SERMON. 1 



BY THE REV. THOMAS HILL, D.D., LL.D. 



"The Lord giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." 

 PROV. ii. 6. 



THE characteristic of the Hebrew literature is its piety; its recognition of 

 one God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, from whom alone cometh 

 every good gift, and by whose inspiration alone man has wisdom, strength, 

 and righteousness. 



Another marked feature in these ancient writings is the recognition of the 

 true relation of knowledge, wisdom, and righteousness; that they stand in 

 this order ; that knowledge is the lowest, it is the foundation on which 

 wisdom builds, while righteousness is the highest; that wisdom has not 

 builded worthy of her name until she has built an altar for daily worship and 

 daily renewal of self-consecration to God's service. In the text we have 

 three words indicating this gradation : the Lord giveth wisdom ; out of his 

 mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. The word translated knowl- 

 edge has precisely that force : it is knowledge gained through experience ; 

 that translated understanding signifies knowledge gained by reflection, or 

 insight ; and that translated wisdom refers to the hidden power of using 

 knowledge and insight in the guidance of life. 



These distinctions are deep and subtle: the wisest philosophers puzzle 

 over them in this nineteenth century after Christ, as they did in the ninth 

 century before Christ, and come to no universal agreement. But, subtle as 

 the distinctions are, they are so deep that no man can refuse to perceive 

 their existence. In these ancient Hebrew writings, they are clearly alluded 

 to, and every humble reader of his Bible has a more or less clear perception 

 of the meaning of the allusions. The doctrine of the text is accepted, with 

 more or less understanding of its import, by every devout Christian. 



What is the doctrine ? It is that our Maker has endowed us with three 

 principal intellectual powers : First, the power of external perception, the 



1 Preached in the First Parish Church, Portland, Me., Sunday morning, Oct. 10. 



