2 Reading Strategies to Get Wisdom from the Word

How does one live well before God amid life’s challenges? Most of our decisions have to be made on the fly—like taking a test we haven’t studied for! Sometimes, the wise course of action is hard to discern, and making a call is impossible until the choice and its consequences are already in the rearview mirror.

The Bible won’t tell you who to date, which car to buy, where to go to college, or whether to accept the job offer on the West Coast. It does, however, offer principles to live by, guard rails to keep readers on the path of wisdom, and much of the Bible’s coaching in astute living is found in its Wisdom Literature, specifically the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.

Casual readers of the Bible tend to neglect this section except for a few cherry-picked, feel-good verses that end up on coffee mugs and couch pillows. Twenty-first-century readers aren’t comfortable with the style of writing, and let’s be honest: sometimes the content is confusing, depressing, or just plain weird.

The Bible won’t tell you who to date, which car to buy, where to go to college, or whether to accept the job offer on the West Coast. It does, however, offer principles to live by, guard rails to keep readers on the path of wisdom.

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May I offer two reading strategies that are helping me to get wisdom from the Lord through his Word, the true source of all wisdom?

1. Principles, Not Promises

Disappointed parents often go to great lengths to find comfort when their adult children go off the rails. Desperate for any kind of encouragement, they go straight to Proverbs 22:6, reasoning that they had trained their child in the way he should go and claiming a promise that he will, therefore, not depart from it. We misread God’s words in the Bible’s wisdom literature when we start fashioning promises out of principles.

As much as we might wish for it, believers are not provided with Teflon umbrellas at conversion. On a fallen planet, we don’t get a guarantee that we won’t get cancer or that our kids and grandkids will all be accepted to the college of their choice.

Having said that, there’s a principle to be followed in Proverbs 22:6, for we can be reasonably certain that if we don’t train our children, the culture will do it for us and we won’t be pleased with the outcome.

2. Life Illumines Scripture as Scripture Illumines Life

When Proverbs seems to contradict itself, what are we to do? Here’s the most common example:

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest you also be like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest he be wise in his own eyes.” (Proverbs 26:4-5)

This is an example of a time when we need to bring discernment to our reading. Sometimes wisdom keeps its mouth shut. If you dignify the rantings of a social media troll by adding to the argument, you become like him.

But what if the foolishness is pouring out of the mouth of a friend or a grandchild? There are times when we have a responsibility to extinguish foolishness with truth like a firehose. Knowing the difference is the essence of wisdom.

Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7)

Ethics are not situational, but often wisdom is. How we apply biblical principles depends on the moment. Many of the choices we agonize over are actually morally neutral, and our longing for moral clarity is evidence that we were designed for fellowship with our all-wise Creator.

Reading the hard and seemingly contradictory parts of the Bible requires wisdom—but it yields the gift of more wisdom. Instead of seeing the wisdom words as right unpleasant books full of obscure aphorisms and requirements as unforgiving as gravity, wisdom brings patience for a careful reading. By grace, we practice perseverance for a long view in the life-long commitment to get wisdom.

Holding You in the Light,

See all my Get Wisdom posts for 2025 here!

Reading the hard and seemingly contradictory parts of the Bible requires wisdom—but it yields the gift of more wisdom. By grace, we practice perseverance for a long view in the life-long commitment to #GetWisdom.

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