The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-24
: WITT TALMAGE, D. D.

Iedu thus: As a true prophet thou WILL be able to separate the maidens from the boys, peIforate the diamond and fill the goblet with water that hath not dropped from the clouds nor gushed forth from the earth beneath" Legend tells us fur ther that King Solomon told the ambassa- dors the contents of the letter before 1t was opened. Then he solved the three riddles in the following way: First he placed a basin of water before each youth and madden and by the way they washed he was able to distinguish the boys from the girls. Second. he threaded the intricately pierced diamond by com polling a small worm to crawl through the crystal labyrinth. while there was tied to the body of the worm a small silken thread. Thirdly he filled the gold en goblet with water which had not fallen from the heavens above or gushed up from the waters beneath by driving a colt around and around and around until his lathered Hanks were covered with foam and filled the goblet to the brim. These examples of the wisdom of Solo, mon may be only fables; but. whether they are fables or not, one fact We do know, and that Is that the wisdom of King Solomon stands as a type of the all- knowing wisdom, the wisdom of an omnls- cient, all seeing God
 God Knows Everything.
 Is it not a blessed satisfaction to you that God knows everything? The world for years may have been misjudging and conforming us, not because 1t is an un- just world at heart but simply because its knowledge Is so meager. How differ ently the world would treat a Washington or a Lincoln If they could only come back to earth. How differently we would treat our own dear ones if we only knew ba .f +Inf, the saddest remark l ever heard of any one making was by dear member of my church. She was lying in bed about to die or cancer. One day she looked up and said: 'I wonder If God will ever for give me for being irritable and faut-find- ing to my children? I sometimes think l was not to blame for being cross, sometimes think that this cancer has been working upon me and undermining my system for years anG years, and 1 did not know 1t, and ray durability was due to my sickness and not because my na- ture was naturally cross." An. yes, the world may not know the causes of our actions. but God knows. Is it not a blessed thought to you that God knows your every thought and your every deed anu does not msinl rpret ye1r actions, as tha world so of'nn does: He knows all Yes, all.
 King Solomon, In the next plac4, was not 9 mdn of hood. He was not the cen
 trq. fgtrf of sanesinary :attlefeds His chief musical instinct was not the bugle to sound forth the clarion call to arms He was the prince of peace. He was the creator and the developer of a nations industries during an era when the sword was turned Into a plowsna.e and the spear into a pruning hook. He was At .,.fa1 I'll Great or a Caesar or an Alexander or a Cyrus or an Artaxerxes, whose greatest claim to fame was dependent upon the rapidity with which they could unsheath their swords and the unerring power with which they could strike and destroy a trembling foe. But King Solomons S great est claim to fame rests upon the fact tha t he was builder and not a destroyer, a creator and not conqueror.
 Rivers of Gold.
 Like Moses bringing forth water from Horeb, King Solomon lifted his magic wand and struck the hard powders of national finance, and at once there gushed | forth rivers of molten gold. Work work, work, there seemed to be plenty of work l in his kingdom. There was work for | everybody and high wages and prosperity | for all. As we wander today oyer the hlll- $. The trees are bending so low under the weight of the fruit that the branches have to be propped up. When we go down | into the valleys we find them covered with the golden headed harvests. When we go down to the seashore we hear the "Yo, heavep' of the sailors. whose ships have come from Tarshish The busy marts are crowded with merchantmen. The fat
 well fed cattle are upon a thousand hills The long caravans, heavy laden with gold and silver and ivory and precious spices and silks and rare treasures of all sorts, are crossing the deserts from the east and the south. Ah, yes, never was there such an era of prosperity as that of the Solo, monic reign. Read the ninth chapter of Kings and second chapter of Ecclesiastes if you would know what was the extent Of that prosperity. ''So I was great" That alludes not only to his own individual greatness. but also to the greatness of his people. And increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was the portion of all my labors." Thus. my friends, as the harvests began to grow in the fields and the fruits began to ripen in the orchards and the gold and silver and the ivory and llLS pitClouS slOHtS ana the SILKS were brought from foreign lands into the He- brew capital on account of the wisdom of the King can we not feel that all our temporal prosperity is directly due to the great Prince of Peace, whom we call Our Saviour. Jesus Christ?
 Why do we have our national Thanks giving day, when we come together as a nation to praise Him, unless we feel that Gods wisdom grows for us the wheat and the corn and gives us the oranges and the apples and the lemons? Why do we repeat the Lords prayer and say, Give us this day our daily bread" unless we feel that, as carpenters and mechanics and musicians and cooks and clerks and school teachers and merchants, he will give to us an opportunity to earn our food? Can a sparrow fly across the heavens but he guides 1t? Can a flower grow in the garden but the chemistry of his divine laboratories coors 1t? Can the sheep be blanketed with heavy wool | unless He cares for them? Can the fish live in the aquariums of the deep unless He watches over them when they are young? An. my friends, the wisdom of King Solomon did not develop the tenn poral prosperity of the Hebrew nation nearly as much as Gods wisdom provides for the temporal wants of His children. He feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lily of the field. He feeds and clothes US. Oh, the infinite wisdom of the Prince of Peace as a divine commissaryi