I Samuel 18:5 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants
In I Samuel 18 we read the story of Saul and his jealousy of David. David would be the king that God chose, but Saul was the current king. I understand Saul, but I admire David. What I mean is that I understand Saul’s jealousy of David. Everyone knows that Saul was a bad guy at this point in his life and everyone knows that David is a good man and everyone loves him. That is part of the problem. When you look at I Samuel 18 you find that Saul’s son loved David, Saul’s daughter loved David, and the people loved David. In fact, they said of Saul, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” It wasn’t just a matter of everyone looking toward David before David actually became king; it was a matter of their foisting a comparison of the two upon Saul. What Saul did was wrong, no doubt about it. I admire David, no doubt about it. So, I can admire David, but understand Saul.
On three occasions in I Samuel 18 it says that David behaved himself wisely. For instance, verse 5 says, “And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.” We see what prompted that jealousy. Everyone loved David and their attentions drifted from Saul to David. But you also see that David did everything Saul asked him to do and behaved himself wisely. The Bible did not say that he was wise, but that he did wisely.
Your IQ is your capacity to know. It is how much room you have in your brain or how quickly that brain can work. Your education is the content you put within that brain. Wisdom is the skill to know how to use the information or knowledge you have. I would rather have a little bit of knowledge and use that knowledge skillfully and wisely, than to have all kinds of education and innate intelligence but not know how to use what I have. All of us know of the infamous dumb, smart person who has all kinds of education or is very bright, but doesn’t know when to come in out of the rain.
So, wisdom is not something you know, it is something you do. It is a behavior. David “behaved himself wisely” in verse 5. Verse 14 says, “And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.” Verse 30 says, “David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul.” So, wisdom is something you do; it is not simply something you have.
Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Wisdom is the most important thing. We get so fixated on money, position, or working well with other people, all of which may have their place, but wisdom is more important. Part of the reason for that is you can’t keep what you have if you don’t have wisdom. If I make money, but I don’t have the wisdom to use it, what good is it. If I am good with people, but I don’t know how to use that skill, what good is it. So, wisdom is a behavior.
Wisdom is not automatic with age. Between Saul and David, who knew more at this point? Wasn’t it Saul? He had more experience, age, and resources, yet David was the one with wisdom. Just because a man has white hair does not mean he has wisdom, although he should. It is sad when there is a foolish young person, but it is a tragedy that an aged person is foolish. So, wisdom is a behavior, something you do. It is not automatic with age.
Ultimately, God is the source of wisdom. That means you have a part and God has a part in wisdom. God provides wisdom, but you make decisions that allow you to be in the place of wisdom. Verse 14 says, “David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.” James 1:5 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” It goes on to say that God gives wisdom generously to those that ask, and God will not scold you for asking. God doesn’t scold you because you don’t know everything you need to know or do not know how to use the knowledge you have. God is gracious to give what you lack, and it takes wisdom to know that you lack wisdom. People who think they have all the answers are not going to be seeking the answers they don’t have. People who are self-aware enough to realize they don’t have all that they need are going to be humble enough to ask God for it.
When it comes to wisdom, what goes around comes around. David could have been impatient and proud and wrested the kingdom from Saul right then and there. There came a time when David was the old man, the aged king, and other younger usurpers tried to make a play for the kingdom. God preserved David because David had a wisdom that came from Heaven, and from David’s attitude it is not mysterious that his son Solomon was a man who realized his need of God.
The Bible says that Saul eyed David. He was jealous of David, yet there were others who had eyes on David, namely his sons. There were some things that Solomon learned from David that were not good, a harem among them. But Solomon’s wisdom came from God and the recognition that he needed it was taught to him by his dad.
At the end of the day, what was this behavior of wisdom? It was basically humility and patience, a humility to know who he was, that God was the one who ordained him to be the next king, and patience to wait on God’s timing. No matter how much you know or do not know, wisdom is yours if you will ask it of God with a patient heart and the humility to know that you need it because wisdom is a behavior.