The excellency of Divine wisdom: No. 1
In these verses we have portrayed to us the surpassing excellency of the wisdom of God.
I. IT IS AUDIBLE TO EVERY ONE. "Doth not Wisdom cry," etc.? (Proverbs 8:1; see homily on Proverbs 1:20-23).
II. IT IS URGENT AND IMPORTUNATE. (Proverbs 8:2-4; see homily on Proverbs 1:20-23.)
III. IT MAKES ITS APPEAL TO UNIVERSAL MAN. (Proverbs 8:4, Proverbs 8:5.) "Unto you, O men, I call," etc. There is nothing exclusive or partial in its address. Its sympathies are wide as the human soul. It draws no lines of latitude or longitude in any kingdom, beyond which it does not pass. It appeals to man—Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free, learned and ignorant, wise and foolish (simple), moral and immoral (fools).
IV. IT IS IN FULL HARMONY WITH ALL THAT IS BEST WITHIN US. Some voices that address us make their appeal to that which is lower or even lowest in our nature. Divine wisdom appeals to that which is highest and best.
1. To our sense of what is right and good (Proverbs 8:6, Proverbs 8:7).
2. To our love of that which is true (Proverbs 8:7).
V. IT IS AN APPRECIABLE THING. (Proverbs 8:9.) Through it takes high ground, not rooting itself in anything base, but making its appeal to that which is purest and noblest in our nature, it is still appreciable by all who can estimate anything at its true worth. To "him that understandeth," to the man who is capable of any discernment, the words of heavenly wisdom will be plain—they will "receive them gladly;" while to those who have reached any height in attainment, the teaching of wisdom will be recognized as the excellent thing it is. The students of law will find in it the illustration of all true order; the disciples of ethics will perceive in it all that is morally sound and satisfying to the conscience; those who admire "the beautiful" will recognize that which is exquisite, admirable, sublime. The teaching of Divine wisdom is "right to them that find knowledge."
VI. IT IS INTIMATELY ASSOCIATED WITH INTELLIGENT OBSERVATION. It consequently results in useful contrivances (Proverbs 8:12). So far from heavenly wisdom being confined, in its principles and its results, to the realm of the abstract and unseen, it is most closely allied with, and is constantly found in the company of, simple, homely discretion, the careful, intelligent observation of all surrounding objects and passing incidents. It issues, therefore, in "witty inventions."
VII. IT ISSUES IN, AND IS ILLUSTRATED BY, MORAL AND SPIRITUAL WORTH. (Proverbs 8:13.) "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and the fear of the Lord is so intimately and essentially bound up with the hatred of evil, that they may be practically identified; we may say that "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil"—evil in all its forms, "pride, arrogancy," etc.—C.
Proverbs 8:1-21 (continued)
The excellency of Divine wisdom: No. 2
We have also these features of the wisdom of God—
I. IT ENDOWS WITH THE WEALTH WHICH IS THE PRODUCT OF VIRTUE. (Proverbs 8:20, Proverbs 8:21.) It leads in that "way of righteousness" and those "paths of judgment" which result in "inheriting substance," and being "filled with treasures." It places in the hand of its followers all that measure of earthly good which they can regard with holy satisfaction and enjoy with a good conscience.
II. IT IS A SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND INFLUENCE IN HUMAN SOCIETY. (Proverbs 8:14-16,) It is attended with that breadth of understanding, that knowledge of affairs, that insight into "men and things," which gives sagacity to statesmen and stability to thrones.
III. IT RECIPROCATES AN ATTACHMENT. (Proverbs 8:17.) The more we know, the more attractive does knowledge become to our admiring spirit. The further we advance into its domain, the firmer becomes our footing and the brighter becomes the light. Moreover, the highest peaks attainable by man are only reached by those who begin to climb in the days of their youth (vide homily infra).
IV. IT IS OF INCOMPARABLE VALUE TO THE HUMAN SOUL. (Proverbs 8:10, Proverbs 8:11, Proverbs 8:18, Proverbs 8:19.) If the choice should lie between wealth and wisdom, it is better far to choose the latter; for:
1. While wealth will not buy wisdom, wisdom will lead to wealth, later if not sooner, of one kind if not of another.
2. Wisdom itself is wealth; it is the possession of the mind, it is the inheritance of the soul, it is "durable riches and righteousness."
The excellency of Divine wisdom: No. 3 (see below).—C.