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1 Kings Chapter
Four
1 Kings 4
Chapter Contents
Solomon's court. (1-19) Solomon's dominions, His daily
provision. (20-28) The wisdom of Solomon. (29-34)
Commentary on 1 Kings 4:1-19
(Read 1 Kings 4:1-19)
In the choice of the great officers of Solomon's court,
no doubt, his wisdom appeared. Several are the same that were in his father's
time. A plan was settled by which no part of the country was exhausted to
supply his court, though each sent its portion.
Commentary on 1 Kings 4:20-28
(Read 1 Kings 4:20-28)
Never did the crown of Israel shine so bright, as when
Solomon wore it. He had peace on all sides. Herein, his kingdom was a type of
the Messiah's; for to Him it is promised that he shall have the heathen for his
inheritance, and that princes shall worship him. The spiritual peace, and joy,
and holy security, of all the faithful subjects of the Lord Jesus, were
typified by that of Israel. The kingdom of God is not, as Solomon's was, meat
and drink, but, what is infinitely better, righteousness, and peace, and joy in
the Holy Ghost. The vast number of his attendants, and the great resort to him,
are shown by the provision daily made. Herein Christ far outdoes Solomon, that
he feeds all his subjects, not with the bread that perishes, but with that
which endures to eternal life.
Commentary on 1 Kings 4:29-34
(Read 1 Kings 4:29-34)
Solomon's wisdom was more his glory than his wealth. He
had what is here called largeness of heart, for the heart is often put for the
powers of the mind. He had the gift of utterance, as well as wisdom. It is very
desirable, that those who have large gifts of any kind, should have large
hearts to use them for the good of others. What treasures of wisdom and
knowledge are lost! But every sort of knowledge that is needful for salvation
is to be found in the holy Scriptures. There came persons from all parts, who
were more eager after knowledge than their neighbours, to hear the wisdom of
Solomon. Solomon was herein a type of Christ, in whom are hid all treasures of
wisdom and knowledge; and hid for us, for he is made of God to us, wisdom.
Christ's fame shall spread through all the earth, and men of all nations shall
come to him, learn of him, and take upon them his easy yoke, and find rest for
their souls.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Kings》
1 Kings 4
Verse 1
[1] So
king Solomon was king over all Israel.
All Israel —
This is spoken with respect to his successors, who were kings only over a part,
and that the smallest part of it.
Verse 2
[2] And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the
priest,
Princes —
That is, the chief rulers or officers.
The son — Or
the grand-son.
The priest —
The second priest, or the priest that attended upon Solomon's person in holy
offices and administrations.
Verse 3
[3]
Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of
Ahilud, the recorder.
Scribes —
That is, secretaries of state. He chose two, whereas David had but one: either,
because he observed some inconveniences in trusting all those matters in one
hand: or, because he had now much more employment than David had, this being a
time of great peace and prosperity, and his empire enlarged.
Verse 4
[4] And
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the
priests:
Priests —
That is, the high-priests, successively, first Abiathar, and then Zadok.
Verse 5
[5] And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of
Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend:
Officers —
Over those twelve Officers, named verse 7, etc. who were all to give up their accompts
to him.
Nathan —
The prophet, who had been so highly instrumental in Solomon's establishment in
the throne.
Principal officer —
Possibly, president of the king's council.
Friend —
His confident, with whom he used to communicate his most secret counsels.
Verse 6
[6] And
Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the
tribute.
Abiathar was —
Steward of the king's household.
Tribute —
The personal tribute, or the levy of men, as appears by comparing this with
chap. 5:13,14, it being very fit that there should be
some one person to whom the chief conduct of that great business was committed.
Verse 8
[8] And
these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:
The son, … —
This and others of them are denominated from their fathers, because they were
known and famous in their generation.
Verse 10
[10] The
son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:
Hepher — In
Judah.
Verse 19
[19]
Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king
of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which
was in the land.
Country of Gilead —
That is, in the remaining part of that land of Gilead, which was mentioned
above.
The only officer — In
all Gilead, excepting the parcels mentioned before, in all the territories of
Sihon and Og; which because they were of large extent, and yet all committed to
this one man, it is here noted concerning him as his privilege above the rest.
