Ver. 17.-The blessedness of loving and seeking Ohrist. Wisdom is here personified. 'l'his is only the beginning of a process that is to grow through sub~equent ages, mani- festing itself in the Books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, and finally developing into the doctrine of the "Logos" and the great revelation of Christ as the incarnate Word of God. We must not pretend to see the perfected thought in its earliest germ. The first personification of wisdom is little more than a figure of speech, an instance of the rich imaginative habits of Oriental thinking. Nevertheless, we know Christ to be the full, living embodiment of God's wisdom. What is true of that wisdom is true of him. And, therefore, though the writer of the words before us had no thought of Jesus Christ the Son of God and Son of man, his teaching concerning Divine wisdom may be most useful when we connect it with the one perfect revelation of wisdom in our Saviour. I. LOVE FOR LOVE. 1. Love to Christ must precede a deep knowledge of Christ. We love before we seek and find. Of course, we must know so'mething of him to a.rouse our love; but when this initial knowledge is atta.iued, Love must have her perfect work before knowledge can ripen. 2. Love to Ohrist must be based on what is lovable in him. Wisdom is beautiful a.nd attractive, and can excite love. How much more, then, should the incarnation of Wisdom in our brother man do this! The contemplation of the beautiful life of Christ and the study of his perfect character urge us to love him; but surely what he has done for us, his sacrifice of himself, his death on our behalf, must be our chief grounds for loving him. 3. This love to Christ will be met by his love in return. It is true that his love precedes ours, nay, that it is the great source of our love. But (1) it is not felt a.nd enjoyed till it is returned, so that then it seems to come a.fresh as an answer to our love; and (2) there must be a. stronger, more tender, more intimate love to those who appreciate it than can be given to others. Christ loved all men, but not as he loved St. John. Christians loving Christ enjoy his peculiar love. 4. To be loved by Christ is the best reward of loving him. True love is satisfied with nothing less than a return of love, but it is satisfied with this. If we have nothiog elso we have a. pearl of great price in the love of Christ. Then we can afford to lose all earthly good things, can count them but dung, that we may win Christ. II. FINDING FOR SEEKING. 1. Wo must seek Chri~t if we would possess him. He offers himself to all as a Saviour and a Master. But he must be followed and found. Our love to him will be the great attraction ever drawing us nearer to him. 2. The search for (iJhrist must be earnest if it is to be succesiful. He will not answer a Lall:. hearted call. Till we seek him with determination, reality, persistence, we shall meet no response. We must seek him before a.11 things, must make Christ the chief end of life. 3. This earnest seeking will be rewarded b!J the recei'.ving of Christ. Wisdom comes to him who seeks laboriously and patiently; much more will Wisdom incarnate, \,Vi~dom with a heart to sympathize. Such a response will be the best reward of seeking. Better than anything that Christ could seud us will be his own coming to dwell in our hearts. This will be the satisfaction of anxious inquiry in a full response, the blessing of love with love and close communion.
Vers. 22-31.-The primeval glory of Divine wisdom. I. THE HIGHEST WISDOM IS CREATED BY GoD. "'l'he Lord created me as the first of his w11y." 'fhis idea was suggested to the Greeks in the myth of .Athene, who sprang from the head of Zeus. It is the poetic form of the great truth that God is the Creator of thoughts as well as of things; and it .suggests that be not only called indiviJual intelligences into be_ing, but originated the primary laws and conditions of all intelligence, just as he ordamed the law8 of nature and the condition8 of physical existence as well as the rocks and plants and animals subsequently creatctl. 11. DIVINE WISDOM WAS ANTECEDEN'r TO MATERIAL CREATION. ""£was wrought fro111 everlasting, from the beginnin~, or ever tho earth was." Thought 1irecedcs action. Desigu anticipates execution. The nrchitect comes before tho builJ.ur. 172 THE PROVERBS. LoH. vm. 1-36.
Archetypal ideas precede creative work. In the awful depths of primeval antiquHy the p:re:,.t Thinker wrought out the plans of the universe which as the gre1Lt Worker he ha~ heen since evolving in visible existences. III. WISDOM ACCOMPANIED AND DIRECTED PIIYSICAL CREATION. "I was by him as a master-worker." "risdom did not cease when force appeared. The two wrought together. The result of their joint operation is the energetic cosmos-force and thought triumphing over death and chaos. When we endeavour to discover the secrets of nature, we are searching out th~ wisdom of God. When we learn the laws and pro- cesses of nature, we are able to tbmk the thoughts of God. The naturalist should walk reverently, for he is treading in the footsteps of the mind of God. It should be our aim in studying nature to find God in his wisdom. IV. THE DIVINE WISD01'!: IN CREATION LEADS ON TO THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE AND ORDER. First there is the confosion of the elements. Gradually these elements are marshalled into order till Vvisdom is able to "rejoice in his earthly world." The onward movement of all things here indicated and illustrated very fully by recent science reveals the wisdom of God with increasing clearness. Instead of thinking of that wisdom as chiefly manifested in primitive creation, we should see that it is most acti'l'e and most glorious in the latest and richest development of the life of the universe. V. Tms WISDOM IS 0}."E OF THE MOST GLORIOUS OF THE DIVINE AT1'll1BUTES. God has glory of thought as well as glory of character. 'l'here must be all phases of perfec- tion iu the perfect Mind. God is not only to be regarded on the side of moral law and religious worship. He is the great Mathematician, .Architect, Philosopher, Poet. Our thoughts of God are too" Churchy." God is not only in the church. He is much in the fields. He has his workshops as well as his temples; nay, they are his best temples. Let us try to find him in "secular" thought and work, and worship him the more for the wisdom seen in his "earthly world."