I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. Sermons
She has nothing novel to say concerning her nature, value, and blessings. Preaching must in the main be repetition; the iteration of the old, not with dry and sterile monotony, but with that freshness which comparison with everyday facts and illustrations gives. New combinations of facts are ever arising in which to frame the old precepts and set them forth. Besides, love gives novelty to old truth, as the old song is enjoyed from the lips of the latest sweet singer. I. SHE APPEALS TO COMPARISON. (Vers, 10, 11.) By comparison we increase and strengthen our perceptions. In the knowledge of man, books, art, life, comparison is everything. We are to compare Wisdom with material objects of sense, such as gold and silver, that we may see her to be incomparable; and so each for ourselves repeat the choice of Solomon (comp. on Proverbs 3:14, 15). II. SHE APPEALS TO ASSOCIATION. (Ver. 12.) Wisdom dwells with prudence. In modern language, the general implies the particular. Wisdom is intelligence in general; prudence, the appreciation of it in particular cases. In the poetical mode of representation we should say that Piety and Prudence are sisters, and go hand-in-hand, daughters of the voice of God, as Wordsworth said of duty. So, too, Wisdom has insight into enigmas, dark sayings, and generally deep things of God (see on Proverbs 1:4). III. SHE UNFOLDS TEE CONTENTS OF HER MIND. (Vers. 18, 14.) One of her many aliases is the fear of Jehovah. And this is religion, which includes all wholesome aversions, viz. wickedness in general, and in particular assumption, arrogance, evil habits, perverted speech. In other words, her sympathies are all with lowliness, purity, love, and truth. Insight or sharp and deep perception is another of her attributes, and force (comp. on Proverbs 2:7). V. SHE CLAIMS SUPREME AUTHORITY. (Vers. 15, 16.) Kings, rulers, princes, potentates, judges, - all received those places and fulfil those functions through her and her alone. Authority in polities rests on consent or on force, or both. And these are traceable ultimately to reason, and reason is the "inspiration of the Almighty." Exceptions form no part of this representation. In modern language, we say that government, as a principle or institute, rests on an ultimate Divine basis. The text says tic less than this, nor does it say mort. V. SHE IS IN RECIPROCAL RELATION TO HER SUBJECTS. (Ver. 17.) Her love is conditioned by love; the winning of her by the wooing. The notion that we can be passive, whether in knowledge or goodness, is an entire illusion. Such an illusion once prevailed as the doctrine of "innate ideas" now exploded in philosophy. All that becomes the portion of head or heart implies, necessitates a previous spiritual activity in us. We are ignorant because we will not learn, unhappy because we will not love. VI. SHE COMMANDS WEALTH AND HONOUR AND THE AVENUES TO THEM. (Vers. 18-21.) Riches, honour, self-increasing goods, and righteous" (comp. on Proverbs 3:16). The righteous here is elucidated by the next two verses; she shows the right way to all earthly good. She is a tree of life, and yields incomparable fruit both for value and abundance (ver. 19). She guarantees possessions to her votaries. The connection between righteous and worldly wealth is insisted on. Not that it is always obvious. Nor again are we to expect notice of exceptions in teaching that is from first to last absolute in form. The stringency of the connection is what we have to recognize; the knowledge of its complete application to all cases opens the relations of eternity and demands the omniscience of God. - J. I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence. The Scottish Pulpit. This has been brought into unmerited contempt by being associated with what is really its opposite. The abuse of the title has led to practical evils. Individuals have been known to despise prudence as the most beggarly of the virtues, from a mistaken apprehension of its qualities. Marking the errors of the stingy — the muck-worms of society — some persons conclude at once against the utility of prudence, and read the text, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth," in a perverted sense. Nothing will they save, or provide for; and so against imprudence in one extreme they set up imprudence in the other. There is no such short cut to happiness; the spendthrift is as far off from felicity as the save-all. The only security lies in a positive assertion and practical affirmation of the whole doctrine and discipline of prudence in its purity and truth. We must conceive the right idea of Prudence, properly define her characteristics, arrive at an honest appreciation of her gifts and graces, and devote ourselves to her, as her faithful ministrants, in all her relations, social, intellectual, and moral. Such a prudence is co-mate with the loftiest wisdom. The prudential course of conduct would commend itself as an illustration of the most elevated philosophy. It would be at one with the most benevolent and beneficent impulses of the human heart, and at the same time insure the true interests of every individual who acted in obedience to its precepts. () According to the general design of these proverbial writings, wisdom stands before religion, and religion is expressed by the fear of God. Prudence is either universal or particular. Universal prudence is the same with the doctrine of morality, the application of the most proper means, viz., virtuous actions, towards the acquiring the chief