Article March 12, 1932 Issue

Wisdom and Wealth

ANNIE M. KNOTT

It is undeniable that all men desire wealth, but it is questionable whether all desire wisdom; yet rightly understood they are inseparable. In the epistle of James, after his greeting "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," he says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,...and it shall be given him." Never before in human history has wisdom been so greatly needed by high and low, by men and nations, as at this hour.

In turning over the pages of the Bible, thought was arrested by the narrative of the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon as given in the tenth chapter of I Kings. At the very start we are told that this queen came to Jerusalem from what was then a far distant land to learn about God and to gain wisdom. We read that she brought with her "very much gold, and precious stones." She, on her part, was amazed at the evidences of wealth on every hand, yet again and again throughout the chapter wisdom is named as outshining all the material wealth. We may well pause for a moment to ponder her words to King Solomon: "Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, ... therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice." We read that Solomon "exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart."

As we turn from this record of olden time we may pause to recall these words of Whittier's well-known hymn:

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