Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-06-22
Catn1ase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. d. d.

dramatic story of the queen of Sheba's
experience in the court of the wise
king the preacher finds lesson of high
spiritual encouragement. The text Is
III. Chronicles tx, q, 1.-The one-half of the
greatness OF thy wisdom was not told
ine.''
1t Is amazing to find how much the
incidents and the thrilling scenes of the
Bible are reproduced under other
names in the literary masterpieces of
the present day. Like the huge trees
OF the Mariposa grove, which anchored
their roots in the soil centuries ago
and have lately had tackled upon their
bark the names OF '.9rant," "Lee,s
Washington" Dewey" or "Roose-
welt" these old Bible scenes-h have been
rechristened with modern names. But
they still remain the same old scenes as
the Mariposa trees remain the same old
trees, no matter what signboards have
beeu nailed upon their sides. Further
more. many Of our greatest writer's at
tribute the strength of their books to the
fact that they have gone to the sacred
writers to find their Inspirations. "Afost
been drawn from Biblical lore" lately
wrote an English novelist. "Some peo-
pie may not recognize their antiquity
because they are not Bible students.
But these supposed creations OF my
brain lived thousands upon thousands
of years ago, although L have dressed
them up in modern clothes and given
them Anglo Saxon names" These are
not the identical words of the noted
English writer. / cannot remember his
exact expression, but they convey his
confession just the same.
Now we can find the scene OF King
Solomon as a young prince, choosing
wisdom, reproduced in many different
literary masterpieces. Alphonse La
MARITIME, the great French poet, who
died in 1869, gave a beautiful descrip-
ton OF il in his story of King Nimrod.
This king had three sons. He offered
TO them three vases, the one of gold,
the second OF amber. the third of clay.
The gold represented empire" the am
Der ''glory or fame" the third repre-
scented "wisdow from God" "Chooser'
cried King Nimrod. "Chooser And
when the youngest son chose the vase
chosen well. Thou hast chosen best of
all. for the man who chooses wisdom
shall wave the scepter as well as mount
the throne OF fame"
Wisdom Instead of Gold.
We find the wonderful Bible char
acter of young Solomon being repro
duced in Shakespeare's Merchant of
Venice" When the young Hebrew
prince stands before God and says,
Give me now wisdom and knowledge
that / may go out and come In before
this people, for who can Judge this
people that Is so great?" we seem to
see Portia standing with her three
caskets, the one OF gold, the other of
silver and the third of lead. Then we
see the avaricious man reaching for the
casket OF gold. Then we see the
selfish man reaching for the casket
OF silver. But lastly we see the true
lover lifting up the casket OF lead
And when Bassanio chose the leaden
casket he won all that his heart could
wish, for he won fame-and honor be-
sides wisdom and love. Thus. as
Shakespeare and Lamartine have their
heroes lift the vase Of clay or the
casket of lead, they say: .'well done!
Well done, thou sagacious man, All
success shall be thine" We seem to
hear God speak to the young Prince
Solomon these words when he chooses
wisdom instead of gold. Wisdom and
knowledge Is granted unto thee, and
viii give thee riches and wealth and
honor such as none OF the kings have
had that have been before thee, mel
Their shall there be any after thee
have the like" Thus the fame and
riches OF Solomon not only spread
through his own country, but also to
the farthest parts OF the sea.
The scene changes. We are today
standing IN the Dasidsc capital. There
is great eus1tsz6pat everywhere. T0e
royal courtiers are riding every whitd-
or. The kings guards are marching 10
the city's gates The whole capital is
in gala day attire. "What is the mat
ter?" you ask. 'Why," says a courier,
hating his chariot, do you not KNOW
that the beautiful queen Of Sheba from
the great nation of the south is coming
10 visit our king? She has heard SO
much OF the fame of Solomons wealth
and wisdom that she has come to test
them with her own eyes and ears Here
she comes with her courtiers now.
Make way there. Stand back. There
is the king alighting to meet her. Are
they not O glorious pair OF rulersY'
Was not this the welcome that was
given to the queen OF Sheba when she
came to prove Solomon with hard
questions?
You know the rest Of the story. After
the queen Of Sheba had seen all and
heard all and communed with Solomon
all that was in her heart, she turned to
him and said, ct was true report
which l heard in mine own land OF
thine acts and of thy wisdom" Yes.
the reports OF Solomon's wisdom were
great, but they were not exaggerated.
Indeed, they were understated. For
after the queen of Sheba had gone on
enumerating what she had heard, she
cries out in the words OF my text. "The
one-half OF the greatness of thy wis
dom was not told me-" Now as the
wisdom Of King Solomon has always
been used by the pulpit commentators
as symbol of Gods wisdom, thought
today would try to tell you in Q
humble way little about that divine |
wisdom. Truly, like King Solomon's.
Gods wisdom is a wisdom which pass
eth all understanding.
Wisest OF All Mem.
King Solomon stands as the symbol |
81 the sAll Knowing One" He was the |
wisest Of all men. The Bible Distinct
~ declares it. Not only were all the |
secrets of the past ages to him an open |
book, but he was the reader Of mems |