Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. This week is No. 5,026 of the broadcast.
Wisdom is born of experience and observation. It is seasoned by time and cultivated through reflection. We benefit from wisdom when we apply the learnings of our past to the demands of the present and the future.
But wisdom — true wisdom — is more than just an earned quality. The world might define wisdom as accumulated knowledge. But wisdom from God is so much more. It is not bound by the bookends of earthly understanding. Rather, God’s wisdom is based on truths that are eternal and deeply personal. The Old Testament teaches that this kind of wisdom is better than rubies or gold (see Proverbs 8:11; 16:16).
God gives wisdom to those who humbly ask for it. The New Testament promises, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).
We have a living relationship with God. And when we sincerely ask Him for His wisdom in our lives, we can trust that it will come. God’s wisdom may not reveal our exact next 10 steps, but it will help us discern what to do as we “press forward” (2 Nephi 31:20). We receive God’s wisdom by faith — faith that He will illuminate the path before us, even when it may feel like we are standing at the very edge of the light (see 1 Nephi 4:6).
I have a friend who once received devastating news: He had cancer. Decisions had to be made, and the outcome was uncertain. Immediately, he and his wife knelt in prayer, pleading for God’s wisdom to guide them. No answer came as to whether he would be healed. But one answer did come — simple, clear and sustaining: “Be at peace.”
Day after day, they sought the peace that only God can give (see Philippians 4:7). And day after day, even amid the uncertainty, God’s wisdom, wrapped in His peace, led them gently by the hand through each decision (see Doctrine and Covenants 112:10 and Isaiah 41:13). In the process, they grew together in faith, in love and in joy.
As we seek and act on God’s wisdom, we discover that He will show us the way forward — His way — that leads to increasing faith, deepening peace and expanding joy.
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
