Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-06-23
Calrl1age
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmage. d. D.

dramatic story of the queen of Sheba's
king the preacher finds lesson of high
spiritual encouragement The text Is
II. Chronicles tx, q, The one-half of the
greatness Of thy wisdom was not told
me"
Ii 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 Ia the soil centuries age
and have lately had tackled upon their
bark lhe names Of Grant" Lee"
"Washiugton. dewey" or "Roose-
Welt" these old Bible scenes have been
rechristcned with modern names. But
they still remain the same old scenes rs
the Mariposa trees remain the same old
! trees, no mntter what signboards have
been nailed upon their sides. Further
more many of our creates writers at
tribute the strength of their books to the
fact that they have gone to the sacred
| writer's 70 find their Inspirations. Most
OF my great characters and scenes have
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 | have dressed
them up i'm 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 Il young prince, choosing
wisdom. reproduced IN many different
ltcrarr masterpieces Alphonse La
MARITIME. the great French poet, who
died in 1869. gave a beautiful descrip-
ton of II in Lis 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-
sented "wisdow from God" Choose"
.crled King Nimrod. Choose" And
when the youngest son chose the vase
Of clay King Nimrod said: Thou hast
chosen well. Thou hast chosen best of
all. for the man who chooses wisdom
SHAH wave the scepter as well as mount
the ilirone of fame" -----
wisdom instead of Gold.
We find the wonderful Bible char
actcr of young Solomon being repro
duccd In Shakespeares Merchant of
Venice" When the young Hebrew
prince stands before God and says,
"Give me now wisdom and knowledge
that ! may 20 out and come in before
this people, for who can judge this
people that is 50 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 avariclous 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; We'll done.
We'll done, thou sagacious man! All
success shall he 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 |
will give thee riches and wealth and
honor such as none Of the kings have
had that have been before thee, nei
ther 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 Davidic capital. There |
is great excitement everywhere. The |
royal courtiers are riding every with |
er. The kings guards are marching tg |
the city's gates. The whole capital is |
in gala day attire. what is the mat |
ter?" YOU ask why" says u courier, |
hating his chariot, do you not know |
that the beautiful queen Of Sheba from |
the great nation of the south is coming |
to visit our king? She has heard so |
much Of the fame Of SolOmon's 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 alghtlng to meet her. Are |
they not IL glorious pair Of rulers"
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, 1T was a true report
which | 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 or
enumcrating 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 rs the
wisdom Of King Solomon has always
oeen used by the pulpit commentators
as a symbol of Gods wisdom, thought
SpraIned Ankle, Stiff Neck, Lame
Shoulder.