end, the happiness of man. And particular prudence is distinguished by the different objects and ends about which it is conversant, and is the prosecution of any lawful design by such methods as shall appear to be best, upon a due consideration of circumstances. The text asserts that there is an inseparable connection between religion and prudence. Neither can be without the other. I. THERE IS NO TRUE POLITICAL PRUDENCE, BUT WHAT IS FOUNDED UPON RELIGION, OR THE FEAR OF GOD. God has delivered the government of the world to men, reserving to Himself a power over nature and a philosophy consisted in pretending to give an account of the world and its original, without an infinite understanding and first mover. And the main corruption of prudence consists in attempting the government of the world by human policy, without a due submission to the providence of God. Proud reasoners, and the sensual part of mankind, either wholly deny a providence or attribute very little to its superintendency and power. The universal history of the world, and the particular histories of nations and families, are full of the tragical end of those proud politicians who thought to govern without God, and to be prudent without religion. A natural sagacity is not sufficient for man, who is accountable for his actions, who must engage on no designs but what are rational, nor pursue them by any means but what are just and lawful. The wisdom that degenerates into craft is really mischievous folly. An uprightness of action, a constancy in virtue, and unmovable frame of mind and resolution of always pursuing what is just and beneficial to the public, by right and laudable ways, will make a man fortunate, valuable, and reverenced — fit for any trust. II. THE PIOUS PERSON IN THE MAIN IS THE TRULY JUDICIOUS. Wisdom is the knowledge of things great, admirable, and Divine, whereby the mind is raised and enlarged into delightful contemplations; and prudence is a right practical judgment, or the skill of judging what we are to do, and what not, and of distinguishing between good and evil, and the degrees of each. The ancient moralists never allowed a wicked man to be prudent. They declare that a wicked life corrupts the very principles of true prudence and right reason. Prudence is that virtue or power of the soul whereby the mind deliberates rightly, and finds out what is best to be done, when all things are considered; or it helps us to discover what are the best means for obtaining a good end. Now it is religion that qualifies the mind to consider practical matters in their true nature and consequences; that purifies the intention, corrects the inclination, moderates the affections, and make our deliberations calm and wise. It is the fear of God that sets bounds to prudence, that shows how far we are to act in any undertaking, and where we are to resign things up to a higher Conduct. It is temperance that gives us intellectual vigour, that makes us masters of our reason. These, and such-like virtues, being the prerequisites, or ingredients, of all true prudence, it is the pious man that in the main is the truly judicious person. But it is the truly pious man. It is a very imperfect notion of prudence to think that it consists in an exact knowledge of the world, or in getting a large share and possession of it. III. THAT PARTICULAR PRUDENCE WHICH IS REQUIRED IN THE CONDUCT OF A RELIGIOUS LIFE. 1. The first rule for the more prudent conduct of a religious life is, not to engage in things which are above our sphere. 2. Not presently to catch at perfection and the highest instances of piety. There is an order of duties, and a gradual advancement in religion. Enthusiasts make mad work with religion. 3. Not to engage too vehemently in things of an indifferent nature. 4. Not to spoil a good constitution of soul by any superstitious fancies or unnecessary scruples of conscience. Piety alone keeps men in the right, the safe, the pleasant path. () ()
People SolomonPlaces JerusalemTopics Behaviour, Devices, Discretion, Dwell, Dwelling, Dwelt, Friend, Ingenious, Inventions, Possess, Prudence, Purposes, Reflection, Relation, Special, Wisdom, Wise, WittyOutline 1. the fame
6. and evidence of wisdom
10. The excellence
12. the nature
15. the power
18. the riches
22. and the eternity of wisdom
32. Wisdom is to be desired for the blessedness it brings
Dictionary of Bible Themes Proverbs 8:12 5922 prudence Proverbs 8:1-32 8365 wisdom, human Library Wisdom's Gift
'That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance.'--PROVERBS viii. 21. The word here rendered 'substance' is peculiar. Indeed, it is used in a unique construction in this passage. It means 'being' or 'existence,' and seems to have been laid hold of by the Hebrew thinkers, from whom the books commonly called 'the Wisdom Books' come, as one of their almost technical expressions. 'Substance' may be used in our translation in its philosophical meaning as the supposed reality underlying appearances, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureWisdom and Christ
'Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31. Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.'--PROVERBS viii. 30, 31. There is a singular difference between the two portions of this Book of Proverbs. The bulk of it, beginning with chapter x., contains a collection of isolated maxims which may be described as the product of sanctified common sense. They are shrewd and homely, but not remarkably …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture "But Whereunto Shall I Liken this Generation?"
