聖書

Expositor's Bible Commentary Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; CHAPTER 3 WISDOM AS THE GUIDE OF CONDUCT "To deliver thee from the way of the evil man…To deliver thee from the strange woman."- Proverbs 2:12-16 WISDOM is concerned, as we have seen, with the whole universe of fact, with the whole range of thought; she surveys and orders all processes of nature. We might say of her, "She doth preserve the stars from wrong, And the most ancient heavens by her are fresh and strong." But while she is occupied in these high things, she is no less attentive to the affairs of human life, and her delight is to order human conduct, not despising even the smallest detail of that which is done by men under the sun. Side by side with physical laws, indeed often intertwined with them, appear the moral laws which issue from the lively oracles of Wisdom. There is not one authority for natural phenomena, and another for mental and moral phenomena. As we should say now, Truth is one: Science is one: Law is one. The laws of the physical order, the laws of the speculative reason, the laws of practical life, form a single system, come from the sole mind of God, and are the impartial interests of Wisdom. As the great authority on Conduct, Wisdom is pictured standing in the places where men congregate, where the busy hum of human voices and the rush of hurried feet make it necessary for her to lift up her voice in order to gain attention. With words of winsome wooing-"for wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul" { Proverbs 2:10 }-or with loud threats and stern declarations of truth -"the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them" { Proverbs 1:32 } -she tries to win us, while we are yet young, to her paths of pleasantness and her ways of peace. Her object is to deliver youth, (1) from the evil man, and (2) from the evil woman, or in the most comprehensive way "to deliver us from evil." First of all, we may spend a few moments in noting the particular temptations to which men were exposed in the days when these chapters were written. There was a temptation to join a troop of banditti, and to obtain a living by acts of highway robbery which would frequently result in murder; and there was the temptation to the sin which we call specifically Impurity, a temptation which arose not so much from the existence of a special class of fallen women, as from the shocking looseness and voluptuousness of married women in well-to-do circumstances. Society under the kings never seems to have reached anything approaching to an ordered security. We cannot point to any period when the mountain roads, even in the neighborhood of the capital, were not haunted by thieves, who lurked in the rocks or the copses, and fell upon passing travelers, to strip and to rob, and if need be to kill them. When such things are done, when such things are even recounted in sensational literature, there are multitudes of young men who are stirred to a debased ambition; a spurious glory encircles the brow of the adventurer who sets the laws of society at defiance; and without any personal entreaty the foolish youth is disposed to leave the quiet ways of industry for the stimulating excitement and the false glamour of the bandit life. The reckless plottings of the robbers are described in Proverbs 1:11-14 . The character of the men themselves is given in Proverbs 4:16-17 : "They sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fail. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence." The proverb in Proverbs 24:15 is addressed to such a one: "Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous; spoil not his resting-place." The rebukes of the prophets-Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah-may have a wider application, but they seem at any rate to include this highwayman’s life. "Your hands are full of blood" is the charge of Isaiah; and { Isaiah 1:15 } again, "Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity." { Isaiah 59:7 } "They build up Zion with blood," says Micah indignantly. { Micah 3:10 } Jeremiah cries with still more vehemence to his generation, "Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor": { Jeremiah 2:34 } and again, "But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it." { Jeremiah 22:17 } We are to conceive, then, the young and active men of the day constantly tempted to take these unhallowed paths which seemed to promise wealth; the sinners were always ready to whisper in the ears of those whose life was tedious and unattractive, "Cast in thy lot among us; we will all have one purse." The moral sense of the community was not sufficiently developed to heartily condemn this life of iniquity; as in the eighteenth century among, ourselves, so in Israel when this book was written, there existed in the minds of the people at large a lurking admiration for the bold and dashing "gentlemen of the way." The other special temptation of that day is described in our book with remarkable realism, and there is no false shame in exposing the paths of death into which it leads. In Proverbs 5:3-20 the subject is treated in the plainest way: "Her latter end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on Sheol." It is taken up again in Proverbs 6:24-35 : "Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? or can one walk upon hot coals and his feet not be scorched?" The guilty man who has been betrayed by the glitter and beauty, by the honeyed words and the soft entreaties, "shall get wounds and dishonor, and his reproach shall not be wiped away." Proverbs 7:5-27 a most vivid picture is drawn of the foolish youth seduced into evil; there he is seen going as an ox to the slaughter, as one in fetters, "till an arrow strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life." And the Introduction closes with a delineation of Folly, which is obviously meant as a counterpart to the delineation of Wisdom in Proverbs 1:20 , etc. { Proverbs 9:13-18 } The miserable woman sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city; with seductive words she wins the foolish passers-by to enter her doors: "The dead are there; her guests are in the depths of Sheol." It is a temptation which in many varying forms has always beset human life. No small part of the danger is that this evil, above all others, grows in silence, and yet seems to be aggravated by publicity. The preacher cannot speak plainly about it, and even writers shrink from touching the subject. We can, however, be thankful that the book, which is God’s book rather than man’s, knows nothing of our false modesty and conventional delicacy: it speaks out not only boldly, but minutely; it is so explicit that no man who with a prayerful heart will meditate upon its teachings need fall into the pitfall-that pitfall which seems to grow even more subtle and more seductive as civilization advances, and as the great cities absorb a larger proportion of the population; or if he fail he can only admit with shame and remorse, "I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof. Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me. I was well-nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly." { Proverbs 5:12-14 } In the second place, we must try to look at these temptations in the light of our own day, in order that we may listen to the voice of wisdom, not in the antiquarian, but rather in the practical spirit. The second temptation exists amongst us almost unchanged, except that the vast accumulation and concentration of vice in great cities has provided that mournful band of women whom a great moralist has designated the Vestal Virgins of Humanity, consecrated to shame and ruin in order to preserve unsullied the sacred flame of the domestic altar. The result of this terrible development in evil is that the deadly sin has become safer for the sinner, and in certain circles of society has become recognized as at any rate a venial fault, if not an innocent necessity. It is well to read these chapters again with our eye on the modern evil, and to let the voice of Wisdom instruct us that the life is not the less blighted because the body remains unpunished, and vice is not the less vicious because, instead of ruining others for its gratification, it feeds only on those who are already ruined. If the Wisdom of the Old Testament is obscure on this point, the Wisdom of the New Testament gives no uncertain sound. Interpreting the doctrine of our book, as Christians are bound to do, by the light of Christ, we can be left in no doubt, that to all forms of impurity applies the one principle which is here applied to a specific form: "He doeth it that would destroy his own soul." "His own iniquities shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin." { Proverbs 6:32 and Proverbs 5:22 } But with regard to the first of the two temptations, it may be urged that in our settled and ordered society it is no longer felt. "We are not tempted to become highwaymen, nor even to embark on the career of a professional thief." We are disposed to skim lightly over the warning, under the impression that it does not in any way apply to us. But stop a moment! Wisdom spoke in the first instance direct to the vice of her day, but she gave to her precepts a more general coloring, which makes it applicable to all time, when she said, "So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof." { Proverbs 1:19 } The specific form of greediness described in this first chapter may have become obsolete among decent and respectable people; but that greed of gain which showed itself then in a particular form is alive today. Dressed in a different garb, it presents temptations of a slightly different order; but the spirit is the same, the issue, the fatal issue, is the same. It is a melancholy fact that in the most progressive and civilized communities the greed of gain, instead of dying out, becomes aggravated, acquires a dominant influence, and sways men as the master passion. The United States, a country so bountiful to her children that a settled peace might be supposed to pervade the life of men who can never be in fear of losing the necessaries, or even the comforts, of life, are inflamed with a fierce and fiery passion. Society is one perpetual turmoil; life is lived at the highest conceivable pressure, because each individual is seeking to gain more and ever more. In our own country, though society is less fluid, and ancient custom checks the action of disturbing forces, the passion for gain becomes every year a more exacting tyranny over the lives of the people. We are engaged in a pitiless warfare, which we dignify by the name of competition; the race is to the swift, and the battle to the strong. It becomes almost a recognized principle that man is at liberty to prey upon his fellow man. The Eternal Law of Wisdom declares that we should treat others as we treat ourselves, and count the interests of others dear as our own; it teaches us that we should show a tender consideration for the weak, and be always ready, at whatever cost, to succor the helpless. But competition says, "No; you must try rather to beat the weak out of the field; you must leave no device untried to reduce the strength of the strong, and to divert into your own hands the grist which was going to your neighbor’s mill." This conflict between man and man is untempered by pity, because it is supposed to be unavoidable as death itself. In a community so constituted, where business has fallen into such ways, while the strong may hold their own with a clean hand, the weaker are tempted to make up by cunning what they lack in strength, and the weakest are ground as the nether millstone. The pitilessness of the whole system is appalling, the more so because it is accepted as necessary. The bandit life has here emerged in a new form. "Come, let us lay wait for blood," says the Sweater or the Fogger, "let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause; let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole as those that go down into the pit." The Bandit is an outcast from society, and his hand is turned against the rich. The Sweater is an outcast from society, and his hand is turned against the poor. By "laying wait" he is able to demand, from weak men, women, and children, the long hours of the day for unceasing toil, and the bitter hours of the night for hunger and cold, until the gaunt creatures, worn with weariness and despair, find a solace in debauchery or an unhallowed rest in death. Now, though the temptation to become a sweater may not affect many or any of us, I should like to ask, Are there not certain trades or occupations, into which some of us are tempted to enter, perfectly honeycombed with questionable practices? Under the pretext that it is all "business," are not things done which can only be described as preying upon the innocence or the stupidity of our neighbors? Sometimes the promise is, "We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil." { Proverbs 1:13 } Sometimes the simple object is to escape starvation. But there is the miserable temptation to sacrifice probity and honor, to stifle compassion and thought, in order to bring into our own coffers the coveted wealth. And is there not, I ask, a similar temptation lurking in a thousand haunts more or less respectable-a temptation which may be described as the spirit of gambling? The essence of all gambling, whether it be called speculative business or gaming, in stock and share markets or in betting clubs and turf rings, is simply the attempt to trade on the supposed ignorance or misfortune of others, and to use superior knowledge or fortune for the purpose, not of helping, but of robbing them. It