Verse 21
[21] And
Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the
Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served
Solomon all the days of his life.
The river —
Euphrates: for so far David, having conquered the Syrians, extended his empire,
which Solomon also maintained in that extent. And so God's promise concerning
the giving the whole land, as far as Euphrates, to the Israelites, was
fulfilled. And, if the Israelites had multiplied so much that the land of
Canaan would not suffice them, having God's grant of all the land as far as
Euphrates, they might have seized upon it whensoever occasion required.
The land of the Philistines — Which is to be understood inclusively; for the Philistines were within Solomon's
dominion.
The border of Egypt —
Unto the river Sihor, which was the border between Egypt and Canaan.
And served — By
tribute, or other ways, as he needed and required.
Verse 22
[22] And
Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and
threescore measures of meal,
Measures —
Heb. Cors: each of which contained ten ephahs. So this provision was sufficient
for near three thousand persons.
Meal — Of
a coarser sort for common use.
Verse 23
[23] Ten
fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside
harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.
Fat —
Fatted in stalls.
Out of pastures —
Well fleshed, tender and good, though not so fat as the former.
Verse 24
[24] For
he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even
to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all
sides round about him.
Tiphsah —
Either that Tiphsah, 2 Kings 15:16, which was in the kingdom of
Israel within Jordan; or, rather, another place of that name upon Euphrates,
even that eminent city which is mentioned by Ptolemy, and Strabo, and Pliny,
called Thapsarum. And this best agrees with the following: Azzah, which was the
border of Canaan in the south and west, as Tiphsah was in the north and east.
And so his dominion is described by both its borders.
All kings —
Who owned subjection, and paid tribute to him.
Verse 25
[25] And
Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
Under his vine —
Enjoying the fruit of his own labour with safety and comfort. Under these two
trees, which were most used and cultivated by the Israelites, he understands
all other fruit-bearing trees, and all other comforts. And they are brought in
as fitting or dwelling under these trees, partly for recreation or delight in
the shade; and partly, for the comfort or advantage of the fruit; and withal,
to note their great security, not only in their strong cities, but even in the
country, where the vines and fig-trees grew, which was most open to the
incursions of their enemies.
Verse 26
[26] And
Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve
thousand horsemen.
Forty thousand — In
2 Chronicles 9:25, it is but four thousand. But
it is not exactly the same Hebrew word which is here and there, though we
translate both stalls; and therefore there may well be allowed some difference
in the signification, the one signifying properly stables, of which there were
four thousand, the other stalls or partitions for each horse, which were forty
thousand.
Chariots —
Both for his military chariots, which seem to be those fourteen hundred, chap. 10:26, and for divers other uses, as about his
great and various buildings, and merchandises, and other occasions, which might
require some thousands of other chariots.
Horsemen —
Appointed partly for the defence of his people in peace; and partly for
attendance upon his person, and for the splendor of his government.
Verse 27
[27] And
those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto
king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.
The officers —
Named above.
They lacked — Or
rather, they suffered nothing to be lacking to any man that came thither, but
plentifully provided all things necessary.
Verse 29
[29] And
God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of
heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
Largeness of heart —
Vastness of understanding, a most comprehensive knowledge of all things both
Divine and human.
Verse 30
[30] And
Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country,
and all the wisdom of Egypt.
East country —
The Chaldeans, Persians, and Arabians, who all lay eastward from Canaan, and
were famous in ancient times for their wisdom and learning.
Egypt —
The Egyptians, whose fame was then great for their skill in the arts and
sciences, which made them despise the Grecians as children in knowledge.
Verse 31
[31] For
he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and
Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.
All men —
Either of his nation; or, of his time: or, of all times and nations, whether of
the east or any other country excepting only the first and second Adam.
Ethan, … —
Israelites of eminent wisdom, probably the same mentioned, 1 Chronicles 2:6; 15:19; 25:4 Psalms 88:1(title,) Psalms 89:1(title).
Chalcol, … — Of
whom see 1 Chronicles 2:6.
Verse 32
[32] And
he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
Proverbs —
That is, short, and deep, and useful sentences, whereof a great part are
contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
Songs —
Whereof the chief and most divine are in the Canticles.
