The Tupelo journal., 1903-07-17

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for wisdom must be made with that
faith which assures the soul and makes
1t patient to wait for its bestowment in
the hour of need.
THE humility Of Solomon. how strik-
ing! And what near approach
it gives him to God! The proud AN
not stand in the presence Of God! Such
attitude is an impossible barrier
through which the soul cannot speak
so that God can hear. Though the
Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto
the lowly; but the proud He knoweth
afar off," The proud may ask for riches
and honor and glory, but it takes the
humble nan to feel the need of wisdom
and ask with childlike spirit.
And the request must be made in I'M
selfishness. However much the sin
Of selishness shriveled up the heart
of Solomon in the later years of his
life. certain it is that Solomon at Glib
con was absolutely free from that
warping, narrowing tendency. He de-
sired to have that he might be a bless
ing aAd AClP ~ otuCA0. pCIlIlOu lis"
Ing from such a heart never fails to
obtain all and more than it asks of God.
A good many people in James time were
asking and receiving not, and blaming
God because they did not. But in the
fourth chapter he tells them that 1t is
because they ask selfishly, desiring the
gift to upon their own de-
sires and lusts. But if any man ask
unselishly, and in humility and faith,
for wisdom, God heareth and giveth lib
orally, and upbraideth not.
IFT of Wisdom.-As we have al
~ ready intimated, this gift of wis
dom to Solomon was not miraculous.
God did not send it down upon him
in great chunks SO that he could gather
it up and ship it back to Jerusalem,
there to be used when he wished to
make a display of it, or when circum-
stances required. 1t came in the most
natural way, and while Solomon was
using every energy and faculty of his
being. God supplemented his natural
abilities, He did not supplant them.
While the gift was natural and timed
to the need. the evidences of that wis
dom were striking and well-nigh mirac-
ulous, for the nation instantly recog-
nized that the Wisdom of God was in
him to do judgment" And that Is the
way the wisdom which you are told
to ask of God will be received. Whenthe
difficult problem arises, when confused
in the presence Of p%erplexing circum-
stances, then look for the gift of wis
dom, and move straight on, knowing
that each step will be guided by the I'M
erring judgment of God. Wisdom from
God is not something you can have a
large reserve stock of on hand, as you
would a grain supply or a bank account.
but is always in the possession of God,
but the prayer of faith will always be
able to move God and obtain from Him
just what is needed for theapresent re-
quirement.
EVIDENCE of Wisdom.-Did 1t ever
l. occur to you that it was singular that
God selected the incident He did to
NV III 4 III AAIo oSk ohS wa
ONION? Surely out of the many hard
tests to which the Queen of Sheba put
him upon her visit. there must have
been some one which could have been
selected which would have so clearly
proved the possession of the gift. Sure
ly there must have beer other and pleas
anter circumstances when he could
have displayed his God-given wisdom.
But, instead, he is found sitting on his
throne and adjudicating a disgusting
~justice-court case; a case in which the
compliments had no standing and the
object of their dispute being the fruit of
their sin and a witness against them.
Instead of hearing their case he might
have ordered their stOning without the
city according to the solemn judgment
Of the Jewish law. Why was it? We
may not be able to suggest the correct
answer, but may it not have been to
emphasize the fact that the highest wis
dom of God reaches to the lowest hu-
man need. Does it not emphasize the
practical utility of God-given wisdom?
Even the meanest and most despised
of all of His subjects was to feel and
know that the wisdom of God was
guiding him. The evidence of Solo
mons great wisdom was Unexpectedly
found in a matter which most vitality
concerned the everyday life of two
outcast women. What a lesson this
ought to teach you and me! Where are
we looking for evidences of wisdom
from God? In some great thing? You
will be disappointed. But realize that
the gift will be bestowed for the mean
est and most humble affairs Of life, that
it will be given that you may bless and
help some despised, outcast soul, and
then there will be such a common
sense, yet exalted, walk with God as
will demonstrate to all about that "the
wisdom of God" is in you.
INFLUENCE OF Wisdom.-And this
| last brings us to our closing thought:
The influence of wisdom. If we were
able to go back to the period in Jew
mingled with the people, we would find
that the manifest presence Of God with
Solomon which put him in sympathetic
touch with the lowest and meanest OF
human needs Influenced the people to-
ward practical views OF God and prac.
tical religious living, more than would
all the learned preaching which the
| king could have given expression to
He might have talked religion faithful.
ly during the 40 years of his reign ant
left little or no impression, but this