Deuteronomy 34:9 – Wisdom, a needful asset for effectiveness

Joshua, the son of Nun, succeeded Moses as the leader of the children of Israel. He had been Moses’ aide and was mentored by him. He was now entrusted with the task of leading the children of Israel into the promised land. The task he was commissioned to do was a serious one, one that needed much wisdom. Deuteronomy 34:9 said that Moses had laid his hands upon him to impart the spirit of wisdom to him. The truth was that the wisdom that Joshua received came from God, through the laying of Moses’ hands. So being filled with the spirit of wisdom, Joshua was now equal to the task. And everyone accepted Joshua’s leadership, listened to him, and obeyed the LORD as Moses had ordered.

Wisdom is more than just intelligence. It is the ability to appropriately apply the knowledge one has in any given situation at the right time to achieve the best outcome. A person with knowledge but lacks wisdom will not be able to accomplish much. But with wisdom, a person who has the knowledge knows how and when to apply them. And when he does, much will be achieved.

This verse also shows us how we can have wisdom and how that wisdom can impact our God-given assignments. To have wisdom, we need to connect with God and ask Him for it. While it was Moses who laid his hands on Joshua, the spirit of wisdom originated from God. The source of all true wisdom is God. James 1:5 urged us saying, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” We can also learn wisdom by associating with wise and godly men. Joshua had the advantage of the influence of the wise and godly Moses early in life. If we want to be able to live wisely, seek out wise and godly men and allow them to influence us.

When a person has wisdom, he will be successful in his God-assigned work. Joshua was successful in his assignment. Just like the followers of Joshua, when people can see a leader acting with wisdom, they will acknowledge him and listen to him. We need such kind of wise leaders in our church today. We need to ask God to endow them with this much-needed asset. Hence, let us pray to God that all our leaders will be adorned with godly wisdom to enable them to help navigate the church through the challenging times of our day. Let us also ask God for wisdom to live our daily life for Him fruitfully!