may be said that we do it in self-defense, and that others would do the same by us; yes, just as the bandit says to the young man, "We do not want to injure the traveler yonder; we want his purse. He will try to shoot you; you only shoot him in self-defense." It is the subtlety of all gambling that constitutes its great danger. It seems to turn on the principle that we may do what we like with our own; it forgets that its object is to get hold of what belongs to others, not by honest work or service rendered, but simply by cunning and deception. It is, then, only too easy to recognize, in many varied shapes of so-called business and of so-called pleasure, "the ways of those who are greedy of gain." Wisdom has need to cry aloud in our streets, in the chief place of concourse, in the city, in exchanges and marts. Her warning to the young man must be explicit and solemn: "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." The bandit life still has its attractions, though its methods are changed; it plays upon the idle imagination: it promises freedom from laborious and distasteful toil; but it says nothing of the ways of death into which it leads. Now, in the third place, we come to the protest of Divine Wisdom against these evil ways in which men are tempted to walk. They are, she says, folly of the most egregious kind. There may be an apparent success or a momentary gratification: "precious substance may be amassed, and houses may be filled with spoil"; but the people who are betrayed into these wicked courses "shall be cut off from the land." { Proverbs 2:22 } They "lay wait for their own blood"; greed "taketh away the life of the owner thereof"; { Proverbs 1:19 } and as for the strange woman, that flattereth with her words, "none that go unto her return again." { Proverbs 2:19 } It needs but a clear vision or a little wise reflection to see the destructive tendency of Evil. It is the commonest fact of experience that where "vice goes before, vengeance follows after." Why do men not perceive it? There is a kind of fatuity which blinds the eyes. The empty-headed bird sees the net spread out before its eyes; { Proverbs 1:17 } many of its fellows have already been caught; the warning seems obvious enough, but it is all "in vain": eager to get the bait-the dainty morsel lying there, easy obtainable - the foolish creature approaches, looks, argues that it is swifter and stronger than its predecessors, who were but weaklings! it will wheel down, take the food, and be gone long before the flaps of the net can spring together. In the same way the empty-headed youth, warned by the experience of elders and the tender entreaties of father and mother, assured that these ways of unjust gain are ways of ruin, is yet rash enough to enter the snare in order to secure the coveted morsel. And what is the issue? Setting at naught all the counsel of Wisdom, he would none of her reproof. { Proverbs 1:25 } A momentary success led to wilder infatuation, and convinced him that he was right, and Wisdom was wrong; but his prosperity destroyed him. Soon in the shame of exposure and the misery of remorse he discovers his mistake. Or, worse still, no exposure comes; success continues to his dying day, and he leaves his substance to his heirs; "he eats of the fruits of his own way, and is filled with his own devices," { Proverbs 1:31-32 } but none the less he walks in the ways of darkness-in paths that are crooked and perverse-and he is consumed with inward misery. The soul within is hard, and dry, and dead; it is insensible to all feelings except feelings of torture. It is a life so dark and wretched, that when a sudden light is thrown upon its hidden secrets men are filled with astonishment and dismay, that such things could exist underneath that quiet surface. Finally, note these two characteristics of the Divine Wisdom: (1) she is found in her fullness only by diligent seekers; and (2) rejected, she turns into the most scornful and implacable foe. She is to be sought as silver or hidden treasure is sought. The search must be inspired by that eagerness of desire and passion of resolve with which avarice seeks for money. No faculty must be left unemployed: the ear is to be inclined to catch the first low sounds of wisdom; the heart is to be applied to understand what is heard; the very voice is to be lifted up in earnest inquiry. It is a well-known fact that the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God are not fruits which grow on every wayside bush, to be plucked by every idle passer-by, to be dropped carelessly and trodden under foot. Without seriousness and devotion, without protracted and unflagging toil, the things of God are not to be attained. You must be up betimes; you must be on your knees early; you must lay open the book of Wisdom, pore over its pages, and diligently turn its leaves, meditating on its sayings day and night. The kingdom of God and His righteousness must be sought, yes, and sought first, sought exclusively, as the one important object of desire. That easy indifference, that lazy optimism-"it will all come right in the end"-that habit of delay in deciding, that inclination to postpone the eternal realities to vanishing shadows, will be your ruin. The time may come when you will call, and there will be no answer, when you will seek diligently, but shall not find. Then in the day of your calamity, when your fear cometh, what a smile of scorn will seem to be on Wisdom’s placid brow, and around her eloquent lips! What derision will seem to ring in the well-remembered counsels which you rejected. { Proverbs 1:24-31 } O tide in the affairs of men! O tide in the affairs of God! We are called to stand by death-beds, to look into anguished eyes which know that it is too late. The bandit of commercial life passes into that penal servitude which only death will end; what agony breaks out and hisses in his remorse! The wretched victim of lust passes from the house of his sin down the path which inclines unto death; how terrible is that visage which just retains smirched traces that purity once was there! The voice rings down the doleful road, "If I had only been wise, if I had given ear, wisdom might have entered even into my heart, knowledge might have been pleasant even to my soul!" And wisdom still cries to us, "Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom. Proverbs 2:1-5 Wisdom H. Goodwin, M,A. This is constantly connected with religion. A religious fear of God is the first step in true wisdom. He who would know God aright must love Wisdom and humbly and vigorously seek after her. Wisdom is spoken of as a virtue, as much as truthfulness or charity or sobriety. It is identified with goodness. There is a real, true sense in which wisdom may be put for religion: the God-fearing man is the wise man; without the fear of God it is impossible to call any man