The Wisdom of Solomon

The Value of Wisdom: chapter 6 v12
Wisdom shines bright and never grow dim; those who love her and look for her can easily find her. She is quick to make herself known to anyone who desires her.  Get up early in the morning to find her, and you will have no problem; you will find her sitting at your door.

To fasten your attention on Wisdom is to gain perfect understanding.  If you look for her, you will soon find peace of mind, because she will be looking for those who are worthy of her, and she will find you wherever you are.  She is kind and will be with you in your every thought.

Wisdom begins when you sincerely want to learn, to love her is to keep her laws; to keep her laws is to be certain of immortality; immortality will bring you close to God.  This desire for Wisdom can prepare you to rule a kingdom.  So then, you that rule the nations, if you value your thrones and symbols of authority, honour Wisdom so that you may rule for ever.

Solomon Wishes to Share His Wisdom
I will tell you what Wisdom is, and how she came to be.  I will not keep anything secret.  I will trace her history from the beginning and make knowledge of her open to all.  I will not ignore any part of the truth.  No jealous desire to guard my own knowledge will make me hold back anything.  Wisdom has nothing in common with such attitude.  No indeed - the more wise people there are, the safer the world will be.  A sensible king can be depended on to give his people this kind of security. 

Solomon Declares His Love for Wisdom
Realising that I was only human, I prayed and was given understanding.  The spirit of Wisdom came to me.  I regarded her more highly than any throne or crown.  Wealth was nothing compared to her.  'Precious jewels could not equal her worth; beside Wisdom all the gold in the world is a handful of sand, and silver is nothing more than clay.  I valued her more than health and good looks.  Hers is a brightness that never grows dim, and I preferred it to any other light.  When Wisdom came to me, all good things came with her.  She brought me untold riches.  I was happy with them all, because Wisdom had brought them to me.  I had not realised before that she was the source of all these things.  I was sincere in learning from her, and now I am glad to share what I learnt.  No one can ever exhaust the treasures of Wisdom.  Use those treasures and you are God's friends; he approves of what you learn from her.

I pray to God that my thoughts may be worthy of what I have learnt, and that I may speak according to his will.  He is Wisdom's guide; he gives correction to those who are wise.  We are under his power and authority - we ourselves, our words, all our understanding and skills.  It is he who gave me true knowledge of the forces of nature: what the world is made of; how the elements behave; how the calendar is determined by the movements of the sun, the changing seasons, the constellations, and the cycles of years.  He has taught me about the nature of living creatures, the behaviour of wild animals, the force of the winds, the reasoning powers of human beings, the different kinds of plants, and the use of their roots as medicine.  I learnt things that were well known and things that had never been known before, because Wisdom, who gave shape to everything that exists, was my teacher.

The Nature of Wisdom
The spirit of Wisdom is intelligent and holy.  It is of one nature but reveals itself in many ways.  It is not made of any material substance, and it moves about freely.  It is clear, clean, and confident; it cannot be harmed.  It loves what is good.  It is sharp and unconquerable, kind, and a friend of humanity.  It is dependable and sure, and has no worries.  It has power over everything, and sees everything.  It penetrates every spirit that is intelligent and pure, no matter how delicate its substance may be.

Wisdom moves more easily than motion itself; she is so pure that she penetrates everything.  She is a breath of God's power - a pure and radiant stream of glory from the Almighty.  Nothing that is defiled can ever steal its way into Wisdom.  She is a reflection of eternal light, a perfect mirror of God's activity and goodness.  Even though Wisdom acts alone, she can do anything.  She makes everything new, although she herself never changes.  From generation to generation she enters the souls of holy people, and makes them God's friends and prophets.  There is nothing that God loves more than people who are at home with Wisdom.  Wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and all the constellations.  She is better than light itself, because night always follows day, but evil never overcomes Wisdom.  Her great power reaches into every part of the world, and she sets everything in useful order.

Solomon's Love for Wisdom
Wisdom has been my love.  I courted her when I was young and wanted to make her my bride.  I fell in love with her beauty.  She glorifies her noble origin by living with God, the Lord of all, who loves her.  She is familiar with God's mysteries and helps to determine his course of action.  Is it good to have riches in this life?  Nothing is better than Wisdom, who has given shape to everything that exists.  Do you love justice? All the virtues are the result of Wisdom's work: justice and courage, self-control and understanding.  Life can offer us nothing more valuable than these.  Do you want to have wide experience?  Wisdom knows the lessons of history and can anticipate the future.  She knows how to interpret what people say and how to solve problems.  She knows the miracles that God will perform, and how the movements of history will develop.

Still, I realised that I would never receive Wisdom unless God gave her to me - and knowing that only God could give her to me was itself a sign of understanding.  So I prayed, begging the Lord with all my heart for Wisdom.