The sermon to day was about wisdom. TI asked what is wisdom… and the best answer was this.

Wisdom is putting your life in alignment with God.

But that is not what the world means by wisdom. They mean shrewd judgment.It may hunt with intelligent, but I know many intelligent fools, and it may relate to credentials, but credentials are not the person. We are told to be wise in what we put into ourselves.

And in this we learn not to rely on what we do: for we do good often, but we fail more. Moreover, we have a warning about what happens if wisdom — that tool, that experience, that knowledge allies with evil. For Ahithophel was considered so wise that his words were taken to almost have divine authority. But David, and David did teach Absalom.

And the side man, when counseling the foolish, will fail.

just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

	Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

	For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

(Galatians 3:6-14 ESV)

	Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down only the king, and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, and all the people will be at peace.” And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

	Then Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom.

	Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’” Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

	After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, “Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

	When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

(2 Samuel 17:1-23 ESV)

Now Achitophel died in a manner that cursed him: his death was not merely a suicide. It acts as an example. We should not merely be careful in what we take in, we read, or view, but we need to be careful with whom we ally. This does not mean that we should never talk to the worldly, for if that was the case no sinner would come to Christ.

But it does mean that we choose with care what teachers we listen to: what parties we support, and what we read or write. There is much good teaching, and there is more bad teaching. So judge every

Since our minister is a muso, he then thought of how music can drive the words of God into us: he lived through the Scripture in Song revolution, and knows this came from the Wesleys. He neglected to go back to Luther, who deliberately incorporated drinking songs into the hymnal. For music can drive the words of scripture into our bones, and drive us to revival.

In this time there are many who call themselves wise. But most of us are foolish. Most of us are fragile. It is only together that we are anti-fragile, and it is only through the work of the holy spirit that we achieve true wisdom.

(Hat tip to Jenny, for linking to the Rand Collective).