Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-11-21
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON FOR NOV. TWENTY-FoURTH
soLoMoN's WISE cHoICE.-I. KINGS iii, SIS

n.
SOLOMoN's WISE CHOICE-I. KINGS iii, 515
NoTEs.-In Gibeon-About six miles
north of Jerusalem, now called Ell Jib
Gideon, Mob and Mizpah may have been
but different names for the same high
place so revered by Israel-And I am
bat little child.-Solomon was, accord
ing to Josephus, eighteen years old when
he began to reign, and was wise enough
to perceive the complexities of govern
ment and his inability to cope with them
single handed.-Thatc cannot be mum
bered nor counted for multitude This is
not the exaggeratiOn of bOaStfulneSs, but
a common orientalism of expression, like
the sands of the sea-" or the ''stars of
heaven is a common method of express
ing great number. David's last census
gave 100000 men able to fight. Solo
mon probably ruled over ten million
souls, counting the tribes that acknowl-
edged him as SuZerain.-An understand
ing heGrt-The Eastern mind, so differ
ent from the brisk, practical Western
brain, is ever ready to spend the nervous
tissue in splitting intellectual hairs, ask
ing and answering riddles, and in devils
ing strange tales, and in settling intricate
questions of dispute. 1t was, after all,
not strange freak or a particularly re-
markable thing that he should ask for un-
derstanding. Solomon had riches; he had
no pretenders to his throne; Israel was at
comparative peace with her powerful
neighbors. Starting with every outward
condition, he felt naturally that the only
thing lacking was a sagacity in dealing
in abstruse philosophical questions that
could neither be questioned by his people
nor ever surpassed If thou ooilt a0Glk
in nay ,oays then aoiH length
en- thy Solomon, as we will see,
did not fulfill the conditions, and has died
at comparatively early age, being about
sixty years old. He should have lived
thirty years longer, and still possessed his
powers of penetrative observation.
Thrown into an unu-
sual state of religious fervor during these
pr0tracted services, Solomon fell into an
ecstatIc sieap and saw vision that was
s.ii y DUO q divine revelation. There isIa
tendency exhibited ON all sides to seek
instruction on spiritual matters from un-
usual sources. A woman, not long ago,
in the enthusiasm of revival, saw par
rot in her dreams and construed it into
communication from God. We have
left the Oracles and the superstitious
omens far behind US in the murky past,
and yet our hearts demand an illumina-
ton, a sign, anything that savors of the
supernatural or of private interview
with the Deity. The general trouble is
that we look to the wrong spot for such
signs. Look not for dreams and their
Interpretation for spiritual guidance, but
to the actual condition of your stand be-
fore God in the searching light of Christ's
teaching.
SOlOmOn's decision was the momentous
test of his character. The choice that
lies at our door is as wide as the posi-
bilities of character itself. Freedom of
will means nothing less then the unre-
stricted choice of right or wrong and the
development of life in the direction of
either.
Wisdom is not only the gift of God. 1t
comes not only by the chance of inheri-
tance; it can be obtained by systematic
course of cultivation. The variety we
need is not so much that understanding
which can judge other people, but rather
the kind that fairly judges ourselves.
The question of accurately discerning
between good and evil has become Sc
rious one in our decade. Our most emil
nent divines are at issue between prohi
ton and high license. 1t has become not
so much question of conscience as of
practical wisdomwhich is the right ground
to take. There are thousand questions
that arise in which the moral point is su-
preme and beyond doubt, but in which a
choice between two courses of action is
so evenly balanced that it would take all
the wisdom of Solomon to decide. Smok-
ing, card-playing, dancing-these are
types of decisions which must be
made. Shall 1 indulge or not? When in
great doubt cut the Gordian knot with
the sword of the Spirit, and err on the
side of absolute safety. To come as near
the wrong as possible without infringing
any written code in the Bible is sure
descent to irrational action.
To each one the opportunity of a
choice comes whose Importance out
weighs even the choice of Solomon. AS
society becomes more compact, influence
becomes more potent. Japan has been
more shaken by the influence of single
high and noble choice of life than any
thing Solomon ever did or said.
ID. Suit, druggist, Bippus, Ind, tes-
titles: 81 can recommend Electric Bltters
as the very best remedy. Every bottle
sold has given relief in every case. One
man took six bottles, and was cured rheu-
matism of ten years standing" Abra-
ham Hare, druggist, Bellville, o., atfirms:
"The best selling medicine | have ever
handled in my twenty years experience,
is Electric Bitters." Thousands of others
have added their testimony, so that the