Will not the far-reaching plans, and heroic sacrifices, and long-enduring toil of Californian and Australian gold-diggers rise up and condemn us who have tasted and known the grace of God? Their zeal is the standard by which the Lord stimulates us now, and will measure us yet. Two things are required in our search—the right direction and the sufficient impulse. The Scriptures point out the right way, the avarice of mankind marks the quantum of forcefulness, wherewith the seeker must press on.—Arnot.
This intimates (1) a loss or want of something. Else men seek not for it. (2) A knowledge of this want or loss. Else men sit still. (3) Some goodness indeed, or, in our own opinion, of the thing sought. Men are, or should be, content to lose what is evil. (4) Some benefit to ourselves in it. Else few will seek it, though good in itself. (5) An earnest desire to find it. Else men have no heart to seek it. (6) A constant inquiry after it, wheresoever there is any hope to find it. Else we seek in vain. So in seeking wisdom—we must want it, and know that we want it, and see good in it, and that to ourselves, and seek it earnestly and constantly, if we would find it.—Francis Taylor.
Verse 5. That which impels men to the pursuit is also the prize which rewards them. If any distinction between God (Elohim, see [“Critical Notes”]) and the Lord (Jehovah) can be pressed here, it is that in the former the glory, in the latter the personality of the Divine nature is prominent.—Plumptre.
He understandeth the fear of the Lord, whose understanding feareth the Lord. The knowledge of God is found in all His creatures, but he findeth the knowledge of God who, being lost in his sins, is found by God in the acknowledgement of them. . . . And as fear advanceth to the knowledge of God, so the knowledge of God bringeth us to the fear of Him.—Jermin.
This knowledge of God is the first lesson of heavenly wisdom. On the right apprehension of this lesson all the rest necessarily depends. Wrong views of God will vitiate every other department of your knowledge. Without right views of God you can have no right views of His law. Without right views of His law you can have no right views of sin, either in its guilt or in its amount. Without right views of sin, you can have no right views of your own condition, and character, and prospects as sinners. Without right views of these you can have no right views of your need of a Saviour, or of the person, and the righteousness, and atonement of that Saviour. Without right views of these you can have no right views of your obligations to Divine grace, etc. . . . The fear of the Lord, founded on the knowledge of Him, is something to the right understanding of which experience is indispensable. To a man who had never tasted anything sweet, you would attempt in vain to convey, by description, a right conception of the sensation of sweetness. And what is true of the sensations is true also of the emotions. To a creature that had never felt fear you would hardly convey, by description, an idea of its nature; and equally in vain would it be to make love intelligible to one that had never experienced that affection. It is thus to a depraved creature with regard to holy and spiritual affections. “This fear of the Lord”—a fear springing from love and proportioned to it—such a creature cannot understand but by being brought to experience it.—Wardlaw.
The knowledge of God regulates the fear and prevents it from sinking into terror, or degenerating into superstition, but guides it to express its power in checking and subduing every corrupt affection and animating the soul to every instance of obedience.—Lawson.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses 6–11.
God as a Giver and Man as a Receiver.
I. The fact stated—that God gives. The nature of the good is to give. God is the best of all beings, therefore He is the greatest giver. 1. The kindness of God is manifested in the character of His gifts. 2. The resources of God are revealed in the abundance of His gifts. The character and disposition of men are made known by what they give and by how they give. God’s gifts are “good and perfect,” and are given ungrudgingly (Jas. i. 5–17). But men’s resources are not always equal to their desires to give. But God is rich, not only in mercy, but in power; He has given up to Himself in the gift of His Son, in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and beyond whom the Father Himself cannot give.
II. Some of His gifts enumerated. 1. Wisdom. Sound wisdom. Real wisdom as opposed to that which is only a sham (see [“Critical Notes”]). The serpent—the devil—possesses cunning, but not real wisdom. Our first parents were led astray by believing a lie—the fruit of following the tempter’s guidance was unsoundness of body and soul. The results of this “wisdom of the serpent” proved its falsity. God gives the true wisdom. He gives men the truth. A knowledge of the truth about themselves, about Him (ver. 6), brings stability of character—leads men into the right way of life (ver. 9)—and thus tends to peace and blessedness of soul. 2. He gives protection by giving true wisdom. “He is a buckler,” etc. (ver. 7). When Abraham undertook to deliver Lot from the hands of his enemies, the skill with which he planned and carried out the attack (Gen. xiv. 14) showed his wisdom. After the victory God came to him and said, “Fear not, Abraham. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. xv. 1). How had God just proved Himself to be his shield? Not by sending a legion of angels to deliver him, but by giving him the wisdom by which he had defended himself. This is how He is a buckler to His children. He “preserveth the way of His saints” (ver. 8) by giving them wisdom and grace to “understand” and keep “every good path” (ver. 9).