God's Wisdom for Navigating Life

by Timothy Keller

  Taken together, Proverbs 30 verses 5 and 6 teach against two equal, opposite errors: either to think that some of God’s words are outdated, obsolete, untrue or to treat one’s own insights and “revelations” as equal to the Scripture. Modern skeptics make the first mistake. Many Christians make the second mistake, lifting up their religious traditions, or their inner feelings, or their cultural preferences to the level of revelation, so they are equal with the Bible. We must do neither.

  Are you completely convinced of the full authority of the Bible—of every word? Are you committing either of the two main errors?

  Prayer: Lord, “I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes” (Psalm 119:99). I know some people with little formal education who through their knowledge of Scripture are wiser than worldly experts. Let your Word light my path as well. Amen.

  February 21

  The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the LORD will prosper. (28:25)

  ALL OTHER THINGS. To trust in the Lord means at least this: Even if you knew you could make a lot of money by lying, you would not do it. The greedy, however, will do whatever it takes to make the money. But this verse adds that the greedy end up inheriting conflict and those who trust will prosper. Jesus also said: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33).

  What does that mean? Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33), so he could not have been promising that we would always be rich and at peace. In fact, making status, wealth, and popularity the ultimates in your life often causes you to lose those very things. Remember how the kids at school who were the most desperate for friends and popularity were the ones you avoided? Making God your supreme good will often lead to many good things in this life. So trust God and you will have what you need.

  Have you seen this at work in your life or someone else’s—that seeking prosperity and material safety too much led to its loss?

  Prayer: Lord, it is one thing to believe in you—to believe that you exist and that you can save us through Jesus. It is another thing to trust you existentially, moment by moment, in the twists and turns of everyday life. Help me with your Spirit to graduate from belief to trust. Amen.

  February 22

  There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. (21:30)

  THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. At one level this proverb means that if you set yourself against God to defy his will, you will end up only accomplishing his will at your own expense, as did Pharaoh in Exodus and those who crucified Jesus (Acts 2:23).

  At another level, this text expresses the negative side of Proverbs’ great principle, that the fear of the Lord is the very beginning of wisdom. So “no true synthesis (wisdom), analysis . . . . (insight) or policy (plan) can be arrived at in defiance of God.”53 That is, without faith in God, even the most sophisticated and diligent thinker is going to leave out too much of reality to be genuinely wise about life. No one would trust a surgeon who had no medical training or a cook who could not tell salt from sugar. And why should we trust even our own thoughts and intuitions if they omit the one who created the fabric of the universe and holds it all together?

  The next time you experience the pain of worry and anxiety, consider that it may be fueled by too much confidence that your plans are wiser than God’s.

  Prayer: Lord, I pray mercy for my friends who are indeed leaving you out of their plans and lives. No one is wiser or more just than you, and I have no right to tell you your business. But you want me to tell you my desires—and I desire that you would open their eyes and hearts to your truth. Amen.

  February 23

  The LORD works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster. (16:4)

  NO LOOSE ENDS. Here is another way we can trust God. We can trust him to be the sovereign judge of all people. That liberates us from having to do the job ourselves. Miroslav Volf argues that “the practice of non-violence requires a belief in divine vengeance.”54 He goes on to explain that it is virtually impossible if you have been the victim of an attack, not to pick up a weapon and try to settle the score—unless you have a strong belief that someday God will right every wrong.

  Either Jesus will pay for your sins, if you trust in him to have paid for them all on the cross, or you will pay for them yourself. And that goes for everyone who has wronged you. That means we can leave things in God’s hands. We do not have the knowledge, the right, or the power to judge others for their sins. A crucial component of a wise life is a conviction that God works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster.

  Is there anyone in your life you have trouble forgiving? Use the insights of today’s devotional to help you.

  Prayer: Lord, I praise you—though with fear and trembling—that you are the judge of all the earth. Deliver me from the temptation to want to sit in judgment on certain people. I cannot see into anyone’s heart or into their past enough to know what they deserve. Help me put these matters into your hands. Amen.

  February 24

  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (9:10)

  THE HOLY ONE. The theme of Proverbs 1:7 is repeated here. Every person’s wisdom—way of interpreting the meaning of things—begins with one’s view of God. What is a cat? It depends. Are we in a godless universe, so every living thing is just the product of a violent process of survival of the fittest? Or is God the impersonal world-spirit, so that everything in the physical world is an illusion? Or are we created by God, put into this world to care for it, including the animals (Genesis 1:26)? Each view of reality would necessarily look at a cat—and perhaps treat a cat—differently.

