The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1906-10-26
S0L0M0N'S WISDOM.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Tells OF the
Great Hebrew Ruler.
Ills Farseeing Judgments We're
Typical of the Omniscience and
Power of God Him
self.

NU'lludl encouragement Ine text Is
II. Chronicles tx. g. "The one-half Of tie
greatness Of thy wisdom was not told
me-"
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 Grant" Lee"
"Washington." Dewey" or "Roose-
velt," these old Bible scenes 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 slgnboards have
been 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
writer's to 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 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 It in his story Of King Nimr0d.
This king had three sons. lie offered
TO them three vases, the one Of gold,
the second Of amber, the third Of clay.
The gold represented empire" the am
ber glory or fame" the third repre-
scented "wisdow from God" Choose"
cried 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
an, for the man who chooses wisdom
shall wave the scepter as well as mount
the throne Of fame"
We find the wonderful Bible char
ncter Of young Solomon being repro
duced in Shakespeare's Merchant Of
Venice" When the young Hebrew
prince stands before God and says,
"Giye me now wisdom and knowledge
that l may 20 out and come In before
this people. for who can judge this
people that Is 50 greatW we seem 10
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, "Wsdom and
knowledge is granted unto thee, and l
will give thee riches and wealth and
honor such as none Of the kings have
had that have been before thee, nel-
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 |
* great excitement everywhere. The |
royal courtiers are riding every whith.
or The kings guards are marching to |
The cltys gates. The whole capital IS |
I'm gala day attire "What Is the mat |
terT you ask. "Why," says a courier,
laltng 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 50 |
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 alightlng TO meet her. Are
they not a glorious pair Of rulers|
Was not this the welcome that was
given 10 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
an that was I'm her heart, she turned 10
him and said. 1T was a true report
which 7 heard IN mine own land OF
thine acts and Of thy wisdom" Yes.
the reports Of Soomon's wisdom were
great but they were not exaggerated.
Indeed. they were understated. For
after the queen Of Sheba had gone on
what she had heard. she
cries out IN the words OF my text, "The
Dne.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
Is a symbol Of Gods wisdom, I thought
today I would try TO tell you in
humble way a little about that divine
wisdom. Truly, like King Solomons,
Gods wisdom is a wisdom which pass
eth all understanding.
King Solomon stands as the symbol
u the "All Knowing One" He was the
wisest Of all men. The Bible distinct
v declares IL Not only were all the !