Wisdom With No Prudence is No Wisdom At All

“I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.” (Pr 8:12 AV)

The meaning of the word for prudence is the feminine form of the word craftiness.  In a positive sense, the word means stratagem.  That being, a specific and well thought out plan.  Common sense we reveal that wisdom without prudence is not wisdom at all.  They dwell together because they are mutually dependent.  One cannot have wisdom unless he also has prudence.  In the book of Proverbs, knowledge is the gathering of facts.  Understanding is the ability to relate those facts into principles.  Wisdom is the discipline to apply those principles.  Wisdom cannot be built unless there are knowledge and understanding.  In the same vein, wisdom is idle if it has not prudence.  If wisdom remains idle, then it is no wisdom at all.

We live in an older home.  It was built in 1924.  Having grown up in a similar house, I was familiar with much of the ‘bones’ of an older house.  A building practice of homes that age is what is called lathe and plaster.  Lathe strips were nailed to the studs with a gap of about a quarter of an inch.  Then plaster was laid over them and allowed to dry.  This gave a smooth wall with no seams.  In the house we are living in, I noticed a spot in the corner of the closet where the plaster had fallen.  This does not happen without cause.  It was a matter of investigation.  On one such investigation, I noticed the lathe was a bit damp.  At the next rainstorm, I went up and investigated.  It was confirmed.  The roof leaked.  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to determine the right course of action.  The roof needed to be replaced.  The next step was getting estimates.  Since I live in the parsonage, I asked our leadership team to get involved.  What a smart thing to do.  As we poured over the estimates, more and more questions arose.  Things of which I didn’t know enough to be qualified to make a decision.  As we worked through the process, I learned a great deal on what questions to ask the subcontractor.  Gathering all that knowledge and knowing what course to take was essential.  Even deciding to go ahead and hire the contractor was not enough.  The roof would have still leaked if we hadn’t made the call, hired the contractor, and paid the bill.  Knowing what needed to be done and how it was to be done didn’t get it done.  Not until there was a step-by-step action taken did our wisdom become effective.

This is the relationship between prudence and wisdom.  Wisdom, if left alone, is twice as foolish as foolishness untouched.  If, after knowing what needed to be done to the roof, nothing was done, then our wisdom would have turned to foolishness.  Instead of uninformed foolishness, it would have been informed foolishness.  Or, deliberate foolishness.  That is the biggest foolishness of all.