You're listening to the Allender Center podcast with Dr. Dan Allender.

This week, Dan launches a new series all about the pursuit of wisdom in a culture that is so often marked by foolish arguments and accusations.

Dan looks at the biblical stories of King David and Jesus to introduce the concept of wisdom as an artistic, imaginative, and physical quality that equips us to foster beauty in the midst of the binds of our world.

After watching another day of political machinations, the candidates brawling, demeaning, accusing, attacking,

it prompted me to turn the TV off in disgust and sat there wondering what is the role of wisdom in the context of our political

discussions, our discussions on everything from sexuality to how to use money well in our world to thinking just about what it means

to live well in the context of a culture that seems excessively drawn to madness, foolishness,

and not wisdom. So what I'd like to do is to begin, and not wisdom.

So what I'd like to do is to begin a series of conversations or podcasts on the role of

wisdom.

What is wisdom?

How do we become wise?

What does it look like in the complex binds of our day and what it requires of us if we wish

to become more wise? So there are a number, number of categories that we'll be thinking about

over the next three or four podcasts. But to begin with, what I want to do is to look at what I

would consider to be a very wise man

and his use of wisdom, and that is David.

I'm going to start with Psalm 34.

And not read the entire Psalm, but it would not be a bad thing to stop the podcast and just pick up a Bible and read Psalm 34.

But I'm going to highlight just a few verses, starting with the broader sense of the Psalm is a psalma praise.

David says in verse four, I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and he delivered me from all my fears.

In some ways, that's the key to the whole Psalm.

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