What is True Wisdom?

Greetings in the name of the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.

Long ago, there was a king whose fame stretched farther than any messenger could ride. His name was Solomon, son of David, ruler of Israel. Scripture tells us that Solomon spoke “three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish” (1 Kings 4:32–33).

Kings and leaders from surrounding nations came to hear his wisdom. None were more renowned than the Queen of Sheba. She traveled a vast distance to meet him, bearing gifts of gold, spices, and precious stones. When she tested Solomon with hard questions, “Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain” (1 Kings 10:3). She admitted that what she had heard was only half the truth—his wisdom and wealth exceeded the reports.

But how did Solomon receive this wisdom? It began not with his brilliance, but with his prayer. After offering a thousand burnt offerings to God, the Lord appeared to him in a dream, asking, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” (1 Kings 3:5b) Solomon’s response was not wealth, nor long life, nor victory in battle. He prayed, “Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:9). And God granted him wisdom like no other.

This gift was quickly proven when two mothers came before him, fighting over a single baby. Without modern science—no DNA tests, no blood work—no one could solve the dispute. Solomon called for a sword and ordered the child cut in half, giving half to each. At once, the false mother agreed, but the real mother cried out, “Please, give her the baby—just don’t kill him!” Solomon declared her the true mother. News of this judgment spread far and wide.

Soon, Solomon’s name became known as far as Sheba—modern-day Ethiopia. The distance was nearly 1,200 miles. In ancient times, armies marched 20 miles a day. That journey would take almost two months. Yet the Queen of Sheba came because Solomon’s wisdom was worth the journey.

He built Jerusalem into the center of power. 1 Kings 10:27 tells us, “The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones.” Gold flowed in, nations brought gifts, and Israel stood at the height of influence. Solomon was the wisest man in history—or so it seemed.

But what happened? With wisdom unmatched and blessings overflowing, Solomon fell. He built alliances through foreign marriages, starting with Pharaoh’s daughter from Egypt. To please his wives, he imported their customs, temples, and gods. Soon his palace was filled with idols, his loyalty divided. He attended ceremonies of foreign gods, drifting from the God who gave him everything.

Solomon’s wisdom became his trap when it was no longer rooted in God. As a result, God raised up adversaries against him. His kingdom would be torn apart after his death.

This leaves us with a question: If Solomon, with all his brilliance, fell—what is true wisdom?

Solomon’s story is one of brilliance and tragedy. His name became synonymous with wisdom. He answered riddles, wrote thousands of proverbs, composed songs, studied nature, and built one of the wealthiest empires of the ancient world. Nations traveled from afar to hear his insights. Yet even with all of this, Solomon fell. His story warns us that even the greatest mind can collapse when wisdom is separated from God.

The Bible records in 1 Kings 11:4:

Here lies the danger: wisdom, when turned inward, becomes pride. What began as a gift from God to serve others became a tool for alliances, political gain, and personal indulgence. Knowledge without humility is not true wisdom—it is simply cleverness in disguise.

Solomon himself admitted this hard lesson. In Ecclesiastes 1:16–17 he wrote:

Human wisdom, no matter how dazzling, has limits. It can solve problems, but it cannot cure the human heart. It can build kingdoms, but it cannot prevent collapse. It can gather wealth, but it cannot buy peace. Solomon had everything—knowledge, riches, power, fame—yet without obedience to God, all of it slipped through his fingers like sand.

Paul puts it plainly in 1 Corinthians 3:19:

What the world calls wisdom often ends in emptiness. History proves this again and again. Great empires rise and fall. Brilliant leaders are praised for their insight yet undone by their pride. Human wisdom can look impressive in the moment, but it cannot give eternal life.

The tragedy of Solomon is that the very gift meant to bring glory to God became the trap that led him away. He shows us that knowledge alone is not enough. If the wisest man on earth could stumble when he turned from God, how much more do we need to anchor our lives in Him?

Jesus warned in Matthew 7:26–27:

That was Solomon’s fate: a kingdom built on brilliance but weakened by disobedience. His life reminds us that wisdom without God is like building on sand—impressive for a time, but destined to collapse.

True wisdom must be rooted in God, or it will ultimately fail.

The Bible speaks clearly about where wisdom originates:

This verse is not telling us to cower before God in dread, but to stand before Him in awe, reverence, and humility. True wisdom starts when we recognize God as Creator—holy, set apart, infinite—and acknowledge ourselves as creatures—finite, small, and dependent. Humility is the soil in which the seed of wisdom can grow.

Solomon himself, at his best, understood this. When God appeared to him and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5), Solomon did not request riches, fame, or long life. He confessed his weakness: “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties” (1 Kings 3:7). That humility moved him to pray for wisdom. And God honored his prayer, making him the wisest man of his time.

But later, when Solomon abandoned humility, his wisdom decayed into folly. This reminds us that wisdom is not a possession we hold once and for all—it flows only as long as we remain connected to God, its source.

