The true northerner., 1896-10-14
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ~. FOURTH QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, OCT. te.
Ysxt OF the lesson. Kings iv, 1854.
Memory verses. 30, 30-0oiden rext. I
Sam. u. sO-Commsntsry by the Rev. ID.
n. stearus.

M. stearus.
25. "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely,
every man under his vine and under his
fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all
the days Of Solomon" For little while
he seems to have reigned peacefully over
all the territory promised to Abraham.
Compare verse 81 with Gen. XIV, 10. 1t
was faint foreshadowing of Jer. xiii, g.,
8, when the Lord shall raise unto David a
righteous Branch, and King shall reign
and prosper and shall execute judgment
and justice In the earth. In His days
Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall
dwell safely and this is His name, whereby
He shall be called 1.-THE Lord, our Right
eousness. Then there shall be war no
more, and Israel shall walk In the name
OF the Lord their God forever and ever.
80. "And Solomon had 10000 stalls of
horses for his chariots and 12, 900 horse
men," Compare chapters x, 5000; XII,
1-6, with Deut. xvii, 15-l7, and In the
light of those passages this verse of our
lesson will make one trembe for Solomon.
Woe To them that go down TO Egypt for
help and stay on horses and trust In char
lots because they are many and In horse
men because they are strong, but they look
not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither
seek the Lord lisa. XXI, u. Better to
say, "Some trust In chariots, and some In
horses, but we will remember the name of
the Lord our God (Ps. Xxx, y. Israel was
chosen to be separate from and unlike all
other nations, the great distinguishing
feature of their national life being the
presence In their midst Of the living and
true God as their King and Lawgiver,
Protector and Deliverer, In whom alone
they were to trust
81 "And those officers provided victual
for King Solomon, and for all that came
unto King Solomon's table, every man in
his month. They lacked nothing" 1t
must have been a great company to pro-
vide for and must have required much
wisdom and forethought to have sufficient
for all. But the God of Israel fed millions
supernaturally for 40 years, and they lack
ed nothing. The Lord Jesus fed more
than 5000 one afternoon In an emergency,
and He had only few loaves and fishes to
do 1t with, but all were filled and an
abundance over. When He sent the dis
ciples, without purse or scrip they testi-
fed that they lacked nothing duke xii,
35).
2S. Barley also and straw for the horses
and dromedaries brought they unto the
place where the officers were, every man
according to his charge" This also must
have been great care, but our God careth
for all creatures which He has made.
1.-The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou
givest them their meat In due season.
Thou openest thine hand and satisflest the
desire Of every living thing (Ps. cxlv, 10,
16.) Even Darius ordered from his royal
bounty all that Israel had need of day by
day without fail (Ez. vi, o. How much
more will our God supply all the need of
all His creatures (Phil. iv, 49,
90. And God gave Solomon wisdom
and understanding exceeding much and
largeness of heart, even as the sand that
Is on the seashore" This compared with
verse 90, as mentioned In last week s notes,
indicates wisdom sufficient for every diff
Guilty that might arise In all the nation.
God careth for each individual, and no
child Of God should hesitate TO say, "He
careth for me, He thinketh upon me. f"
The wisdom and understanding of Solo
mon were the gift of God. He could take
no credit to himself for Ii, and it was that
God, the God of Israel, might be honored,
and not Solomon.
30. And Solomon's wisdom excelled
the wisdom Of all the children of the east
because 1t was the wisdom of God and not
of men. So was 1t also with Joseph In
Egypt and Daniel In Babylon, for each
was filled with the wisdom of God. The
apostle Paul Is careful to tell us that his
speech and preaching were not with entic-
ing words OF mans wisdom, but in dem
onstration of the Spirit and of power,
that their faith should not stand in the
wisdom of men, but in the power of God
U Cor. IL, A, 81 He also tells us that
Christ Is the wisdom of God, and the power
of God U Cor. 1, 24.) A study of these
two chapters Is bracing to the simple
minded.
81. "Eor he was wiser than all men,
and his fame was In all nations round
about" For the reason already stated,
Solomons wisdom excelled all others, and
the fame that spread abroad was "the
fame of Solomon concerning the name of
the Lord (cbapter K, d. The most in
teresting part of this record Is the fact
that He who gave Solomon such wisdom
Is also made unto us wisdom U Cor. 1, 80,
81, not, however, that we might glory In
ourselves, but In the Lord, our wisdom.
His thoughts and ways are as far above
ours as heaven Is above the earth. There
fore it Is surely wisdom to let all our
thoughts be brought into captivity to Him
lisa. lv, 8, o; III Cor. K, 81.
32. "And he spake three thousand prov
CRIBS, and his songs were thousand and
Ave." Many of his proverbs we have and
will have study therein next week. OF
all his songs we have the one called 1.-THE
Song Of Songs" which Is all concerning
Him who Is altogether lovely. And yet
some Of the wise people Of Chicago decided
that IL was not fit to form part of new
Bible which has been specially prepared
for the youth Of that city. Truly the wis
dom Of men Is foolishness with God. Da-
vid said that his psalms were spoken by
the Spirit of God II Sam. xiii, 2), and
doubtless Solomon would acknowledge the
same for 1t Is written very plainly that
his wisdom was the gift of God.
33. And he spake of trees, from the
cedar tree that Is In Lebanon even unto
the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.
He spake also of beasts and of fowl and of
creeping things and of fishes Thus he
would seem to have been great student,
and next to the law of God what could he
study with more profit than the works of
Gods All study must, however, be to the
glory Of God, and that we may the better
know Him, for all must be subject to Him