Verse 33
[33] And
he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop
that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of
creeping things, and of fishes.
Trees —
That is, of all plants, of their nature and qualities: all which discourses are
lost, without any impeachment of the perfection of the holy scriptures; which
were not written to teach men philosophy or physick, but only to make them wise
unto salvation.
From the cedar, … —
That is, from the greatest to the least.
Verse 34
[34] And
there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the
earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
All kings —
All the neighbouring kings; a restriction grounded upon the following words,
where this is limited to such as heard of Solomon's wisdom. Let those who
magnify the modern learning above that of the ancients, produce such a treasury
of learning, anywhere in these later ages, as that was, which Solomon was
master of. Yet this puts an honour upon human learning, that Solomon is praised
for it, and recommends it to the great ones of the earth, as well worthy their
diligent search. In all this Solomon was a type of Christ, in whom are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Kings》
04 Chapter 4
Verses 1-34
Verses 1-28
So King Solomon was king over all Israel.
A kingdom unified
Charles Albert, we are told, went to help the Milanese. The
Austrians, vastly outnumbering, drove him back toward Turin, defeated him at
Novara, swayed renewed sceptre over the revolted provinces. The king abdicated
in favour of his son, Victor Emanuel. When the young king accepted the crown he
pointed his sword toward the Austrian camp and said, “By the grace of God there
shall be a united Italy.” It seemed then but an empty boast. Yet his prophecy
turned to fact. Marshal Radetjsky proposed to him the abolishment of the
constitutional charter granted to the people by his father, and advised him to
follow the Austrian policy of unbridled oppression. But the young king declared
that, sooner than subscribe to such conditions, he was ready to renounce, not
one crown, but a thousand. “The house of Savoy,” he said, “knows the path of
exile, but not the path of dishonour.” Right noble answer! Better anything than
disloyalty to a high ancestry, than falseness to the laws of the kingdom of
which he had been made the leader.
The Church triumphant
Make these words bear their very highest meaning, and we begin to
approach a true conception of the position of Jesus Christ as He sits enthroned
above the riches of the universe, ruling an obedient creation, receiving the
acclaims of the nations He has redeemed. Even this is prophesied. The prophets
were bold men. They followed their logic to its conclusions; yea, even until it
became poetry, and surprised themselves with unexpected music. We must not
regard millennial glory and millennial music as representing only imagination,
fancy, a vivid or overwrought dreaming faculty; all that is brightest,
sweetest, most melodious, expresses an underlying solidity of fact, history,
reality. The prophets said, Right shall reign; the day must come when men will
see that right is better than wrong, justice better than injustice, and peace
to be preferred above battle; and all this will be wrought out in connection
with the name of Immanuel--God with us--whose name is the Prince of Peace. (J.
Parker, D. D.)
Verse 22-23
1 Kings 4:22-23; 1 Kings 4:27-28
Solomon’s provisions for one day.
--
Solomon’s feast
This would seem to be part of the Parable of the Prodigal Son
before its time. This typical feast of Solomon’s has no reference to gluttony.
We have read of Caligula, who would never eat bread unless it was gilded--had a coating
of gold over the crust; but we are not commending such men in representing
Solomon’s feast as the feast of fat things and wine upon the lees well refined,
as being part of the viands and provision of the table of God, which is so
abundantly--yea, lavishly--spread. When did God give just enough? When was
there less at the end than there was at the beginning? When He had five loaves
and fed five thousand, how many basketfuls of fragments took ye up? Let God be
judged by the fragments, whoever found the loaves; let God be judged by the
harvest, whoever lent the seed
out of which it sprang. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verse 25
Judah and Israel dwelt safely.
Prosperity under the reign of wisdom
The text presents to us a perfect picture of a peaceful and
prosperous commonwealth. It is painted
with few touches, but they are all full of expression. We have before our eyes
a fruitful land. Cities, of different but united tribes, shine at a distance.
Quiet fields repose between. Families are grouped here and there under the shadow
of the leaves and the wealth of the fruit. And over all spreads the rule of the
prince, whose name has been but another name for wisdom over the eastern and
western world. The text invites us to draw a parallel between the Hebrew
commonwealth, at this highest point it ever reached of growth and refinement,
and our own country.