truly wise. Taking the lowest view of things, only a selfish view, looking only at what is to be gained, the religious man is a wise man. If the good man proves to have been wrong, he loses nothing in the end, for he has had his own happiness here — peace of mind, a quiet conscience, and good prospects for the future. To take a higher view of the subject. The religious man is concerned with far grander and more exalted things than any other man. The principal attribute of a wise, discerning man is to be able to see things as they really are, to pierce through outside appearances and get at the heart of things, and not be cheated by sham outsides. To do this is a sign of wisdom. The religion of Jesus Christ treats of such mighty concerns that it is impossible to give the name of wise to him who thinks lightly of it. Wisdom is something which must be laboured for; it is not to be sought merely for amusement, but the search is to be the very business of man's life. ( H. Goodwin, M,A. ) The endeavour to obtain true wisdom Francis Taylor. The wise man is now come to the top of the ladder which doth bring us to true wisdom. The lowest step was a docile heart (ver. 1). The next, human instruction (ver. 2). The next above that, prayer to God (ver. 3). The last, study and painful endeavour through God's blessing to obtain it (ver. 4). We must not lie in a ditch and cry, "God, help!" We must not so trust to our prayers that we give over our endeavours. I. HEAVENLY WISDOM IS OF GREAT PRICE. II. HEAVENLY WISDOM IS FAR REMOTE AND HIDDEN FROM US. It is beyond our invention and beyond our apprehension. III. WE MUST SEARCH FOR THE MEANS OF OBTAINING HEAVENLY WISDOM. IV. WE MUST USE THE MEANS WHEN WE FIND THEM. ( Francis Taylor. ) The true wisdom J. S. Pratt, B. C. L. I. THE NATURE OF TRUE WISDOM. It is different from what the world calls wisdom. Its nature is different; its object and end are different. It is such a knowledge as is connected with the fear of God and obedience to His will. Worldly wisdom may be of use in directing us in those things which concern the present life, but spiritual wisdom will direct us in those things which concern the life to come. II. THE MEANS WHICH ARE TO BE USED FOR OBTAINING WISDOM. III. IF THE MEANS ARE USED, SUCCESS WILL CERTAINLY FOLLOW. Worldly wisdom is too often connected with pride; spiritual wisdom is always accompanied by humility. IV. THE SOURCE TO WHICH WE MUST EVER ASCRIBE THAT SUCCESS. God and God alone is the author of it. The teaching of this passage may be summed up thus — 1. There is a wisdom which man does not naturally possess, yet without which no man can be happy. 2. This wisdom consists not in the depths of science and learning, but in the fear of the Lord. 3. This wisdom is the gift of God. 4. It may be obtained by every one who desires it and diligently seeks for it in the way which God has appointed. ( J. S. Pratt, B. C. L. ) Rules for the attainment of wisdom C. Bridges. I. THERE MUST BE AN ACTIVE, PRACTICAL HABIT OF ATTENTION. Earthly wisdom is gained by study; heavenly wisdom by prayer. Prayer puts the heart under a heavenly tutorage. II. PRAYER MUST NOT STAND IN THE STEAD OF DILIGENCE. Let it rather give energy to it. The miner's indefatigable pains, his invincible resolution, his untiring perseverance. The rule of success is: Dig up and down the field, and if the search be discouraging, dig again. The patient industry of perusal and reperusal will open the embosomed treasure. The habit of living in the element of Scripture is invaluable. Yet this profit can only be fully reaped in retirement. To search the Scriptures we must be alone with God. This enriching study gives a purer vein of sound judgment. All fundamental errors and heresies in the Church may be traced to partial and disjointed statements of truth. Truth separated from truth becomes error. But the mind prayerfully occupied in search of Divine truth — "crying and lifting up the voice" — will never fail to discern the two great principles of godliness, the "fear and knowledge of God." There is no peradventure nor disappointment in this search. Never has apostasy from the faith been connected with a prayerful and diligent study of the Word of God. ( C. Bridges. ) The inquiry after Divine truth R. Wardlaw, D.D. I. IT MUST BE CANDID — SINCERE. It is said of "fools" that they "despise wisdom and instruction." But the children of Wisdom "receive" her words. They give them what they are entitled to, a serious and deliberate attention. They listen, they remember, they meditate, they examine, they accept, they lay up for use. If you feel the value of your privilege in having the Word of God in your possession, you will attend to the instructions and counsels, the admonitions, the encouragements, the commands which in the Bible are set before you. There are some who refuse to hear at all. This is unreasonable, uncandid, unmanly, and most infatuated. There are some who only seem to hear; the spirit of assentation has in it no sincerity, no heart. When there is sincerity of heart you will "hide with you" the Divine counsels and commands; hide the contents of the Word in the memory, in the understanding, in the conscience, in the heart. II. IT MUST BE EARNEST. An inquiry determined on gratification, and that spares no pains on its attainment. Divine Wisdom is in earnest in imparting her instructions, and the pupil should be in earnest in seeking her instructions. He who is sensible of his inability to guide himself in the perplexing paths of life will be all solicitude for a conductor, Divine guide who may bring him into the right way and keep him in it. III. WITH EARNESTNESS MUST RE UNITED IMPORTUNATE PERSEVERANCE. This is implied in the variety of expressions used in succession to each other. Men discover the value they set on the treasures of this world by their unrelaxing diligence in seeking them. They do not give up the search immediately because they do not immediately succeed. Divine knowledge is fitly compared to treasure. The comparison is natural and common. But how few even of the people of God who profess to have learned the value of this wisdom and knowledge by a happy experience discover the longing, the vehement and persevering research, for the attainment of a larger and larger amount of it which might be expected of them I There is no way in which the Word can "be" in us richly without an eager seeking after it, or "dwell" in us richly without a careful and jealous keeping of it. There are powerful spiritual inducements presented. "Then thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord," etc. By these terms true religion is expressed. Knowledge of God is the first lesson of heavenly wisdom. On the right apprehension of this lesson all the rest necessarily depends — "You cannot be right in the rest Unless you think rightly of Him."Wrong views of God