Oct 30 2019 Psalm 119: 49-72

Teach me discernment and knowledge, for I have believed in your commandments.

Lately, I’ve enjoyed watching people who have a better sense of the difference between discernment and knowledge. And seeing this sentence makes me ponder each.

Knowledge seems to me to be something largely external and factual. Having knowledge is important, and mostly just a matter of memorization or recollecting. I have knowledge about my bike route to work. Knowledge is the foundation of most everything we do. As a child we learn to walk and run and eat. As an adult, we learn how to drive and vote and cook. Those things we know.

And knowledge is critical. But while knowledge is necessary, it is not sufficient. We need also to make judgements or decide about those things we know. We need to effectively apply wisdom to our knowledge in order to discern how and when to act. Discernment tells me not to ride my bike when it’s icy. Not to run in the street, not to cook liver in my house. In order to cook anything, I definitely need to have the knowledge of how to cook. To cook good food, I have to discern what my beloveds will eat, and what will taste good. But discernment is more than just the equation of my knowledge + my wisdom = good discernment.

Discernment is also holding space for the Holy Spirit to join in the discussion. Left to my own devices, I too frequently rely on knowledge alone. I increasingly am trying to allow wisdom into my thoughts, although less than I’d like to admit. And I’m really really trying to hold space for the Holy Spirit in my decisions, actions and comments. 

This morning I’m thinking about how precious discernment is, how it acknowledges that I do not, in fact, have all of the information, facts or wisdom to make the best decision or the best comments. There is something outside of me that, if invited in every action, decision, and word uttered, will mix with my unique blend of knowledge and wisdom. Left to my own fast-paced, self-reliant tendencies, there’s not much room or need for the Holy Spirit to join in the conversation. But I am a better person when I do hold that space, when I remember that My Knowledge + My Wisdom + Holy Spirit = Discernment. Today, I hope to intentionally hold space, however briefly, for what I do, say, and think. Even acknowledging this step I hope will help.