1. First, then, it enjoyed the most perfect political independence.
It was in itself an empire; compact at home, respected abroad. Its commerce
spread its sail to all the winds, and extended its traffic as far as the
Spanish coast and the pillars of Hercules. It was independent of the customs of
others, as well as of their dictation; for it was a peculiar people. It was
independent of the teaching of others; for it was Divinely instructed.
2. Though one, it was composed of several well-defined parts. It was
a confederacy of states, owning a common chief.
3. The third particular that calls for our notice in this pleasant
scene is the safety, the content, the enjoyment, of each individual
citizen--protected in his rights, and surrounded with the bounties which his
industry had gathered, or which fortune, without any effort of his own, had
bequeathed to him. “Every man under his vine and fig-tree.” Here, after all, is
the test of a truly flourishing state: what is done for the private person, and
what his opportunities are, in point of civilisation and enjoyment. For such
persons is the state appointed, and not they for the state. The improvement and
happiness of its members must be its leading aim. Such was the happy position
of Jacob’s united states during the reign of the third of their kings. Though
hardly even the third who could be truly called so, he was the last that ruled
over their associated people. Irreligion first made its inroads. The service of
the Lord was neglected or defiled. The customs of the heathen were adopted. The
nations that could not withstand their arms inflicted upon them their
superstitions, and so were avenged for their overthrow. Then came the insolence
of despotic sway. Oppression provoked resistance. Ten tribes revolted, and two
adhered. The bond of political brotherhood was cut through by the sword, and
Judah and Israel, so prosperous together, fell wretchedly apart, and became
rivals and foes. Where was now their independence? They were intriguing at
foreign courts, and seeking disastrous alliances--so unlike their own--with the
North and the South. Where was their peace? It was sacrificed in civil
strife--that most monstrous of iniquities, and mother of sorrows. Where was
their glory? It was all extinguished, except that which burnt in the lamps of
the sanctuary, and glowed upon the lips of prophets and holy men. Where was
their abundance? It flowed away among their divisions and their sins. The fig
ripened for the invader. The wine-press was dabbled with blood. (N. L. Frothingham.)
National prosperity
I. That it is God
who bestows national peace. This, God claims as His peculiar prerogative. “I
form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do
all these things.” The voice of Scripture here concurs with the voice of
reason. National peace is one of the links in the great chain of providence,
and of consequence comes under the Divine direction. It belongs to God to
determine when and where national peace shall be enjoyed. And it is easy to see
how God can give this blessing to different nations, notwithstanding their
native pride and selfishness.
1. God can make it the mutual interest of native and foreign nations
to be at peace with each other. This was the ease in the days of Solomon. Just
so God is able to unite the hearts of other nations, by uniting their
interests. It has long been a maxim in politics, that national interest is the
first principle of national policy. It is only for God, therefore, to make it
the mutual interest of different nations to be at peace with each other, and
they themselves will naturally seek and promote this agreeable object.
2. God is able to govern the hearts of nations, and in that way
dispose them to mutual peace and harmony. It was a proverb in Israel, “The king’s
heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it
whithersoever He will.” There is a supreme power in every nation; and the men
who possess that power, have the right of making war or peace.
II. That national
peace is a great national blessing, So long as Solomon had peace on all sides
round about him, it diffused universal happiness through his widely extended
kingdom. National peace is naturally productive of the greatest national
prosperity.
1. National peace naturally tends to increase the numbers of a
people. It is almost incredible how fast a people will increase in numbers,
while they are free from public and wasting calamities. And the increase of
numbers not only adds to the happiness of a people, but to the glory of their
government. So Solomon thought, and so he said: “In the multitude of people, is
the king’s honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.
2. National peace directly tends to promote national wealth. Wealth is a
temporal favour to nations, as well as to individuals, though it be often
perverted and abused by both. Solomon says, “The blessing of the Lord it maketh
rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.” Peace is the parent of wealth. For
peace promotes industry, industry promotes commerce, and commerce promotes the
wealth of any nation.
3. National peace has a happy influence upon every branch of human
knowledge. Leisure and learning go together.
