To number our days

To number our days--a reflection on Psalm 90

Curious as to how "wisdom" is defined these days, I went to Dictionary.com and found these definitions:
noun
1. the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.
2. scholarly knowledge or learning; the wisdom of the schools.
3. wise sayings or teachings; precepts.
4. a wise act or saying
5. (initial capital letter) Douay Bible . wisdom of Solomon

origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English wisdom; cognate with Old Norse visdeomr, German Weistum

synonyms
1. sense, understanding.  2. sapience, erudition, enlightenment
see information 

antonyms
1. stupidity.  2. ignorance.

World English Dictionary
n.
1. the ability or result of an ability to think and act utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight
2. accumulated knowledge, erudition, or enlightenment
3. archaic a wise saying or wise sayings or teachings
4. obsolete soundness of mind

related: sagacious

Those are ways in which wisdom is defined now.  And I thought it interesting that the last definition given in the listing from the World English Dictionary--soundness of mind--is considered an obsolete definition. 

The Psalms are full of references to wisdom.  Psalm 37:30 states, "The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice."  This commitment appears in Psalm 49:3:  "My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding."  And in Psalm 51:6 the psalmist recognizes this about God:  "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart."

In Psalm 90, Moses beseeches God to teach us to number our days that we may gain/present to Him a heart of wisdom.  Psalm 111:10 states, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.  His praise endures forever!"

The book we know as Proverbs is full of instruction in wisdom, and early on (Proverbs 1:7) draws a distinction between the wise and the fool:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fo0ols depose wisdom and instruction."

We see this foolishness contrasted with wisdom in Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 1, verses 18-32, where Paul wrote: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.,  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  Therefore God gave them up.... For this reason God gave them up....And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.  They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Though they know God's righteous decrees that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

We see two kinds of wisdom contrasted in 1 Corinthians 1:20-25:  "Where is the one who is wise?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the debater of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believer.  For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

We see this commanded in Jeremiah 9:23-24:  "Thus says the LORD, 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these things I delight,' declares the LORD."

Enough for this week; more to come, once you consider the passages included here.

Change and the Unchanging One

Change and the Unchanging One

When we got back from our trip in May, Garry learned there had been some changes made where he works.  None was bad.  More recently, his office has been relocated from the room he'd had for 11 years.  Changes.
I've been teaching a class on Saturday mornings.  I've made changes to my syllabus and my PowerPoint and brought in guest speakers from time to time in response to unfolding circumstances.  Changes.
Don Green has left Grace Community to pastor a church in the southern Ohio/northern Kentucky area.  Phil Johnson has announced his retirement from blogging and other social media.  Changes.
One of my Mom's cousins died last week back in South Dakota.  A young woman who had been a significant part of our church here in California died earlier this month also.  Changes.
Change seems harder to deal with as time passes.  We become accustomed to certain routines, patterns, expectations, and when those alter, we can respond badly.  Okay, I can respond badly.  Maybe it isn't like that for you.
When changes come, I have learned to throw my anchor in, to trust in the Unchanging One who directs all the changes and does so for my good and for His glory.