will vitiate every other department of your knowledge. The "fear of the Lord," founded in the knowledge of Him, is something to the right understanding of which experience is indispensable. IV. THE SOURCE FROM WHICH TRUE WISDOM IS TO BE OBTAINED. "The Lord giveth wisdom." In two ways — by His Word and by His Spirit. These two are really one, for God neither gives wisdom by His Word without His Spirit nor by His Spirit without His Word. The word rendered "sound wisdom" is one of general import, signifying anything real, solid, substantial. God has stores of wisdom laid up for present use; He will ever give larger and clearer manifestations of Himself, of His truths, of His ways, and of His will out of His inexhaustible stores, and there is also a treasure of invaluable wisdom and knowledge in reserve for His people in a future and better world. Another promise is safety. "A buckler to them that walk uprightly." Jehovah is security amidst all the assaults of the enemies of the upright, and especially amidst "the fiery darts of the wicked one," which, when the shield of Jehovah's power is interposed, cannot touch him, but fall, quenched and pointless, to the ground. ( R. Wardlaw, D.D. ) The promises of Wisdom J. Parker, D.D. Man must listen to Wisdom if he would be wise; his attitude must be one of attention; he must turn his ear towards the heavens and listen for every whisper that may proceed from the skies, and whilst his ear is listening his heart must be applied with unbroken attention to understanding. Everything depends upon our spirit as to the results of our study in the school of Wisdom. The "crying after knowledge and lifting up the voice for understanding" are equivalent to an exercise in prayer. There must also be activity or energy of the intensest quality. Seeking as for silver is an allusion to mining. The remains of copper mines have been discovered in the peninsula of Sinai and the remains of gold mines in one part of the desert of Egypt. Wisdom does not lie on the surface. It is to be dug for. Searching as for hid treasure reminds of the insecurity of property in the East and its frequent burial. God has purposely hidden both wisdom and understanding in order that the energy of man might be developed in searching for them. Wisdom is hidden in ancient books; in the experience of the whole world; in all difficult places; and is to be sought for with perseverance and zeal; the very act of searching being accompanied by a blessing. The Lord alone can give wisdom. He is the one fountain of wisdom. Elsewhere are partial revelations, broken experiences, hints of meaning, temporary satisfactions, but until we have discovered the Lord, and set Him always before us, we shall be working without a centre. True religion comes before true philosophy. Righteousness of character is necessary to the enjoyment of the treasures of sound wisdom. By "sound wisdom" we are to understand furtherance or advancement. God is evermore on the side of those who are righteous or upright or holy. Wisdom enters into the heart, and thus keeps the whole life pure. Knowledge is not merely an acquisition, it becomes a real pleasure to the soul, and not until it has become such a pleasure are we really in possession of it. Discretion and understanding are represented as the keepers of the soul — its protectors and guides — saving the soul from the way of the evil man, and protecting it from the man who delights in froward things, literally, in the misrepresentation and distortion of the truth. ( J. Parker, D.D. ) Spiritual excellence D. Thomas, D.D. I. SPIRITUAL EXCELLENCE DESCRIBED. It is "the fear of the Lord" and the "knowledge of God." Godliness has to do with both the intellect and the heart. It is knowledge and fear. In true spiritual excellence there is a blending of reverent love and theologic light — such a blending that both become one; the love is light and the light is love. This is not the means to heaven, it is heaven — in all times, circumstances, and worlds II. SPIRITUAL EXCELLENCE ATTAINED. 1. By the reception of Divine truth. The receptive faculty must be employed. 2. By the retention of Divine truth. What we receive from the Divine mind we must hold fast. 3. By the search after Divine truth. The ear must be turned away from the sounds of earthly pleasure, the din of worldliness, and the voices of human speculation, and must listen attentively to communications from the spiritual and eternal. 4. The search must be earnest and persevering. By so much as spiritual excellence is more valuable than all worldly treasures should be our ardent, unwearied diligence in quest of it. ( D. Thomas, D.D. ) Yea, if thou criest after knowledge. Proverbs 2:3 All knowledge is good No kind of knowledge is to be despised. The bee gathers honey from every flower. What shore so bleak, what moor so barren, what rocks so naked from which we may not carry home some interesting object, in the shape of plant or mineral? So there are no circumstances in which we are placed, or persons, the humblest, with whom we can associate, without learning something we did not know before; something of value which, while interesting, may not one day prove useful, an example of the familiar proverb, "Keep a thing for seven years, and you will find the use of it." ( T. Guthrie , D.D. ) Earnest seeking for virtues H. W. Beecher. A man has lost a title-deed, or some paper that would decide a suit in his favour rather than against him. And with what alacrity does he search for it! How does he go through the house in quest of it! "My dear, have you seen that roll of paper with a great red seal on it?" "What was it? A newspaper?" "No, no! not a newspaper. I shall lose a suit if I cannot find it. And she searches in every drawer and every trunk, and every closet, and even under the carpets. Both of them search night and day, going over the same place twenty times, saying, "Maybe I did not look thoroughly." And they cannot give it up. The man almost cries, he wants it so much. He will have it, so much depends upon it. And at last he finds it, and he says, "I would rather have had my house burned than not to have found this paper." Now, when men search for victorious virtues in their souls as they would search for an important legal document, do you suppose they will be saying, "Perhaps others may be able to live a good Christian life, but I cannot"? You can. And when you want true religion, when your soul hungers for it, you will find it. ( H. W. Beecher. ) Seekest her as silver. Proverbs 2:4 Search for hid treasures W. M. Thomson, D.D. Even in Job, the oldest book in the world, we read that the bitter in soul dig for death more earnestly than for hid treasures ( Job 3:21 ). There is not another comparison within the whole compass of human actions so vivid as this. I have heard of diggers actually fainting when they have come