4. National peace affords a favourable opportunity for forming public
designs and performing public works. Every rising nation finds that, in order
to be happy as well as respectable, it must build cities, erect churches, endow
colleges, open canals, make bridges, repair highways, remove public nuisances,
and perform many other expensive works of general utility. To promote such
national objects was highly reputable among the Romans in the zenith of their
prosperity. Pliny congratulates one of his friends upon being appointed a
surveyor of the highways; an office to which he, and even Caesar himself, had
been promoted. It is only when nations are settled in peace that they can form
and execute public designs.
5. It is the direct tendency of national peace to promote personal as
well as public prosperity. There is no other national blessing so extensive in
its kindly influence.
6. National peace is very friendly to the interests of religion.
During the peaceful reign of Solomon, religion greatly flourished.
III. Improvement.
1. If peace be the greatest national blessing, then war is the
greatest national calamity. War and peace are diametrically- opposite to each
other in their nature and tendency. War tends to destroy all that prosperity
which peace tends to produce.
2. If peace be the greatest of national blessings, then it is the
wisdom of those who possess the supreme power in any nation, to promote and
maintain this desirable and important object.
3. If it be the natural tendency of national peace to promote
national prosperity, then it is the wisdom of a people to do all in their power
to retain this invaluable blessing. A prosperous people are very prone to
forget the source of their prosperity, and to become extremely stupid,
avaricious, and revengeful
4. We learn, from what has been said, that we are under peculiar
obligations to God for the bestowment and continuance of our national peace. (N.
Emmons, D. D.)
Verse 27-28
1 Kings 4:22-23; 1 Kings 4:27-28
Solomon’s provisions for one day.
--
Solomon’s feast
This would seem to be part of the Parable of the Prodigal Son
before its time. This typical feast of Solomon’s has no reference to gluttony.
We have read of Caligula, who would never eat bread unless it was gilded--had a coating
of gold over the crust; but we are not commending such men in representing
Solomon’s feast as the feast of fat things and wine upon the lees well refined,
as being part of the viands and provision of the table of God, which is so
abundantly--yea, lavishly--spread. When did God give just enough? When was
there less at the end than there was at the beginning? When He had five loaves
and fed five thousand, how many basketfuls of fragments took ye up? Let God be
judged by the fragments, whoever found the loaves; let God be judged by the
harvest, whoever lent the seed
out of which it sprang. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verse 29
Largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore.
Grains of sand
The image is very expressive. On the coast both of Palestine and
Egypt--the regions with which the Bible writers were most familiar--the sand is
unusually abundant. All the way from the delta of the Nile to the most northern
point of Syria, a vast sandy tract, penetrating inland here and there from the
shore-line fringes the Mediterranean, and separates between the green
cultivated fields and the blue waters of the sea. The floor of the desert,
which encompasses the Holy Land on the south and east, although usually
composed of other materials, has nevertheless in a few places large belts of
deep sand drifts, like those which may be seen on the western bank of the Nile.
