INTRODUCTION

“Wisdom is better than strength” (Ecclesiastes 9:16). Yet, at the same time, wisdom is strength. According to scripture, it “strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city” (Ecclesiastes 7:19Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city.
See All...). “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength” (Proverbs 24:5A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
See All...). He “scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof” (Proverbs 21:22A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.
See All...). The greater goal would be to be filled with both wisdom and strength. It should come as no surprise to the saint of God that this is the very nature of God. He “is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom” (Job 36:5Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom.
See All...).

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

• (For smaller children) Read Ecclesiastes 10:10If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
  See All.... In this verse, how is wisdom better than strength? Consider how wisdom helped these women save a household (1 Samuel 25:5-35 [5] And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: [6] And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. [7] And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. [8] Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. [9] And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. [10] And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. [11] Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? [12] So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. [13] And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. [14] But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. [15] But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: [16] They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. [17] Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. [18] Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. [19] And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. [20] And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. [21] Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. [22] So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. [23] And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, [24] And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. [25] Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. [26] Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. [27] And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. [28] I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. [29] Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. [30] And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; [31] That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. [32] And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: [33] And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. [34] For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. [35] So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
  See All...) and a city (2 Samuel 20:13-22 [13] When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. [14] And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him. [15] And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. [16] Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. [17] And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. [18] Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter. [19] I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? [20] And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. [21] The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall. [22] Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.
  See All...).  What could wisdom help you do?
• The race is not always “to the swift, nor the battle to the strong” (Ecclesiastes 9:11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
  See All...). What part does wisdom play in this  truth?
• Can you think of any events in scripture where the strong fell in battle at the feet of the wise? What practical truths can you learn from these historic events?

PRAYER NEEDS

• Ask the Lord to give you both strength and wisdom.
• Ask God to guard you against relying upon your own strength.

HYMN

O! To Be Like Thee

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