Matth. xi. 16.--"But whereunto shall I liken this generation?" When our Lord Jesus, who had the tongue of the learned, and spoke as never man spake, did now and then find a difficulty to express the matter herein contained. "What shall we do?" The matter indeed is of great importance, a soul matter, and therefore of great moment, a mystery, and therefore not easily expressed. No doubt he knows how to paint out this to the life, that we might rather behold it with our eyes, than hear it with our …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Fragrant Spices from the Mountains of Myrrh. "Thou Art all Fair, My Love; There is no Spot in Thee. " --Song of Solomon iv. 7.
FRAGRANT SPICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MYRRH. HOW marvellous are these words! "Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee." The glorious Bridegroom is charmed with His spouse, and sings soft canticles of admiration. When the bride extols her Lord there is no wonder, for He deserves it well, and in Him there is room for praise without possibility of flattery. But does He who is wiser than Solomon condescend to praise this sunburnt Shulamite? Tis even so, for these are His own words, and were …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come Wisdom. Pr 8:22-31
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John Newton—Olney Hymns The Invitation of Wisdom. --Prov. viii.
The invitation of Wisdom.--Prov. viii. To us the voice of Wisdom cries, Hearken, ye children, and be wise; Better than gold the fruit I bear, Rubies to me may not compare, Happy the man who daily waits To hear me, watching at my gates; Wretched is he who scorns my voice, Death and destruction are his choice. To them that love me I am kind; And those who seek me early find; My Son, give me thine heart,--and learn Wisdom from folly to discern. The Lord possess'd me, ere of old, His hand the firmament …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns Having Said This, when they had Kissed Him...
92. Having said this, when they had kissed him, he lifted up his feet, and as though he saw friends coming to him and was glad because of them--for as he lay his countenance appeared joyful--he died and was gathered to the fathers. And they afterward, according to his commandment, wrapped him up and buried him, hiding his body underground. And no one knows to this day where it was buried, save those two only. But each of those who received the sheepskin of the blessed Antony and the garment worn …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 Continued. Absurdity of Supposing a Son or Word Created in Order to the Creation of Other Creatures; as to the Creation
Chapter XVII.--Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 continued. Absurdity of supposing a Son or Word created in order to the creation of other creatures; as to the creation being unable to bear God's immediate hand, God condescends to the lowest. Moreover, if the Son a creature, He too could not bear God's hand, and an infinite series of media will be necessary. Objected, that, as Moses who led out the Israelites was a man, so our Lord; but Moses was not the Agent in creation:--again, that unity is found …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 Continued. Contrast Between the Father's Operations Immediately and Naturally in the Son...
Chapter XVIII.--Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 continued. Contrast between the Father's operations immediately and naturally in the Son, instrumentally by the creatures; Scripture terms illustrative of this. Explanation of these illustrations; which should be interpreted by the doctrine of the Church; perverse sense put on them by the Arians, refuted. Mystery of Divine Generation. Contrast between God's Word and man's word drawn out at length. Asterius betrayed into holding two Unoriginates; his …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Texts Explained; Sixthly...
Chapter XIX.--Texts explained; Sixthly, Proverbs viii. 22. Proverbs are of a figurative nature, and must be interpreted as such. We must interpret them, and in particular this passage, by the Regula Fidei. He created me' not equivalent to I am a creature.' Wisdom a creature so far forth as Its human body. Again, if He is a creature, it is as a beginning of ways,' an office which, though not an attribute, is a consequence, of a higher and divine nature. And it is for the works,' which implied the …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Texts Explained; Sixthly...
Chapter XXI.--Texts Explained; Sixthly, Proverbs viii. 22, Continued. Our Lord not said in Scripture to be created,' or the works to be begotten.' In the beginning' means in the case of the works from the beginning.' Scripture passages explained. We are made by God first, begotten next; creatures by nature, sons by grace. Christ begotten first, made or created afterwards. Sense of First-born of the dead;' of First-born among many brethren;' of First-born of all creation,' contrasted with Only-begotten.' …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Of the Council of Antioch and what was done There against the Holy Meletius.
