle that is adapted and fitted into them, require a little deeper thinking than just the last headline, social media posts, and the superficial chatter of friends. The media and the community do not cultivate the inner healing and happiness of man.  At most, it’s a commentary on what’s happening.  Each person makes his own choice how to feed his soul and thus determine his life path.

Self-choice is what we see and experience.  It is a self-wise life, that which looks and feels right, without thinking about the implications.

Don’t be wise in your own eyes. You must be in awe of the Lord, stay away from evil.(Proverbs 3:7)

Here is where a believer chooses the “other” path.  Here lies the great distinction between the biblical wisdom and the wisdom literature of all the other sources, a few of which have been mentioned above. We know where to tap into the Source of perfect wisdom, which leads us on a path that is not subject to human pressure.  The pressures of society in the form of wealth, knowledge, power, sex, or anything that would meet the standards of a “happy” life is subject to the wisdom of our God who knows that His transformative love is the only wise choice in this life.

God gives Solomon a choice.  Quickly comes the answer, we know very well, his “wise” choice is to choose wisdom.  However, this is not the wording of the Bible.  Let’s read carefully.

So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?” (1 Kings 3:9, Ampl)

A heart that listens, an understanding mind, Solomon asked—not a concept or ability.  He wasn’t asking to be wise, or to apply wisdom, or to recognize wisdom.  He well knew that it is only possible to act rightly, if one is attuned to listening to the Source.  He also knew full well that the key to this mindset was his own heart. Like us, he couldn’t trust his heart to listen.  So he asks God to determine the condition of his heart.

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, (Jeremiah 23:26)

In Hebrew, wisdom is often associated with discernment. Discernment is described in Hebrew as a hearing heart, literally to “hear righteousness.”  

Wisdom does not come to a conclusion.  It is a critical reflection that is always in progress, processing the new data, that which has long been known and newly known on the path of life.  The God of wisdom is the God who fulfills all that is experienced, the ruler and the giver of life. It is He who stands at the core and the outer limits of human ambition and autonomy.

In both cases, it is understood that paying attention to what is hidden, knowing what is hidden, is the most important and can be the most difficult.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,
So the heart of kings is unsearchable. (Proverbs 25:2-3)

In the words of the queen of Sheba, Solomon’s wisdom confirmed the theological-ethical source. 

Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”  (1 Kings 10:9)

This is the same Solomon who describes God in the metaphor of wisdom in Proverbs 8.

“Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³ Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
³⁴ Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;
³⁶ But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:32-36)

The wonder of the ancient Scriptures we study is that James confirms it centuries later in the words that determine our path in life.  It’s in the mouth of C.S. Lewis, Words to live by.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. ¹⁸ Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18)

Back to Solomon.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)