O come, O Wisdom from on High

After looking at the verses in the first stanza talk about our unfaithfulness-induced exile on this land as well as the hope of the coming of the Messiah, the second stanza of O Come, O Come, Immanuel seems to be a prayer to the Almighty petitioning Him for His wisdom as we wait:   

2 O come, O Wisdom from on high,

who ordered all things mightily;

to us the path of knowledge show

and teach us in its ways to go. Refrain

In these verses we read how the writer asks God to guide him as he waits for the Lord to come.  This is exactly what we ought to do.  While we wait and hope to see the Son of God reappear, we need the wisdom of God to show us and teach us about His ways.  The author recognizes our inability to make sound and Godly choices on our own.  This is a profoundly biblical concept as we see many instances in Scripture that point out our need to be taught the ways of the Lord.  The Psalms alone present several examples, a small sample is here below:

*Teach me your way, LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Psalm 27: 11

*Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Psalm 25: 4

*Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86: 11

In all three of these verses we appreciate the implication that we don’t really know God’s ways.  Therefore, the need to pray that He shows us and reveals His paths to us is undeniable.  Our hearts and desires are thwarted and corrupted…thus, we lack God’s wisdom…thus, we walk a different path…thus the need to be taught:

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.…Isaiah 55: 7-9

Teach us, Lord!  Give us your wisdom.  May the God who “ordered all things mightily” grant us the knowledge of His ways as we wait for His return.