S) "16 So I said, 'Wisdom is better than strength.' But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded."
Ecclesiastes 9:16 (NASB)
O) This was a conclusion after retelling a parable about a wise man who (might have) delivered a besieged city. Apparently, the translation of v.15 is ambiguous. Whether the city was overcome, which was evidence that they didn't heed his words, or the city was delivered and he was forgotten, and the forgetting of him was the evidence that they didn't heed his words, one way or the other, the writer makes a very good point. Often, the person who gives wisdom is judged before the words are ever spoken, and so the wisdom (or strength or deliverance) those words might hold, is never actually heard.
A) My first thought betrayed my own fault about this verse. Initially, I thought this could really be used to support the pursuit of formal education. However, I know that I have an insecurity sometimes, about my lack of a college education. In reality, God is not bound by my worldly credentials. At the root of my concerns, should be the glory of God. If I want to help people, if I want to counsel a husband about his marriage, and I want to do it so that God is glorified, then God can prepare that man to hear my words, and God can give me wisdom to speak. This is not to say I should neglect education, but I also can't be silent or sorry about it. More to the point, I need to see this verse as a warning. Too often, I have caught myself judging a person's point of view based on factors beyond the words they are actually saying. A divorced man can speak wisely about marriage; I have heard it. A bankrupt man can speak wisely about finances; I have heard it. Over the years, God has helped me with this prejudice, to hear people with more compassion and less bias. Sometimes there is still a human, sinful, tempting attitude to dismiss a person's opinion before they give it, but this verse reminds me not to do that. Real wisdom comes from God, and He uses the weak to confound the strong, and the simple to confound the wise.
P) Father, thank You for the continuing work of grace in me. Thank You for the process of sanctification, and how You work holiness into me, and lead me in righteousness for Your name's sake. I look back and I'm so thankful that who I was is not who I am. And I look at myself now, and see so many shortcomings, but I have hope that You are not finished with me, yet. Please continue to soften my heart, to make me more teachable and humble. I want to hear a man's opinion, fully and completely, before I attempt to weigh it or discern the merit of it. I know my own shortcomings, my own lack, but I still know that You have given me insights and wisdom about some things. I know what it means to be dismissed because of preconceived notions about qualified opinions. I don't ever want to be that kind of discourager, Lord. Not to mention, I never want to miss wisdom You may be trying to teach me, because it is coming by an unconventional or unlikely source. Teach me to listen, Father God. I want to glorify You in the way I hear people. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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