Paul reinforces this truth in 1 Corinthians 1:25:

In other words, even the smallest glimpse of God’s wisdom surpasses the greatest achievements of human intelligence. This perspective guards us against pride. Human accomplishments—science, philosophy, politics—can be useful, but they are limited. They cannot explain eternity. They cannot heal the soul. They cannot give life after death. Only God can.

James echoes this when he writes:

Wisdom is not earned, it is given. It comes not through boasting of knowledge but by kneeling in prayer. It is not about mastering information but about submitting to God’s instruction.

True wisdom begins the moment we stop insisting that we are in control. It begins when we admit our limits, confess our need, and acknowledge the One who holds the universe together. As Proverbs 3:5–6 teaches us:

The wisest thing any person can do is to bow before God in humility, trust His Word, and walk in His ways. Wisdom is not about knowing everything, but about knowing the One who knows everything. And when we begin there—at the fear of the Lord—we are finally ready to glimpse what true wisdom really is.

The Old Testament reveals Solomon’s rise and fall, but the New Testament points us to the ultimate source of wisdom—not in a man, but in the Son of God. Where Solomon’s wisdom failed, Christ’s wisdom stands eternal.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:30:

This means that wisdom is not merely an abstract idea or a collection of clever sayings. Wisdom is embodied in the person of Jesus. He is God’s wisdom made flesh. Through Him, we see what wisdom looks like in action—not just in words but in a life lived perfectly in step with the Father.

During His ministry, Jesus repeatedly confounded the wisest minds of His day. The scribes and Pharisees tested Him with trick questions, but He answered with authority that left them silent. One striking moment is recorded in Matthew 22:43–45, when Jesus asked:

Even the most learned scholars could not respond. Human reasoning alone could not grasp the mystery of Christ’s identity. True wisdom, then, is not found in arguments or human logic, but in recognizing who Jesus is: the promised Son of God, Savior of the world.

In Jesus we see wisdom displayed in every dimension. His teaching revealed truth deeper than any philosophy. His parables cut to the heart of human life in ways that still transform lives today. His compassion drew crowds, showing that wisdom is not cold intellect but love in action. Most striking of all, His cross—foolishness to the world—became salvation for all who believe. As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 1:18:

To the world, a crucified Savior looked like weakness. But in God’s wisdom, the cross became victory, the place where sin was paid for and death defeated. What looked like folly was actually the greatest act of wisdom in history.

This is the difference between Solomon’s wisdom and Christ’s wisdom. Solomon’s wisdom impressed people, but it could not save them. Christ’s wisdom redeems, restores, and gives eternal life. Solomon’s kingdom eventually fractured, but Christ’s kingdom will never end.

Paul captures it beautifully in Colossians 2:2–3:

Do you see it? All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ—not in books, not in kings, not in human achievement. The true answer to the question “What is wisdom?” is this: wisdom is knowing Christ.

So if Solomon teaches us the limits of human wisdom, Jesus invites us into the fullness of God’s wisdom. And that wisdom is not just information—it is transformation. It is the gift of salvation, freely offered to all who believe.

Solomon’s life is a vivid reminder of both the heights of human brilliance and the depths of human weakness. He composed thousands of proverbs, judged with clarity, built a kingdom of unmatched wealth, and impressed leaders from faraway nations. The Queen of Sheba traveled thousands of miles just to see if the rumors of his wisdom were true—and she left convinced he was greater than she had heard. Yet when Solomon turned his heart away from God, all of his brilliance collapsed into folly. His wisdom—once a gift from heaven—became a trap when used apart from the Giver.

So what, then, is true wisdom? It is not found in knowledge alone. It cannot be measured by wealth, power, or reputation. True wisdom begins with “the fear of the LORD”—a posture of humility, reverence, and awe before the Creator who is holy and set apart (Proverbs 9:10). It starts when we recognize that God is God, and we are not.

But wisdom does not stop there. The New Testament reveals that true wisdom is fully revealed in a person—Jesus Christ. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:30, “Christ Jesus… has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” In Him we see wisdom lived out: truth spoken with authority, compassion poured out on the broken, and salvation offered through the “foolishness” of the cross.

Human wisdom builds towers that eventually fall. God’s wisdom builds a kingdom that will never end. Solomon’s story warns us not to rely on ourselves. Christ’s story invites us to trust the One who is wisdom. To know Him is to know life. To walk with Him is to walk in true wisdom.

Let’s pray together.

Heavenly Father,

We thank You for the story of Solomon, a reminder that wisdom without You will always fail. We confess our tendency to rely on our own understanding, chasing after knowledge while forgetting its source.

Teach us to walk in true wisdom—the wisdom that begins with fear of the Lord. Give us hearts of humility, reverence, and awe. Remind us that You are the Creator and we are Your creatures, dependent on You for every breath.

We thank You for Jesus Christ, who has become wisdom for us—our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on Him, to learn from His life, His compassion, His cross, and His resurrection.

Lord, make us wise not in the eyes of the world, but in Your sight. May our lives reflect Your truth and love, pointing others to You.

We pray this in Jesus’ name,