you to know that God’s will is knowable. He put it all down for us to read; we only need to meditate on it and it will be revealed.

Second, I want you to see that the opposite of wisdom is foolishness. It’s the fool who doesn’t know what God wants.

We might not always know every detail, but the believer who walks in wisdom does so because he fears the Lord and because he understands His will.

This all goes back to taking “pains” and being “absorbed” in Scripture. God has revealed His will through His word, and those who read and obey walk in wisdom.

In fact, the two are inseparable. The wisest man on earth who rejects God is an utter fool (Ps. 14:1), but the man who learns God’s will and walks in light is a wise man indeed.

4. Wisdom is evidenced by our submission to the Holy Spirit (:18-20)

18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

The foolish get drunk and are controlled by wine, but the wise are controlled by the Spirit.

Drunkenness is called “dissipation” which is another word for indulgence or debauchery. You can picture all the drunks at the tavern singing pub songs together, but what do we see from one controlled by the Holy Spirit? Two things: (1) he edifies the body with spiritual music and (2) he sings melodious praise with his heart to the Lord.

There’s an interesting point to make here about the controlling power of the Holy Spirit. There are some who believe that an expression of the Spirit’s control is to fall on the floor and roll around or shake uncontrollably. I’m not making fun; this is serious.

As I read Scripture, the control of the Holy Spirit isn’t a momentary period of time in which the believer loses control of his faculties; He controls when the believer yields in repentance and His control manifests itself through wisdom.

Drunks fall down; believers build up.
Drunks babble mindlessly; believers speak to one another.
Drunks sing pub songs; believers praise the Lord.

There’s also an interesting observation about music’s place in wisdom. While under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we speak to each other through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Early in my new life I was ready to hurry up through the music so we could get to the “good stuff.” As I understand it now, though, music is (or at least should be) as instructional and edifying as the reading of the Word.

We put the lyrics of our songs up on the screen. There are times I don’t sing because I’m thinking about the meaning of the words. It’s often in those moments I’m worshiping the most!

But music is also a means of “making melody with your heart to the Lord.” Isn’t that a great phrase?

Our music should be theological so that we can edify one another, but it is also a medley to the Lord which is…

20always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

Drunks argue and complain and curse and fight, but the believer is to be so full of the Holy Spirit that only thanksgiving comes from our mouths.

The world walks in darkness and foolishness.