What is wisdom? Here’s how J.I. Packer defines it.
“In Scripture wisdom is a moral as well as an intellectual quality, more than mere intelligence or knowledge, just as it is more than mere cleverness or cunning. To be truly wise, in the Bible sense, one’s intelligence and cleverness must be harnessed to a right end. Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.”
There is a sense in which only God is wise. “[Wisdom] is found in its fullness only in God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariably wise.”
Packer goes on to say that, fortunately, “God’s wisdom is allied to omnipotence. Power is as much God’s essence as wisdom is.”
And here’s my favorite part of this chapter about divine wisdom:
“Omniscience governing omnipotence, infinite power ruled by infinite wisdom, is a basic biblical description of the divine character. . . Wisdom without power would be pathetic, a broken reed; power without wisdom would be merely frightening; but in God boundless wisdom and endless power are united, and this makes him utterly worthy of our fullest trust.”
And so I come away from chapter nine filled with awe and wonder at our God. I’m thankful that God taught this man how to describe God so gloriously. This is a gift from the Creator: that I can sit here and read these words and watch my spirit soar in adoration of the One who is perfectly wise and all-powerful, and who displays His wisdom and might for His glory and our good.
NOTE: This is one of a serious of posts on the book “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer. For details on how to join me, blogger Tim Challies and hundreds of other Christians on this journey, click here. To read the other posts in this series, click here.
- Am I Really A Christian? (Part 4) - November 13, 2024
- The Greatest Knowledge of All - November 8, 2024
- How to Pray Like David (Volume 3) - October 30, 2024
