Excellence in
Understanding
I.
HERE’S WHAT
WISDOM CAN DO FOR YOU
1. Ability To Be 10 Times Better
Dan.
1:3-4
3 And the king spake
unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and
of the king’s seed, and of the princes; 4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and iskilful
in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding kscience,
and such as had ability in them to
stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach mthe learning
and the tongue of the Chaldeans
Dan.
1:17-21
As for these four children, God
gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and
Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 Now at
the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the
prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And
the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20 And
in all matters of wisdom and
understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better
than all othe magicians and pastrologers that were in all
his realm. 21 And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.
2.
Deeper
Insight Into Reality
1 Kings 3:4-12
4 Now
the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt
offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by
night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 6 And
Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father,
because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of
heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have
given him a son to sit on his throne, as it
is this day. 7 Now, O Lord
my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And
Your servant is in the midst of Your
people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or
counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding
heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who
is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 10 The speech
pleased the Lord, that Solomon had
asked this thing. 11 Then God said to him: “Because you have
asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked
riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked
for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I
have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and
understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor
shall any like you arise after you.
1 Kings 4:29-34
29 And
God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and
largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. 30 Thus
Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the
wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan
the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame
was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke three
thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.
33 Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the
hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of
creeping things, and of fish. 34 And men of all
nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to
hear the wisdom of Solomon.
a. Wisdom
Reveals Principles That Make Truth Easy To Understand And Memorable (Proverbs)
b. Ability
To Identify And Capture Moments And Freeze Them In Words
And Music
c. Unlocking
Deeper Mysteries Of Things That Already Exist
3.
The
Ability To Know What To
Do
Gen. 41:25-36
25 Then
Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good
heads are seven years; the dreams are one. 27 And the
seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east
wind are seven years of famine. 28 This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh
what He is about to do. 29 Indeed
seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; 30 but
after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be
forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. 31 So
the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for
it will be very severe. 32 And
the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 33 “Now
therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the
land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect
one-fifth of the produce of the land
of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather
all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the
authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. 36 Then
that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine
which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the
famine.”
4. Ability To Quickly Read A Situation
Matthew
22:15-22
15 Then the
Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples
with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the
way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the
person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it
lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus perceived
their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.” So they
brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, “Whose image
and inscription is this?” 21 They
said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When
they had heard these words, they
marveled, and left Him and went their way.
Luke 11:14-17
14 And He was
casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out,
that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled 15 But some of
them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others,
testing Him, sought from Him a sign
from heaven. 17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them:
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.
II.
GOD WANTS TO
GIVE US WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING
1. We Must Go After It
Psalm 25:2
2 It is
the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
2. We Must Search It Out
Proverbs 2:1-8
My son, if you receive my words, And treasure
my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3
Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And
lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And
search for her as for hidden
treasures; 5 Then you
will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God. 6 For
the Lord gives wisdom; From His
mouth come knowledge and
understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk
uprightly; 8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way
of His saints.
3. We Must Ask For It
James 1:2-8
2 My brethren, count
it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that
the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience
have its perfect work, that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach,
and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with
no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by
the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive
anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable
in all his ways
4. We Must Expect It
Isaiah 30:21
Your ears shall hear a word behind you,
saying, “This is the way, walk in
it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
Psalm 32:8-9
I
will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
9 Do
not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.
PRAYERS
1.
God Will Give The Spirit Of Wisdom And
Revelation
2.
Our Eyes And Ears Will Be Anointed To Hear
3.
Enough Revelation And Understanding To Be 10
Times Better
4.
God Will Remove Dullness Of Hearing
