Wise Guy

Ps. 119: 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers for Your testimonies are my meditation

It was kinda strange when Tammy raised her hand, but I acknowledged her. “Sir”, she said, “the word is bleak, not bleaky. Bleaky is not a word”. “Are you sure?” I asked her. “Yes Sir”, she insisted. “Ok, Tammy” I said, “I will check on that”. To be honest, I was slightly annoyed. I was addressing the entire school at morning devotion and I was not only the school’s principal, but also one of the English teachers. “Bleaky” was a word I had used many times over the years and was pretty sure there was such a word; but – what do you know? – Tammy was right: no such word! Next devotion I had to commend her for being sharp and promise not to use the word again. (I kept the promise [Lol])

Tammy certainly knew more than her teacher that time. And that happens from time to time. Truth is, no teacher knows everything and if we are willing, we can always learn something from our students. Something is wrong however, when the student consistently knows more than the teacher. In such a case, they need to change places. The Psalmist is talking about just such a situation in today’s text.

The wise man, Solomon, says that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. Many persons have a lot of knowledge but do not believe in God or respect Him. Great knowledge without godly wisdom is like a 747 being flown by a child: dangerous! All over the world we see examples of highly educated people doing things that are evil and destructive because they are not guided by the wisdom of God. They would do well to learn from some of the people they think they can teach.

Information in the brain of someone who knows God is a blessing to everyone because it is the knowledge of God that instructs us as to how best we can use the things we know. To know God is to be wiser than your teachers who do not know Him. Be wise.

Dear Lord, Give me true wisdom I pray, that as I learn my knowledge will be a blessing to everyone, in Jesus name, amen.