At this time, [586] Constantius was residing at Antioch. The Persian war was over; there had been a time of peace, and he once again gathered bishops together with the object of making them all deny both the formula "of one substance" and also the formula "of different substance." On the death of Leontius, Eudoxius had seized the see of Antioch, but on his expulsion and illegal establishment, after many synods, at Constantinople, the church of Antioch had been left without a shepherd. Accordingly …
Theodoret—The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret A String of Pearls
'Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 2. The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul. 3. It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. 4. The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. 5. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out. 6. Most men will …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Voluntary Suffering
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. T hat which often passes amongst men for resolution, and the proof of a noble, courageous spirit, is, in reality, the effect of a weak and little mind. At least, it is chiefly owing to the presence of certain circumstances, which have a greater influence upon the conduct, than any inherent principle. Thus may persons who appear to set death and danger at defiance in the hour …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 The Glorious Master and the Swooning Disciple
If our conceptions of the Lord Jesus are very enlarged, they will only be his due. We cannot exaggerate here. He deserves higher praise than we can ever render to him. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high is be above our loftiest conceptions. Even when the angels strike their loudest notes, and chant his praises most exultingly on their highest festal days, the music falls far short of his excellence. He is higher than a seraph's most soaring thought! Rise then, my brethren, as on …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872 His Name --The Counsellor
We shall now enter upon the discussion of this title which is given to Christ, a title peculiar to our Redeemer; and you will see why it should be given to him and why there was a necessity for such a Counsellor. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ is a Counsellor in a three-fold sense. First, he is God's Counsellor; he sits in the cabinet council of the King of heaven; he has admittance into the privy chamber, and is the Counsellor with God. In the second place, Christ is a Counsellor in the sense which …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858 Of the Decrees of God.
Eph. i. 11.--"Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Job xxiii. 13. "He is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." Having spoken something before of God, in his nature and being and properties, we come, in the next place, to consider his glorious majesty, as he stands in some nearer relation to his creatures, the work of his hands. For we must conceive the first rise of all things in the world to be in this self-being, the first conception …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning The Synagogue at Nazareth - Synagogue-Worship and Arrangements.
The stay in Cana, though we have no means of determining its length, was probably of only short duration. Perhaps the Sabbath of the same week already found Jesus in the Synagogue of Nazareth. We will not seek irreverently to lift the veil of sacred silence, which here, as elsewhere, the Gospel-narratives have laid over the Sanctuary of His inner Life. That silence is itself theopneustic, of Divine breathing and inspiration; it is more eloquent than any eloquence, a guarantee of the truthfulness …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Organic and Individual.
"Where is He that put His Holy Spirit among them?" --Isa. lxiii. 11. The subsequent activity of the Holy Spirit lies in the realm of grace. In nature the Spirit of God appears as creating, in grace as re-creating. We call it re-creation, because God's grace creates not something inherently new, but a new life in an old and degraded nature. But this must not be understood as tho grace restored only what sin had destroyed. For then the child of God, born anew and sanctified, must be as Adam was in …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit The Trinity
Q-6. HOW MANY PERSONS ARE THERE IN THE GODHEAD? A: Three persons, yet but one God. 'There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.' I John 5:5. God is but one, yet are there three distinct persons subsisting in one Godhead. This is a sacred mystery, which the light within man could never have discovered. As the two natures in Christ, yet but one person, is a wonder; so three persons, yet but one Godhead. Here is a great deep, the Father …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The Third Exile, 356-362.
The third exile of Athanasius marks the summit of his achievement. Its commencement is the triumph, its conclusion the collapse of Arianism. It is true that after the death of Constantius the battle went on with variations of fortune for twenty years, mostly under the reign of an ardently Arian Emperor (364-378). But by 362 the utter lack of inner coherence in the Arian ranks was manifest to all; the issue of the fight might be postponed by circumstances but could not be in doubt. The break-up of …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius An Explanation of Acts ii. ...
An explanation of Acts ii. 36 and Proverbs viii. 22, which are shown to refer properly to Christ's manhood alone. 95. To no purpose, then, is the heretics' customary citation of the Scripture, that "God made Him both Lord and Christ." Let these ignorant persons read the whole passage, and understand it. For thus it is written. "God made this Jesus, Whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ." [1843] It was not the Godhead, but the flesh, that was crucified. This, indeed, was possible, because the flesh …
St. Ambrose—Works and Letters of St. Ambrose Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Links Proverbs 8:12 NIV
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