HE WHO HAS WISDOM

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
-  Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of the her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
-  Proverbs 31:10-30 

"The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are sometimes called the 'wisdom literature'. The sages of the ancient Near East realised the superiority of wisdom over knowledge, for wisdom encompasses knowledge and includes understanding and moral conduct. One was not wise, regardless of his vast learning, if his actions did not comply with his righteous beliefs". (Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings - Malachi, p. 13)

Quoted above are my two favourite sections of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. It is impossible to come away from these books with one major or common theme for they deal with application of wisdom in so many facets of life. One can, however, always walk away from them having found something of vast importance particular to them to correspond with their 'time and season'. Wisdom is not wisdom if it lacks application and application of all things cannot happen all at once. Progression to godhood is a journey which requires patience and repentance when the heart is ready.

It is of importance to consider three practical things when studying these gems of wisdom: 1. The wisdom given in these books of scripture is wisdom that is applicable to this life, it is wisdom from a worldly perspective meant to aid us in earthly life. When Ecclesiastes repeatedly says 'under the sun', he is meaning he is intentionally restricting his point of view to this world; 2. The reason we need to apply wisdom 'under the sun' is because everything is 'vanity'. 'Vanity' in Ecclesiastes means transitory or fleeting, thus the repeated and frequent use of this word denotes that he who applies wisdom in his life is wise, for this life is fleeting and will one day come to an end (Bible Dictionary, s.v. "Ecclesiastes"); 3. Wisdom in these two books of scripture is allegorized as a woman because the word 'wisdom' is feminine in gender thus an adulterous woman in Proverbs is a metaphor for foolishness as foolishness is the opposite of wisdom.

The most valuable lesson we can take away from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes is the admonition 'to trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding' (Prov. 3:5). This is true wisdom.  The italic preface to the chapter 8 of Proverbs tells us that 'the Lord and the sons of men possessed wisdom in premortal life'. 'Sons of men' refers to anyone who has been born in mortality, in other words, earthly beings. It is wisdom which enabled us to choose the Firstborn as our Saviour in our premortal state and to fight the forces of evil opposed to the Father's plan. Now that we are living on the other side of the veil, wisdom is once again needed to enable us to trust the choice we made so long ago. In this respect wisdom and trust go hand in hand. One day when this fleeting existence is ended we will have to account for our use of wisdom by which we conducted our mortal lives.

The other side of our trust in the Lord is His trust in us: "The Lord wants us to trust in him, but he also wants to be able to trust in us. One of our great prophet leaders said, 'To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved' (David O. Mckay, "Character", True To The Faith, Bookcraft, 1966, p. 274). One of the principal purposes of this life is to find out if the Lord can trust us. One of our familiar scriptures says, 'And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them' (Abraham 3:25). We are destined to be tried, tested, and proven during our sojourn on earth to see if we are trustworthy' (Robert E Wells, "The Cs of Spirituality", Ensign Nov 1978, p 24).

When the viles of this life press upon us do we lean to our own understanding or do we trust in God's wisdom embodied in the commandments He has given us to lead us through this fleeting life and on to eternal glory? God's wisdom would tell us that the sacrifice of the moment is worth the blessings of eternity. Trusting in God means trusting in our eternal destiny to which we were committed from the beginning, to become as He is, gods with all honour and glory. It means knowing who we are and using wisdom to honour that spiritual identity. It means standing firm in our convictions at all cost as this story about the son of King Louis XVI of France illustrates:

"King Louis had been taken from his throne and imprisoned. His young son, the prince, was taken by those who dethroned the king. They thought that inasmuch as the king's son was heir to the throne, if they could destroy him morally, he would never realise the great and grand destiny that life had bestowed upon him. They took him to a community far away, and there they exposed the lad to every filthy and vile thing that life could offer. They exposed him to foods the richness of which would quickly make him a slave to appetite. They used vile language around him constantly. They exposed him to lewd and lusting women. They exposed him to dishonour and distrust. He was surrounded twenty-four hours a day by everything that could drag the soul of a man as low as one could slip. For over six months he had this treatment - but not once did the young lad buckle under pressure. Finally, after intensive temptation, they questioned him. Why had he not submitted himself to these things - why had he not partaken? These things would provide pleasure, satisfy his lusts, and were desirable: they were all his. The boy said, "I cannot do what you ask for I was born to be a king".