Let the traveller stand on the seashore near Gaza, where, far as the eye can
reach north and south, the tawny sand-hills swell and shoal as if imitating the
rolling of the waves. Let him take up a handful of the sand and try to count
its grains as they trickle through his fingers, and he will give up the task in
despair ere he has counted a twentieth part. Let him try to imagine how many
handfuls there are in even one heap beside him, and his imagination will be
speedily overpowered. And if he endeavours further to form some conception of the
quantity that makes up the shore of a single bay, or the floor of a single
desert, the mind utterly collapses under the unequal burden. In analysing it
more closely, the image indicates not only the vast but also the varied range
of Solomon’s wisdom; not only the quantity but also the quality of the
largeness of his heart. Nothing, at first sight, looks more uniform and
monotonous than a heap of sand. It seems barren and uninteresting to the last
degree; and yet examine carefully a small portion of the sand, and you will be
struck with the immense variety which it contains. No two particles are the
same in Size, shape, colour, or mineral character. No two grains have perhaps
the same origin or the same history. A handful of sand is, in fact, a geological
museum, composed of the remains of different rocks worn off or ground down by
different agencies and at different periods. One grain has come from the
granite rocks that almost throttle the Nile at the first cataract, out of which
the earliest monuments of Egypt were carved--perhaps has itself formed part of
some statue or obelisk that was old before history began. Another grain has
been ground down from the marble hills of Greece that have yielded the precious
material in which,
by the sculptor’s skill, the gods have come down to the earth in the likeness
of men. A third has been disintegrated from the volcanic stone which the
earliest builders of Italy have plied into their gigantic walls and massive
tombs. Some of the particles have been washed down by streams from the
precipices of the Alps or Apennines; others have been carried by the wind from
the eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna; and others still have been ground from the
dark northern headlands, those Sphinxes of the ocean against which the waves of
the Atlantic--fugitives, all white and reeking, flying from some monster of the
deep--hurl themselves with frantic fear. Frost and fire, glacier on mountain
crest, and iceberg on Arctic shore, all these have been at work for untold ages
to produce the individual grains of the handful of sand. We read in these
sand-dunes, as distinctly as we see the tracks of ancient animals on the
surface of sandstone slabs taken from the quarry, the evidence of many of the
changes through which our earth has passed. We see in them the relics of old
continents that have vanished completely--the sole memorials of ancient seas
that seem mythical to all but the geologist. The earth is but a gigantic
sand-glass for the computation of geological time, in which the sands are
falling unremittingly; and which after long ages is turned upside down to
expend what it has gained, and to gain what it has expended. Like this sand on
the seashore, in its wonderful variety, was the largeness of heart which God
bestowed upon Solomon; as a heap of sand, abundance of interest and enjoyment;
a largeness of heart which would invest with its own charm the most desert
place and the most familiar object--to which nothing that God had made would be
common or unclean. Throughout the life of Solomon we see how richly he possessed this Divine gift;
how wide was his culture--how deep was his interest in the world around him. God
is willing to grant to every human being, in a degree proportioned to his
nature and circumstances, what He bestowed upon Solomon. He has placed us in a
large and wealthy place. He has given to us the whole creation for our
inheritance, and made us the heirs of all the ages. The whole universe tends
towards man as its centre and highest point. It finds in him its end and interpreter. Nature is
translated in his mind into thought. All the sciences are only the humanising
of the things of earth. We name and classify and study plants, and animals, and
stones, and thus give our own life to them, and raise them by this association
into fit companions for ourselves. The uses of the objects of nature are only
their human relations. And all this is because God made the earth to be
co-ordinate with man, and in its own degree humane. And just as He feeds our
bodies with the treasures of every land and every sea, that we may have a wide
and vigorous life, participant of all variety; so He wishes to feed our souls
with intellectual food derived from all the objects which He has made, that we
may interpret the mute symbolism of earth and sea and sky, and offer in
rational conscious form, as the prests of creation, the silent, unconscious
worship of nature. As the sand is formed on the seashore, so is the enlargement
of heart, which is said to resemble it, acquired. Not in the quiet sheltered
waters of the bay, by gentle process, is the sand deposited. It speaks of
storm, of waste, and change. Its gain has come through loss. The sorrow or
suffering that seems so useless and vain, contending with the hard rocky cause
of it, fretting and fuming among the trying restraints of life is, as it were,
removing from them lessons of faith, and patience, and love, which afterwards,
when the sorrow has subsided and the suffering has become tranquil, will enrich
and beautify the whole life. So is it with all enlargements both in the natural
and human worlds; the increase in one direction is the result of decrease in a
another, as the seashore acquires its sand by a process of continental
disintegration. God’s chastisements, which seem to limit our joys and to make
