will, he shall know of the doctrine" (John vii. 17). He shall know the reality, the power, of the wisdom which cometh down from above by personal and blessed experience. Understanding in these matters is "drawn out" by doing. 4. Wisdom is found by _communion with God_. Those who talk much with men who are their superiors in goodness and intelligence, and live on friendly terms with them, must become wiser and better through the intercourse. The stronger soul will mould the weaker. The man who holds converse with the highest and best Intelligence, with the Fountain of Wisdom, must draw understanding out of this Living Spring. 5. Wisdom for special needs, the understanding how to act in emergencies, is drawn out from God by the _confession of our ignorance and the pleading of God's promises_. Solomon was himself an example of this. By special prayer, by obeying his own precept (verses 5-6), he obtained the gift of an understanding heart to judge the people (1 Kings iii. 5-12). +II. Wisdom is beyond comparison with anything outside herself.+ She is better than wealth because she gives blessings which wealth cannot buy. 1. She gives real _heart-satisfaction_. Money will bring much ease and luxury to the bodily life, but mere material comfort cannot gladden the inner man or keep away old age and sickness. But Wisdom gives a joy which has its home in the heart, and which increases with the increase of years. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, because they are ways of holiness. Love, and joy, and peace, and all the graces which are the fruit of the Spirit of God are the very elements which in perfection constitute the blessedness of God Himself. They are the fruits which His servants pluck from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. ii. 7). To be holy is to be happy in the true, deep sense of the word. 2. She introduces to _better society_. Wealth will do much in this way. Gold is a passport to honour in the world generally, often to the Church in the world. But the holy character which is born of heavenly wisdom is the only possession which will open the doors of the "Church of the firstborn," which will admit to the society of God, His angels, and His redeemed ones. This is the true honour. 3. Her gifts are _for eternity_. No matter how precious or how great the joy, the honour of earth passeth away (1 Cor. vii. 31). The gifts of Wisdom are for ever. The length of an eternity of days is in her hand. _OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._ Verse 13. Never will this solid happiness be known without singleness of judgment and purpose. The inestimable blessing must have the throne. The waverer and half-seeker fall short. Determined perseverance wins the prize (Phil. iii. 12-14).--_Bridges._ If God loves a son, He corrects him; and then, "O the blessedness of the man!" It actually makes us wise. Let us not forget the doctrine that affliction--as, indeed, everything--always benefits the Christian.--_Miller._