What is wisdom?

It’s a word most of us are familiar with, and yet might have trouble defining. It’s also a word we encounter more than a few places in Scripture, but probably most notably in the Book of Proverbs. That’s kind of what the whole book is about:

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight… (Prov. 1:1-2).

But what it is? I’ve always found J.I. Packer to be helpful in this respect, not only in understanding what wisdom is, but what wisdom is not:

According to Packer, wisdom is not “a deepened insight into the providential meaning and purpose of events going on around us, an ability to see why God has done what he has done in a particular case, and what he is going to do next.”

Rather, wisdom is like driving.

“What matters in driving is the speed and appropriateness of your reactions to things and the soundness of your judgment as to what scope a situation gives you… you simply try to see and do the right thing in the actual situation that presents itself. The effect of divine wisdom is to enable you and me to do just that in the actual situations of everyday life.”

Wisdom is about reality. It’s about real-life decision-making in real-life situations. And that is, indeed, a powerful thing.

In addition to that, though, the first chapter of Proverbs gives us a few other characteristics of wisdom that are important for us to know:

1. Wisdom is for everyone.

Proverbs 1 continues to verse 3:

for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;