our life poorer and meaner, are in reality designed to enlarge our hearts and
to widen the bounds of our being. And so, throughout the history of
Christendom, we find that communities tempted selfishly to confine to
themselves their special blessings have been compelled, by external shocks and
internal sufferings, to enlarge their bounds and make others partakers with
them of their privileges. New ages of larger liberty, of wider vision, of purer
faith, of more just and loving relationships between man and man, have been
ushered in through periods of terror and pain! The hearts of men everywhere
have been enlarged through their fears; and the storms and strifes of the world
have been the pains of progress--the birth-pangs of grander liberties. The
framework of Society, like the framework of Nature, is broken up from time to
time, that out of the wreck may be formed the shore-line that limits the
encroachments of evil, and the dry land of truth that lifts the level of life
nearer heaven. The sand on the seashore is composed of small particles. It is
vast in the aggregate, but the grains are individually minute; and so the
largeness of heart, which resembles it, is made up of the fulfilment of little
duties and the adorning of little occasions as they arise. The largeness of the
Christian’s heart is shown, not only by the comprehensiveness of its range of
regard, but also by the minuteness of its interests and sympathies. His piety
is proved, not by his conduct on great and exciting occasions, but by his
conduct in ordinary circumstances. It requires less grace in reality to be a
martyr for Christ on a public stage than to be kind and considerate in the
familiar intercourse of domestic life, or to maintain a guileless integrity in
the ordinary transactions of business. The Christianity that is faithful in
that which is least is a more difficult Christianity than that which glows and
triumphs on grand occasions. Little love can perform great actions; but it
requires great love to present like little children small offerings--and to
devote every moment and task of our life to God. A largeness of heart which
thus attends to the smallest details of piety--to the little things in which
love most powerfully shows itself, which recognises God habitually, and seeks
constant opportunities to please Him, will never be oppressed with listlessness
and ennui. Without this enlargement of heart we cannot appreciate the broad
wide world of God s salvation. Without an enlargement of heart to place us, as
it were, on higher ground, from whence our view can take in more and more of
God’s universe, our life will be centred in the mere spark that animates the
body. We need that the grace of God should do for our hearts what the
microscope does for our eyes--enlarging our vision so as to see new beauty and
wonder in the most familiar objects. We have had moments when we obtained
fleeting glimpses of this joy. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)
Verses 30-34
Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the
east country.
The aloneness of Jesus Christ
Christ towers up above the history of the world and the process of
revelation, like Mount Everest among the Himalayas. To that great peak all the
country on the one side runs upwards, and from it all the valleys on the other
descend; and the springs are born there which carry verdure and life over the
world. (Alex. Maclaren, D. D.)
Verse 33
And he spake of trees . . . he spake also of
beasts.
Plant-life
The wise man had a genuine delight in plants, herbs, flowers, and
trees. Read the Book of Canticles, and from its pages is caught the very
fragrance of spring. He speaks with enthusiasm of the “rose of Sharon,” of “the
lily among thorns,” of the “apple-trees and orchards of pomegranates with
pleasant fruits,” of the “garden of nuts,” and the “smell of Lebanon.” He
rejoices when “the winter is past, the rain over and gone,” when “the flowers
appear on the earth,” when “the time of the singing of birds “ comes, when the
“voice of the turtle is heard in the land,” “when the fig-tree putteth forth
her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell!” Such
expressions indicate a fervent delight in Nature and an accurate observation of
her phases. Jesus also, the greater than Solomon, directed His disciples to
“consider the lilies,” and to notice the way in which God “clothes the grass of
the field.”
I. God’s delight
in varied beauty. From the “cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop,” what a range! What
an almost infinite number of species! What variety of colouring and form! All
are the expression of God’s thought of beauty. What a God of glory we serve In
Society and in the Church, many varieties of men and systems, God is working
through all and delights in all. What a painful thing would be a uniform colour
or shape for plants.
II. How beauty may
spring out of corruption. God has arranged this. It is ‘His plan throughout.
Plants flourish best on the mould full of decayed vegetable or animal life.
Striking their roots deep down into this reign of decay and death they gather
life therefrom. Death supports life. So if only we are enlightened we shall
find that out of our natures so sinful, so imperfect, these passions so
overmastering, we may, under the influence of the forgiving love of Christ and
of God’s Spirit renewing our hearts and lives, bring that which shall be
beautiful, good, noble, pure, and approved of God.
III. Growth is a
great mystery. True, the plants draw nourishment from the moist earth, but what
power or principle is it that set all its ducts and roots at work? We may call
it “life,” “attraction,” “assimilation,” or what we like, we are as far off as
ever. God is the Author of their life. But the mystery remains. So in our
spiritual life. How our receiving as true the fact that Christ died and rose
again, should, be as new life to our souls, we cannot explain.
