Key Truth: Despite humanity’s grand effort, ingenuity, and wealth, wisdom can only be attained through the fear of the Lord and obedience to His commands.

Introduction:

Q: Who is the wisest person that you have ever known? What was it that made them wise?

“To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth- Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

The Psalmist’s Praise of Man: Of Mining and the Search for Wisdom:

Job 28:1-12

“Man’s remarkable success as a miner shows how clever and intelligent he is, but, for all that, he has failed completely to unearth wisdom.”

Francis I. Andersen, Job: Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries

Q: What are some ways in which humanity has progressed in the last hundred years? Are we truly wiser as evidenced by greater justice and righteousness for all of our advances?

The Psalmist’s Praise of Wisdom: Of Wealth and What Cannot be Bought:

Job 28:13-20

“…wisdom cannot be found and cannot be purchased. It is inaccessible from a human vantage point and beyond value….The acquisition of wisdom is a human desire that is not attainable by human effort.”

John H. Walton, Job: The NIV Application Commentary

Q: What is the correlation between wealth and wisdom? What assumptions do we make in terms of wisdom about those who are poor or those who are wealthy?

The Psalmist’s Praise of God: Of the Fear of the Lord and True Wisdom:

Job 28:21-28

“Wisdom resides with God alone. It permeates all of his creative work. In mankind it finds expression in his amazing technical genius. But human ingenuity cannot find wisdom. Neither can all the wealth that man can wrestle from the earth to purchase it. Wisdom for mankind can only be discovered in a devout relationship with God….Thus this hymn prepares Job for Yahweh’s appearing.”

John E. Hartley, The Book of Job

Q: How have you grown in wisdom from your relationship with God?

Application:

Job 28 teaches us that:

-our greatest efforts and ingenuity cannot unearth wisdom

-our incalculable wealth cannot purchase wisdom

-only our fear of the Lord and obedience to His commands can lead to wisdom

“Reverence to God is the primary quality that makes us wise. Not till we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God’s essential holiness and majesty, willing to have our own ways and will turned upside down, can we truly become wise.”

Derek Thomas, The Storm Breaks: Job Simply Explained

Benediction:

Romans 8:18-25