even upon a single coin. They become positively frantic, digging all night with desperate earnestness, and continue to work till utterly exhausted. There are, at this hour, hundreds of persons thus engaged all over the country. Not a few spend their last farthing in these ruinous efforts. I heard a respectable man in Sidon declare that if he had been one of those fortunate diggers in the garden he would have killed all the rest and fled with the treasure out of the country. These operations are carried on with the utmost secrecy, accompanied with charms and incantations against the jan and other spirits which are said to keep guard over hid treasures. The belief in the existence of these guards, and of their dangerous character, is just as prevalent now as in the time of the Thousand Nights. Intelligent and respectable people have assured me that they have come upon slabs of stone, closing up doors to secret chambers, which no power on earth could remove, because the proper password or charm is lost. Others soberly assert that they have been driven away by terrible men, who threatened them with instant death if they attempted to force the doors. The secret deposits are always found by accident. ( W. M. Thomson, D.D. ) The great life-quest Weekly Pulpit. Wisdom, or the intellectual adoption of good and pious principles, and the practical application of such principles to the ordering of life and conduct and relations, is personified. The writer has dealt with Wisdom's call to the young, and with her warning to the negligent; now he presents her instructions to those who show a disposition to give heed to her. She addresses those who take a serious view of life. Life is, for every man, full of sublime possibilities. There must be some great life-quest, something that we should live to seek, something that we may hope to win. I. WHAT DOES IT SEEM TO BE? It is called "knowledge," "understanding," "wisdom." The desire to know was never more absorbing. The pursuit of knowledge never seemed more encouraging. Facilities for the search never so abounded. Rewards for those who attain never were so rich. And yet the grave mysteries of life never so thickened and darkened round the human spirit as they do to-day. The pursuit of knowledge can never stop with things, it must concern itself with moral questions. Since the time of Bacon there has grown up an extravagant demand for the sense-verification of everything. Man's supreme question is: "Good, what is it? Where is it? How can it be attained?" Appeal: You would know as books can teach; as science-leaders can teach; as experience can teach. But none of them, nor all together, will ever satisfy you. You must know as God, and God alone, can teach you. II. WHAT DOES IT PROVE TO BE? The knowledge and fear of God. If a man's quest be sincere and thoroughly earnest, it leads to that; it cannot rest short of that. 1. A life-quest may not be carried far enough. It may stop at what only seems to be. 2. A life-quest may be turned aside. "Ye did run well, who did hinder you?" Young souls may be attracted aside by worldly pleasure; driven aside by worldly cares; or cast aside by false teachings. "Then shall ye know, if ye follow on to know the Lord." When you have found what is the chief good for the sons of men, follow it on, through riches, learning, pleasure, still unresting, ever unresting, until the soul is led to the feet of Jesus, and finds in Him the true knowledge and the true fear of God. ( Weekly Pulpit. ) Seek, and ye shall find W. Arnot, D.D. The matter of this whole passage consists in a command to seek and a promise to bestow. A father speaks, and he speaks to children, lie demands a reasonable service, and promises a rich reward. In the fourfold repetition of the command there seems an order of succession. I. "RECEIVE MY WORDS." Practical instruction begins here. The basis of all religion and morality is the Word of the Lord, taken into the understanding and the heart. The Word of God is a vital seed, but it will not germinate unless it be hidden in a softened, receptive heart. The place and use of providential visitation in the Divine administration of Christ's kingdom is to break up the way of the Word through the incrustations of worldliness and vanity that encase a human heart, and keep the Word lying hard and dry upon the surface. II. "INCLINE THINE EAR." The entrance of the Word has an immediate effect on the attitude of the mind and the source of the life. The incoming of the Word makes the ear incline to wisdom; and the inclining of the ear to wisdom lets in and lays up greater treasures of the Word. Those who hide the Word in their hearts acquire a habitual bent of mind toward things spiritual. The great obstacle to the power and spread of the gospel lies in the averted attitude of human hearts. A man inclines his ear to those sounds which already his heart desires. To turn the ear to the word of wisdom by an exercise of will, is the very way to innoculate the heart with a love to that word passing the love of earthly things. The ear inclined to Divine wisdom will draw the heart; the heart drawn will incline the ear. III. "CRY AFTER KNOWLEDGE." This represents the bent heavenward of the heart at a more advanced stage. The longing for God's salvation, already begotten in the heart, bursts forth now into an irrepressible cry. Men may be offended with the fervour of an earnest soul, God never. Compression will only increase the strength of the emotion struggling within. IV. "SEEK HER AS SILVER." Another and a higher step. The last was the earnest cry; this is the persevering endeavour. Fervent prayer must be tested by persevering pains. "Strive to enter in." The search of wisdom is compared to another search with which we are more familiar. The zeal of mammon's worshippers rebukes the servants of the living God. We are invited to take a leaf from the book of the fortune-seeker. Will not the far-reaching plans, and heroic sacrifices, and long-enduring toil of Californian and Australian gold-diggers rise up and condemn us who have tasted and known the grace of God? Two things are required in our search — the right direction and the sufficient impulse. Those who seek thus shall not seek in vain. None fail who seek according to the prescription of the Word, and after the example of the world. ( W. Arnot, D.D. ) Meditation in searching H. G. Salter. Solomon, speaking of knowledge and understanding, bids us to "search for her as for hidden treasure." You know jewels do not lie upon the surface of the ground, but they are hid in the receptacles of the earth; you must dig for them before you can enjoy them. Truth is in profundo , and our understandings are dark. He that rides post through a country is never able to make a full description of it; and he that takes but a transitory view of the truths of the gospel will never come to the full knowledge of them. 