IV. The way growth
should tend. Upwards. Higher, higher, is echoed by every flower and every tree.
Heavenward should be the constant aim of the Christian, nearer to God.
Stretching forth our hands in prayer we should grow. See how the palm-tree
shoots upward, surmounted by a graceful tuft of foliage that seems like a
symbol of the crown which shall hereafter grace the Christian’s brow when he
has reached the heaven of his joy.
V. Upward growth
must be by the aid of that which comes from outside and above. The willow grows
by the water of the dark and lazy stream, but the flowers of the field rejoice
when the rain cometh down to water the earth. Notice how the one droops
downward in reverence, while the others spread their leaves or lift their
branches so as to welcome the bounty of God. So we point to Him who came from
above, who revealed the Father, who died for sin, and who has been ready to
give to every thirsty spirit the water of life, who has brought life and
immortality to light; and whose Spirit alone can nourish us that we may grow.
VI. Every plant in
its place. Each clump of moss, bunch of ferns, hyssop, flower or tree has its
habitat. In the myriad plants of a dense tropical forest, there is not one that
is not fulfilling some purpose. The hyssop or fern may help to soften rugged
edges of rock or wall. The tree may be for shade to man or shelter to birds,
and the cedar may be for timber for the temple, The tall palm standing near a
well intimates to the far-off and famishing traveller of the desert that there
is relief at hand. The flowers may bloom or die, but they fulfil the end of
existence. Let us learn to do so.
VII. Plants teach
us also to make the best of circumstances. Winter cuts down the flowers,
withers the leaves, bares the trees. Its winds sweep through the branches, its
keen frosts nip the buds and early blossoms. Yet they went through all, and in
time are reclothed with beauty.
VIII. Hints given of
a glorious resurrection. Well, indeed, for us that we should so live that we
can look forward to the spring-time of heaven as a further step in the stage of
being, and revelation of the glory of God. We shall sleep in the dust of death
and rise in the glory of springtide. (Homiletic Quarterly.)
A royal horticulturist
When Lysander brought presents to Cyrus, the prince conducted his
illustrious guest through his gardens. Lysander, struck with so fine a
prospect, praised the manner in which the grounds were laid out, the neatness
of the walks, the abundance of trees planted with an art which knew how to
combine the useful with the agreeable; the beauty and the glowing variety of
flowers exhaling odours throughout the delightful scene. “Everything charms and
transports me in this place,” said Lysander to Cyrus; “but what strikes me most
is the exquisite taste of the person who drew the plan of these gardens.” Cyrus
replied, “I drew the plan and entirely marked it out. Many of the trees which
you see were planted by my own hands.” “What!” exclaimed Lysander with
astonishment, “is it possible that those purple robes and splendid vestments,
those strings of jewels and bracelets of gold, those buskins so richly
embroidered--is it possible that you could play the gardener, and employ
your royal hands in planting trees?” “Does that surprise you?” said Cyrus. “I
assure you that when my health permits I never sit down to my table without
having fatigued myself either in military exercise, rural labour, or some other
toilsome employment, to which I apply myself with pleasure.”
The study of Nature
It is said of Wordsworth that a stranger having on one occasion
asked to see his study, the maid said, “This is master’s room, but he studies
in the fields.” In doing so the poet followed a venerable example. We read that
Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide, where in the margin “to
pray” is put for “to meditate.” Nor could there be a better place either for
prayer or for study than the fields. The Word of God is written very clearly
for His seers in the green book of Nature. Wordsworth’s study is one that we
can all use, however small our house may be. (Quiver.)
The world is worth seeing
Men must not live under a bushel. A gentleman once met a French
priest on board an Atlantic liner. They entered into conversation, and the
priest said that months ago he had a dream. He dreamt that he was dead, and
that God asked him how much of the world he had seem His answer was that he had
seen only a very little of it, for he had been so long in preparing for death,
and in helping other people to die, that he had no time to see the world. He
saw that God was displeased, and on awakening he resolved to see as much of this
beautiful world as he could. It was a wise resolve. The earth is the Lord’s and
not the devil’s, and we have no right to ignore it. Nature is a temple of God,
and we must ever walk through it in a sacramental mood. (Sunday Circle.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》