Job 28:1-16: a reflection

1“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine. 2Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore. 3Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness. 4He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth. 5As for the earth, out of it comes bread. Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. 6Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold. 7That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon’s eye seen it. 8The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there. 9He puts his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots. 10He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing. 11He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings out to light. 12“But where will wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? 13Man doesn’t know its price, and it isn’t found in the land of the living. 14The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’ 15It can’t be gotten for gold, neither will silver be weighed for its price. 16It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

Job reflects on the ingenuity of human beings in finding hidden treasures. People dig deep mines for silver and gold, cut shafts into the rock, search out precious stones in the darkness of the earth, going where no bird or beast has gone. Human skill can find and bring up the most hidden treasures. But then Job asks the question that all this ingenuity cannot answer: But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? For all their skill in mining treasure, people cannot mine wisdom; it cannot be bought with gold or silver, or found by human effort in the earth.

Notice the contrast Job draws. Human beings can find gold and gems, hidden deep in the earth, by their skill and effort; but wisdom, which is more valuable than all of these, cannot be found or bought that way. It is not in the depths of the earth or the sea; it cannot be purchased with any treasure. The very thing most worth having, wisdom, lies beyond the reach of the ingenuity that can dig up gold, and beyond the price that gold can pay.

That is a humbling and pointing truth. We can achieve a great deal by our own skill and effort, gaining knowledge, wealth, and much else; but true wisdom is not something we can simply dig up or purchase by our own cleverness. It is more valuable than any treasure, and it is God's to give; as the chapter goes on to say, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. Do not imagine you can obtain true wisdom by your own effort or acquire it like a possession. Seek it where it is truly found: from God, in the fear of the Lord. Prize wisdom above the treasures you can mine, and seek it humbly from the God who alone can give it, rather than trusting your own ingenuity to find it.

Lord, Job marveled at how people dig deep for silver, gold, and precious stones, finding hidden treasures by their skill; but he asked the question all that ingenuity cannot answer: where shall wisdom be found? For wisdom cannot be mined or bought with any treasure. Humble me with that truth. I can achieve a great deal by my own skill and effort, gaining knowledge, wealth, and much else; but true wisdom is not something I can dig up or purchase by my own cleverness. It is more valuable than any treasure, and it is yours to give; the fear of you is wisdom. Keep me from imagining I can obtain true wisdom by my own effort or acquire it like a possession. Help me seek it where it is truly found: from you, in the fear of the Lord. Help me prize wisdom above the treasures I can gain, and seek it humbly from you, who alone can give it, rather than trusting my own ingenuity to find it.