  This time, Proverbs adds that the one we fear is the Holy One.55 There is no more threatening divine attribute. In light of his holiness we see our sin most clearly. Only Jesus’ blood atones and makes it safe for us to be in the presence of the holy God (Hebrews 10:19–22). If we believe in Jesus, the contemplation of God’s holiness actually enhances our joy. That we should receive the love of a holy God—is a miracle of grace.

  Meditate on the holiness of God.56 To love God’s holiness will make you infinitely humbler and happier.

  Prayer: Lord, you are so holy that in your presence men like Isaiah and Moses were thrown into trauma. Yet through Jesus you have become my Holy Father (John 17:11). Nothing changes me like direct meditation on your holiness and hatred of all sin. So that I may do this, strengthen me in my inner being by your Spirit. Amen.

  God’s Order Perceived

  February 25

  By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew. (3:19–20)

  GIVENNESS. God created the world with his divine Word and wisdom (February 1), and we are to live our daily lives according to his Word and wisdom. This is because “the only wisdom by which you can handle everyday things in conformity with their nature is the wisdom by which they were divinely made and ordered.”57 The very same divine wisdom that speaks to you in God’s Word was the basis for the creation of the world.

  So there is “givenness” to things—physically, socially, morally, and spiritually—that is built into the fabric of creation. As we said before (January 7), we can’t treat our body any way we want without consequences. We can’t treat people any way we want and expect to have good friends and a strong family. We can’t live selfish lives and expect our social fabric to remain intact. And there is also a spiritual order. If we try to center our lives on anything but God, it leads to fragile identity and psychological disorder. It is the essence of wisdom to perceive this divine order in life and to align one’s life with it.

  In which of these areas might you be pushing against the fabric of God’s ordered creation?


  Prayer: Father, when I’m tempted to do something wrong, I still tell myself that basically I can get away with it. But no one ever, finally, gets away with sin. It will find us out. Burn this truth into my heart that I might not sin against you. Amen.

  February 26

  My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. . . . The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. . . . The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right. (3:1–2, 16:5, 21:7)

  RETRIBUTION. The owner’s manual that comes with your car tells you when to change the oil and what fuel to use, so as not to damage the car. To ignore the owner’s manual—written by the car’s creators—is to violate the design of the car by doing things that the automobile was not built to withstand (February 1). No one will have to come and give you a fine or legal penalty. The consequences will be natural. You will ruin your own car.

  Because of creation, there is a principle of “natural retribution” embedded in the world. Right living will be rewarded (3:1–2) and evil will not go unpunished (16:5), but notice it is not said exactly how this will happen. 21:7 indicates there is a natural boomerang effect to cruel behavior. Yet 16:5 hints that the Lord is behind it all. In short, consequences are inherent within our actions.58 Sins “find you out” (Numbers 32:23; cf. Galatians 6:7). Behaviors that violate God’s word also violate our created design, and thus we harm ourselves as we do them. Right living honors our design and leads to thriving (February 27).

  When was the last time you experienced something of the natural retribution of the world?

  Prayer: Lord, my culture tells me that I can be whatever I choose, but your Word and experience show me that is not the case. My body, my talents, my location in the world—all both limit me and serve as callings from you. Help me to become the person you made me to be. Amen.

  February 27

  Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD. (16:20)

  BLESSEDNESS. The Bible is filled with promises of “blessedness.” The Hebrew word means far more than mere happiness. It means multidimensional flourishing. In Genesis 3 we see that sin put us in a condition where we are in contradiction with God, our true selves, other human beings, and even nature itself.59 We are out of alignment with the creation order in all its dimensions, and so our normal human state consists of spiritual emptiness, inner anxiety and crises of identity, conflicts between nations, classes, and races, and the destruction of our natural environment.

  To be blessed, then, is to know partial but substantial healing of each of these areas as God’s salvation repairs our hearts and our behavior. Spiritually we reconcile with and grow closer to God. Psychologically we come to understand ourselves and find our feelings and actions coming more under the Spirit’s control. Relationally we discover the added depth and dimension that common faith can add to human friendship. Socially we find ways to serve neighbors and the broader civic community, no longer captive to political ideologies. Salvation is not merely forgiveness and admission to heaven. It means life is healed, slowly but surely, in all its dimensions.

  Take time to thank God for the dimension of life in which, lately, you have seen God bringing blessedness.

  Prayer: Lord, how easily we Christians talk about “blessings.” But when I ponder the power of the biblical promise, I do hunger for the blessed life. But let me remember, “Blessed are those who hunger . . . for” not blessedness but “righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). Amen.