'Tis meditation makes them appear to our eye in their beauty and lustre. ( H. G. Salter. ) A penetrating search W. H. Groser. Some years ago the scientific world was startled by the announcement that far down in the abyss of waters, below the seeming limits of life and light, a new world of animal organisms had existence. Fish and mullusc, sponge and coral were there, though man had vainly imagined no living creature could be found. He had not dredged deep enough. A longer line brought new wonders to light. And so with the Scriptures. They can never be exhausted. It is we who fail to search, and searching, never find. ( W. H. Groser. ) Find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:5 The benefits of religion Sir Humphrey Davey. Religion, whether natural or revealed, has always the same beneficial influence on the mind. In youth, in health and prosperity, it awakens feelings of gratitude and sublime love, and purifies at the same time that which it exalts; but it is in misfortune, in sickness, in age, that its effects are more truly and beneficially felt; when submission is cherished in faith and humble trust in the Divine will, when duties become pleasures, undecaying sources of consolation, then it creates powers which were believed to be extinct, and gives a freshness to the mind which was supposed to have passed away for ever, but which is now renovated as an immortal hope. Its influence outlives all earthly enjoyments, and becomes stronger as the organs decay and the frame dissolves; it appears as that evening star of light in the horizon of life which we are sure is to become, in another season, a morning star, and to throw its radiance through the gloom and shadow of death. ( Sir Humphrey Davey. ) Knowledge of God the result of revelation Prof. Bonney. I do not look to the Bible to teach me what I or my successors may some day find out by the use of observations and the inductive faculties; I go to the Bible to learn what I cannot find out for myself. Apart from revelation, what do I know about the world to come, about anything but what I can touch, taste, and handle? What hope have I for the future if I look only to nature? Nature tells me that when I die I shall probably be just like the dog, or horse, or any other animal. "All immortal, none immortal," she seems to say. Therefore I must get light from revelation. I must even look to revelation for the motives which influence conduct, for personally I am not satisfied with these systems of ethics that are founded on utilitarian motives. I do not see how I can be said to have knowledge of God unless He in some way reveal Himself to me. ( Prof. Bonney. ) For the Lord giveth wisdom. Proverbs 2:6 The fountain of wisdom W. Reading, M.A. I. THAT GOD IS THE ONLY FOUNTAIN OF ALL TRUE WISDOM. Men say that the Deity is not the only source of it, but that much of it may be attained by a converse with beings most opposite to Him, even with wicked and reprobate spirits. Such were the oracles and gods of the Gentiles, which the wisest men among them, not excepting himself, consulted, to learn of them how to set about and manage their most weighty affairs. Their mistake arises from their confounding the notions of wisdom and of craft. A wise man cannot maintain his character without doing always that which is just and right. Nobody shall ever be able to persuade him that an ill thing can be a real benefit, or the part of a wise man or a true friend. A cunning and crafty man lays this down to himself for a general rule, that by all means whatsoever he must gain his point, and come at the end which he aims at. In his pursuit of it he will proceed in the path of righteousness if that leads him most directly and easily to it. But when truth is on the opposite side he first bespatters it with all imaginable defamations, and then strikes at it furiously in the disguise in which he has put it. The difference between the wise and cunning man is this: the wise man studies to be thoroughly and substantially good; the cunning man contents himself with the shadow and appearance of goodness. And this confirms the conclusion that God alone is the fountain of all true wisdom. II. THE ONLY WAY TO DRAW WISDOM OUT OF THIS FOUNTAIN IS BY STUDYING AND PRACTISING THE SACRED ORACLES OF GOD. 1. How does it appear that the books which are called the Word of God contain the precepts of sound wisdom? How can those books which are styled the Divine Word contain such wise directions as lead men to happiness? It is in the power of every man to be happy who governs himself by the directions of the Wold of God, because that teaches him to possess his soul in patience, trusting in God, whose command he obeys, that He will lead him in the right way. 2. Does not this Word of God enjoin men in certain cases to suffer things very grievous to flesh and blood? It does, and yet these proverbs of Solomon, which seldom carry our views beyond this life, do vehemently inculcate upon us a strict adherence to the rules of piety and virtue, as what will most effectually conduce to our present welfare, let the chances and accidents of our condition be what they will. The sacred maxims are most beneficial, both for public government and private life, without respect had to anything hereafter. Let us take the royal preacher's word for it, that this science of Divine wisdom requires very intense and serious application of mind thoroughly to apprehend it. ( W. Reading, M.A. ) Religion and the cultivation of the intellect Llewelyn D. Bevan, D.D. It is a serious evil if the best trained minds of the community are either hostile or indifferent to the claims of God. Students are placed in peculiar peril in respect of religion. There is a prevalent notion amongst half-educated people that the highest culture of the mind tends to the destruction of the religious spirit. There is now an antagonism between the school which prides itself upon its rationalism and the school which is equally entrenched in its strong faith. The habits of student life are not altogether helpful to the preservation of religious character. The studies, companions, work, and recreation, often operate injuriously upon the spiritual tone of men. Many, in the course of their study, have lost their faith. I. RELIGION IN RELATION TO THE ENDS OF STUDY. There are specific subjects of study bearing direct relation to a man's life-work. But the real object of study is to discipline the powers and to strengthen the mind. Study which is intended to increase knowledge and to gather facts begins when student life ceases. The best student is the man who "is" most, not the man who has learned most. The highest ideal of study must be that which secures, or at least aims at securing, thoroughness of discipline and wholeness of view. Perfection, as the harmonious and free working of all parts