In Proverbs 4:7 the exhortation is “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.” If wisdom is the “principle thing,” it is the first thing, the head of all things, the root of all things, and really the only thing worth getting.
Better to have wisdom than any other thing!
The first thing you need to make a wise decision is knowledge.
The reason the fool goes wrong is that he does not take the time to acquire the necessary knowledge to assess the situation. Obviously, if you do not have the knowledge, you cannot make a wise decision, because you cannot apply and adapt knowledge that you do not have! The foolish person is often impetuous and impatient—he does not wait to find out knowledge, or he does not ask advice of others, or, if he does ask advice, he rarely takes good advice.
If wisdom in God is the application and adaptation of all things to the goal of his own glory, then wisdom in us is the application, use and, adaptation of all things to the goal of God’s glory.
That is why we read in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” and in Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Without the fear of God, which is a godly reverence for him in which we avoid sin and seek his glory, we are, and will behave as, the greatest fools!
