From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Abbadon and Death say, “We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.” God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure, when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. And he said to man, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”
– Job 28:20–28
Ah, this is one of my favorite chapters in all the Old Testament and specifically in the book of Job. And it’s why the book of Job is classified as wisdom literature in the Bible, because at the heart of this book is a quest for wisdom and understanding before God, specifically in Job’s life amidst all the suffering and evil of this world. Why is this happening?
Job 28:20–28 reminds us that in our suffering we can trust that God is wise.
And here in Job 28, we are reminded that when we wonder why, we can trust that God is wise. Ah, remember that: When we wonder why in this world, trust that God is all-wise over this world.
This question, where does wisdom come from, Job asks in Job 28:20, and in verse 23, he says, “God understands the way to it. God knows its place.” Verse 27, “He saw it, declared it, established it, and searched it out. God is all-wise. And God has said to man, ‘Behold, here’s wisdom.'” It’s the same thing we see in Proverbs. The fear of the Lord to turn away from evil is understanding.
So when we walk through hard days and wonder why this is happening, wisdom says, “I will fear the Lord. I’ll revere God and all of his wisdom and all of his power and all of his love and all of his justice and all of his mercy, all the things we’ve prayed through in the book of Job, and I will turn away from evil.” This is what Job did. He did not charge God with wrong. He did not sin against God. Even in his suffering and wisdom, he walks through suffering with fear of God with desire for good and holiness, and with trust in the God who is all-wise.
Job 28:20–28 encourages us to ask for wisdom amidst trials.
So I just want to pray for wisdom over those of you especially who are walking through hard days, difficult, dark days. And if you’re not walking through days like that, I want to encourage you as we pray, to pray this over people you know who are walking through hard, difficult, dark days, intercede for them right now based on Job 28.
Oh God, we praise you for your infinite wisdom. We praise you that you are all wise, that you know all wisdom, you created all wisdom, you established all wisdom, and you are generous with your wisdom. In light of James 1, “Anyone who lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
So God, we pray for wisdom over those who are walking through Job-like days, maybe as severe, maybe not as severe, but hard, difficult, dark days. God, we pray that you would help them to trust your wisdom, trust your perspective and your knowledge and your purposes that are being accomplished, to trust your love and your power that is at work to bring even these dark days to good.
This verse encourages us to trust the wisdom of God.
God, we pray that you would help us help those who are walking through days like this, especially to trust in your wisdom, and we pray that you would give them wisdom. Help them to know how to walk through these days, what to do when, how to think in light of your purposes, how to perceive the situation around them from your perspective.
God, I pray for your wisdom over those who are walking through really hard days. I pray for the fear of you in the middle of our days. And I pray that you would help them to turn from evil, to resist evil in all the ways that the adversary would want to use these hard days to pull them away from you. God, I just pray Job 28-like wisdom over those walking through hard days. We pray together for each other and for those around us who are walking through hard days.
God, we’re so thankful that amidst all of our questions about why, we can know that you are all wise. We say we trust in you, oh God. We pray that you would help us to point others to your wisdom… To encourage others with your wisdom and your generosity with wisdom to all who ask.
Prayer for the Avar People
God, we pray especially for people who have still not even been reached with the good news of the gospel… What 1 Corinthians 1 calls your wisdom in the cross of Christ.
Lord, we pray for the Avar people of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Dagestan specifically. God, we pray for the spread of your wisdom to people who’ve never been reached with it… Specifically the Avar people. God, please open their eyes to the wisdom of the cross… To the wisdom of your death and resurrection for our life. Oh God, please cause the gospel to spread to the Avar and cause it to be received among them. We pray all of this in light of your wisdom in Job 28. Help us to live in the fear of you and to turn away from evil and in this… To experience your wisdom in our lives and to trust your wisdom with whatever we walk through in this world.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
