The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-24
SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSON
CALCULATION AND REVIEW OF IN
TERNATIoNAL TOPIC, OCT. %.
The Proverbs of Solomon, 1,
1-1O-Teaching the Secret of Sue
cessfui and Happy Living.
By Rev. JAMES e. GILBERT,

Ly u LIE
Secretary of American Society of Religious Edu-
cation.
TITLE.-The first verse of the lesson contains
the title of the entire book. The word ''proverb,' -
from the Latin, ''proverbium' Gor, or instead of,
much verbiage), signifies a terse form of speech.
The ancients were accustomed to this sententious
manner. These proverbs were spoken by Solo
mon, designated here the son OF David. to honor
his royal father. Not all of the three thousand
maxims of the King Il Kings iv, 3) are given.
but selections. Some of them were copied out of
other books by the men of Hezekiah (Ch. XIV, u,
those prophets whom that pious prince consulted,
Isaiah being among them. The book may be
divided into four great sections. the first being
the first nine chapters och. x, u, the second ex-
tending to the seventeenth verse of the twenty
second chapter. the third ending with the twenty
fourth chapter. and the last part completing the
work. Solomons proverbs are SO founded on the
principles of human nature that they are every
where recognized as good rules of conduct.
SCOPE.-What is the general range of this
wisdom literature? This important question is
answered in Verses 2 to 4, under four heads-to
make a man know what it is to be truly wise;
to prepare him for the perception OF the words
of understanding; to instruct him how to avoid
those errors into which men are liable to fall,
or to correct him if he has been misled into them ;
to make him understand when good advice is
given, and to enable him to give it to others.
I'll Tim. iii, 49, This assumes that righteous
conduct is not conditional upon divine grace
alone. knowledge is also essential. Hence the
saints are called wise. We read of the wise
woman och. xiv, y, and of the foolish woman
(Ch. tx, 49,. and then of the terms of knowledge.
(Ch. viii, 10-12) In this regard Solomon antici-
pates Jesus (John viii, 31-32), who never taught
the enthusiastic doctrine. which now has many
advocates, that ignorance is compatible with
safety and holiness. John xvii. ~ A whole
hantr x. 1.xrOta1 70 r--zr IT, 49,. 49,
thought.
what consideration shall one be
melted to seek wisdom? What benefits may be
derived from it? These answers are given in the
lesson Oversees 5-e), either OF which is sufficient
TO move most men. First, he who has 1t will
increase learning, adding constantly to his store
of knowledge. This results because he has ac-
them rightly. and he has been furnished with
t nos truths M " G1,i are re- fs sItaa en- second by
useful station. and will attain unto wise coun-
departments of the Government. Thirdly. he will
have capacity TO solve dark sayings psalm
learned which have been treasured up from gem
GRAFTON to generation. Or, more briefly, wisdom
tinguishes him among his fellows, so that they
turn to him for advice and assistance.
being the broad scope and in
calculable value of wisdom. how may it be OBJ
tanned? Is it inherited? May some possess il be-
cause they descend from wise ancestors? Ana
must others, however much they desire it, be
forever without it? Or, is it some capricious
thing of whose origin little is known? The fear
OF the Lord is its beginning, is ~Solomon's start
ling assertion Verse y, agreeing with the
patriarch OF five centuries before dob xviii, 2o.
and with David. psalm cxi. 1o) Anxious to
impress the truth, our author emphasizes the
opposite. that fools. wicked people psalm xiv, ID,
despise wisdom and instruction. We have here
the great germinal principle of the entire book,
emitting 1t to a prominent place in the sacred
volume. Here is the measure line 10 be applied
forever to all human attainments. The fear of
the Lord-reverence for His name and subsection
to His Willis the starting point in all ad-
vanced knowledge. The absence of such fear
shuts the door and bars 1t against all seekers.
They who search without ii grope in darkness
and miss their way.
SrPPORT.-If the fear of the Lord is the be-
ginning, is any further direction needed in the
pursuit of WISDOM What other act or series of
acts will assist in its cultivation. Hear the
instruction of thy father, and forsake not the
law of thy mother" Solomon answers CNerSe 3d.
making the two parents joint guardians and in
structors, entitled to equal respect. He repeats
this counsel (Ch. ". u In various forms, and
nroaounces the most terrible calamities upon
children who despise their parents. prov. xxx.
III In al this he is in harmony with all ether