There is reason to believe that the Old Testament word for “wisdom” means, at least in part, “having SKILL at godly living!”

“Chokmah,” the actual Hebrew noun translated “wisdom” (145 times in the Bible) … is once expressed this way, in the King James Version anyway: “a skillful man.”

Psalm 33:3 gives us an example: “Sing unto him a new song; play SKILFULLY with a loud noise.” In other words; if you’re going to do something for the Lord (like play some music, for example) do it to the best of your ability!

Ecclesiastes 9:11 might be striking the same cord … “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

As well as Paul in Colossians 3:23 … “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord.” here the adverb “heartily” is “ek psuche” in Greek, meaning “out of your soul,” coming from the very depths of your innermost being!

And going back to our Text verse … “Sing unto him a new song; play SKILFULLY with a loud noise” … the word “skilfully” (note the old English spelling) means “being merry” … five times it’s translated that way!

So I deduce … the Lord not only knows WHAT we do for Him, He knows HOW WE DO THAT THING!

He is keenly aware of …

Our heart attitude!

Our spirit!

Our motivation!

Our desire to give Him the best we possibly can!

Wow!

For sure, He is worthy!

Something to ponder indeed!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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