  February 28

  The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. (10:3–4)

  LEVELS. There’s an order to creation, and so natural consequences are embedded in life. But do good and bad behavior always lead to good and bad outcomes respectively? Most would answer, “Often but not always.” What, then, do we say to statements such as those in 10:3–4? Derek Kidner argues they are true at four levels: “logical, providential, spiritual, and eternal.” 60

  First, “sin . . . sets up strains in the structure of life which can only end in breakdown.” Living selfishly can feel great but catches up to us physically, relationally, psychologically. Second, “however much rope God gives us, he remains in control.” God allowed bad things in Joseph’s life, but it was all for a purpose (Genesis 50:20). Third, “whatever their worldly state, the righteous are the truly rich.” Even in a life filled with suffering, Christians are justified in God’s sight, adopted into his family, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and guaranteed a place in the new heaven and new earth—priceless things. Fourth, “in the world to come, justice will be complete.”61

  Think of something that you have done right but that has not been rewarded in worldly terms. How does this analysis help put it in perspective?

  Prayer: Lord, I praise you that, like a wise father, you may allow painful things into our lives, but it is to help us learn and grow (Hebrews 12:11). And we grow into maturity when we recognize that we already have our real wealth in your love and regard. Amen.

  March 1

  A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. (22:1)

  ORDER DISRUPTED. Proverbs tells us that hard work and honesty lead to a prosperous and happy life. Yet here we learn virtue is more desirable than wealth. The clear implication is that there are times you must choose between wealth and integrity.62 So there is an order to creation but it is partially broken, disrupted by sin. God’s world still “runs with a certain reliability,” so that honesty and industry may result in financial gain, but not always.63 While work generally leads to prosperity (10:4), sometimes injustice sweeps the fruit of labor away (13:23, 28:6).

  Proverbs stresses the continued existence of this order, while Ecclesiastes emphasizes more its confusion and broken nature, and Job tells us it is often hidden.64 To be wise we must see all of these. For example, to think either that hard work will always create wealth or that it usually does not is foolish. The gospel of Jesus creates this wisdom. It avoids the naïveté of thinking we can earn a good life with our good works. It also prevents us from becoming discouraged, knowing that the Lord of the universe is our loving Father.

  Is your natural tendency to be too sanguine about the outcomes of good living and hard work—or too cynical?

  Prayer: Lord, like so many, I was naive about life. I did not think that I would ever have to choose between being comfortable and doing the right thing—but that is the world we live in now. Give me enough joy in you to always choose the right thing rather than the easy thing. Amen.

  March 2

  Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. (3:17–18)

  ORDER RESTORED. Wisdom is depicted as a tree of life (3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4). The Tree of Life was in the Garden of Eden but is also mentioned in Revelation 22:2, in which the Tree of Life stands at the center of the renewed creation, paradise regained. In Genesis 3:14–19 God foretold the disruption of the created order—under sin, work and life will be filled with pain and futility. St. Paul says that the broken, “frustrated” creation will be finally put right only when Christ returns to glorify and perfects his own (Romans 8:19–22).

  Until then, this proverb promises that when we walk in accordance with God’s Word and wisdom we begin to get a foretaste of the Tree of Life—the fullness of life that will be restored to us on the last day. And we may approach the Tree of Life only because Jesus was hung on a tree of death (Galatians 3:13). As Jesus says in George Herbert’s poem, “Man stole the fruit, but I must climb the tree; The tree of life to all, but only me.”65

  Do you ever lift up your eyes enough to see the far horizon—the future life
that Jesus has secured for you at infinite cost to himself?

  Prayer: Lord, our first ancestors’ rebellion made us subject to death. And I confess that every day in my own sins I confirm that terrible choice. I praise you that you tasted death for me, that I might have this tree of life. Amen.

  God’s Order Disrupted

  March 3

  I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! (Ecclesiastes 2:15–16)

  BROKEN. No one book of the Bible gives us the whole picture of God’s salvation and truth. Proverbs makes the case that because God is the creator, wise actions normally lead to good results in life. The key word, however, is “normally.” There is much abnormal about our world, so that prosperous people often are not hardworking while many poor people are. The relationship between behavior and reward is—not completely but to a significant degree—disrupted.

  It’s possible to overread Proverbs to teach that “good things . . . happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.”66 While Proverbs acknowledges the disruption of order, the books of Ecclesiastes and Job (also part of the Bible’s Wisdom literature) explore it. Proverbs says that, in general, the godly are remembered and the wicked forgotten (10:7). But here Ecclesiastes 2:15–16 observes that often a good, wise person is no more honored than a fool. Ecclesiastes and Job, then, must be read together with Proverbs if we are to learn wisdom.