and powers of the mind, must be the goal to which the student tends. To learn everything is not given to man, but to be his best self in everything which he can be, this is his privilege. It is here that the subject of religion comes to be considered by the student. The nature which he possesses is distinctly religious. If a man does not attend to that faculty whereby he regards God, he neglects that part of himself which is most important and influential. No man can afford to pass lightly by the claims upon him which are put forth by religion. The religious nature must be disciplined and cultured if we are to lay claim to wholeness of being. See the influence which religion has exerted upon our human life and history. Eliminate religion from the story of the world and what is left? Critics charge religion with being a hindrance to human progress. But this is the common logical fallacy of putting the universal in place of the particular. Certain forms of religious polity may have done so, but not religion. Religion has, more than aught else, aided man in his long and weary pilgrimage of progress. Religion cannot be easily set aside by those who are engaged in the cultivation of the mind. All men are dealing with religious topics. The most striking instance is to be found in the modern teachers of science. Scarcely a single man of science of any repute but deals with these all-absorbing points of human thought, and indeed cannot help himself. Religion is human. II. RELIGION AS AN INFLUENCE OF DEEP AND FAR-REACHING POWER. The student cannot do his work as a common man. Intellectual cultivation is, as a rule, associated with moral refinement. The destruction of entire nature may be seen among students. This is generally preceded by neglect of the religious side of their nature — faith undermined either by the operations of intellectual doubt, or else still more seriously assailed by the numbing influences of sinful habits, but all proceeding in the first instance from the neglect of practical religion, the duties of prayer, and communion with the Unseen. 1. Religion renders the student reverent. Nothing is so unsuitable to the man who desires a cultivated mind as arrogance and self-esteem. All wisdom is humble. Reverence has been the mark of the profound and patient investigators of nature in all ages. Religion and its duties produce reverence. 2. Religion secures inward harmony of the powers. Man cannot gain intellectual vigour when his whole being is torn asunder by conflicting forces. Outward physical quietness is the necessary condition of study. Inward spiritual peace is as necessary, Religion will give this. Coming into proper relation to God, we find everything else in its place. To return to God is to return to the balance of our life. The religious life is only sustained by the knowledge of Him who is the express image of the Father, and the shining ray of the central light of God. Christ's religion is the religion of intelligence. ( Llewelyn D. Bevan, D.D. ) The Lord giveth wisdom T. Tamson, D. D. I. AS TO THE EXCELLENCY OF SCRIPTURE WISDOM; that surely may be accounted such which enlightens the understanding with the noblest and most blessed truth, and directs the will to the choice of the greatest good. And these being truths concerning the first, and best, and most excellent of Beings, are best suited to enlighten and improve, to raise and enlarge, the understanding of a reasonable creature; and being truths which have the fullest and clearest evidence as declared by God Himself, the God of truth, are best suited to satisfy a mind desirous of true knowledge. II. HOW, AND TO WHAT MANNER OF PERSONS, THIS WISDOM OF GOD IS GIVEN. 1. Now, the manner in which God gives us this wisdom is by His Holy Spirit, the Enlightener and Sanctifier of the Church, by an outward and inward teaching.(1) Outwardly He teaches us by giving a rule of faith and practice in things pertaining to God for the salvation of our souls. God also instructs us outwardly by the ministry of His Church, and the example of holy men and women.(2) But these outward instructions and motives not being able of themselves to inspire us with religious wisdom, God is graciously pleased to teach us inwardly, also, by His Holy Spirit. 2. It remains to be inquired to whom God giveth this heavenly wisdom. (1) To the humble attendant upon His Word. (2) To the true believer of His Word. (3) To the sincere practiser of His Word. A good life is the best key to Scripture. ( T. Tamson, D. D. ) He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous. Proverbs 2:7 Good men and their God David Thomas, D. D. I. THE

2:1-9 Those who earnestly seek heavenly wisdom, will never complain that they have lost their labour; and the freeness of the gift does not do away the necessity of our diligence, Joh 6:27. Let them seek, and they shall find it; let them ask, and it shall be given them. Observe who are thus favoured. They are the righteous, on whom the image of God is renewed, which consists in righteousness. If we depend upon God, and seek to him for wisdom, he will enable us to keep the paths of judgment. 2:10-22 If we are truly wise, we shall be careful to avoid all evil company and evil practices. When wisdom has dominion over us, then it not only fills the head, but enters into the heart, and will preserve, both against corruptions within and temptations without. The ways of sin are ways of darkness, uncomfortable and unsafe: what fools are those who leave the plain, pleasant, lightsome paths of uprightness, to walk in such ways! They take pleasure in sin; both in committing it, and in seeing others commit it. Every wise man will shun such company. True wisdom will also preserve from those who lead to fleshly lusts, which defile the body, that living temple, and war against the soul. These are evils which excite the sorrow of every serious mind, and cause every reflecting parent to look upon his children with anxiety, lest they should be entangled in such fatal snares. Let the sufferings of others be our warnings. Our Lord Jesus deters from sinful pleasures, by the everlasting torments which follow them. It is very rare that any who are caught in this snare of the devil, recover themselves; so much is the heart hardened, and the mind blinded, by the deceitfulness of this sin. Many think that this caution, besides the literal sense, is to be understood as a caution against idolatry, and subjecting the soul to the body, by seeking any forbidden object. The righteous must leave the earth as well as the wicked; but the earth is a very different thing to them. To the wicked it is all the heaven they ever shall have; to the righteous it is the place of preparation for heaven. And is it all one to us, whether we share with the wicked in the miseries of their latter end, or share those everlasting joys that shall crown believers?