Proverbs 16:16

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold!

Wisdom better than wealth

I. The difference between wisdom and understanding. It is like that which exists between the moving and the acting power, between the principle and the practice, between the plan and the process, between the cause and the effect. Wisdom is the knowledge and preference of the best and worthiest end; understanding is the apprehension and the employment of the means which shall be most effectual for attaining it. The well-being of the imperishable part of man throughout eternity is the chief end of his existence, and the knowledge and preference of this is “wisdom.” Then the apprehension and the employment of the means which shall be effectual in obtaining it is “understanding.” The habitual avoidance and resistance of all known sin is a sure test of spiritual “wisdom” and spiritual “understanding.”

II. Why are wisdom and understanding to be chosen rather than silver and gold? These are more conducive than silver and gold to solid happiness. There are many things in the countless evils which make up man’s heritage of woe for which silver and gold can provide no remedy whatever. Wisdom imparts to man the power of subjecting, if not of satisfying the bodily appetites; it makes him rich, if not by increasing his substance, by diminishing his wants; it sets before him the continual feast of a contented heart. And it teaches how to avoid and escape evils. It may also be added that wisdom and understanding are better than gold and silver because they alone can be conducive to the happiness of the “life that is to come.” (T Dale, M.A.)

Better than gold

But gold is good. Solomon evidently regarded gold as among his most valued possessions. Gold is precious, when we remember all the straits and struggles it can save us from, and all the ease and comfort it can bring. The moral teacher who speaks hard things against gold only confirms those who hear him in the idea that religion will not do for this work-a-day world at all. All the gold you can get by honest labour, conscientiously, by all means get. Ill-gotten gold will ultimately burn both your fingers and your pocket, aye, and scar your soul too. Yes, gold is good, but wisdom is better than gold. To know Christ in the heart as a Saviour, in the mind as a Teacher, in the life as a Pattern, and in all things as a King--this is wisdom. It is the fear of the Lord, the love of His law, faith in His Cross, the power of His Spirit, the hope in His Word. Gold can be but an external possession, a mere accessory of life. Nay, all the luxuries which gold can bring do all the sooner exhaust the senses, and invite their fate. But wisdom, the power of religion, is not external, though it affects all surrounding circumstances for good. Wisdom is a well, a fountain, in the Christian’s soul. It is fed, by secret channels, direct from the river of life. Here, then, I take my stand. Gold may be with me, grace shall be in me. Wealth may be about me, wisdom shall be of me, not an endowment, but an enduement. Gold is but lent to me, but God’s favour and mercy are eternally mine. (J. Jackson Wray.)

Wisdom

This is really a mental contrast instituted between the respective values of the two sides of man’s nature--the mind and the body, the soul and the senses. In imagination wisdom is made to stand for the one, and gold, the most coveted of earthly possessions, for the other. What to Solomon did “wisdom” mean? What was its warp and woof? what its mental form? There are elements in wisdom that are older than the foundations of the world, nay, that are coeval with the eternal existence of God Himself. There are elements in even human wisdom, as found in every race that has thought and risen to morality and virtue, which are as imperishable as right and as unalterable as the laws of nature. The root of the word “wisdom” is “weis,” to know, or to think, clearly. It reappears in the word “wit.” Nimbleness in the mental perception of congruity and incongruity is the essence of wit. Wisdom should mean a quick, clear, vivid perception of the true and right relations of every kind of knowledge. A sophist is a man who seeks to gain his ends quite regardless of the means employed. He aims, not at right judgment, but at the triumph of a purpose. True wisdom is the instinctive and resolute right using of knowledge. Knowledge, taken by its naked and unaided self, instead of ennobling a man’s character, may even be the most powerful instrument in degrading it. The very core of wisdom is conscience. Wisdom in its broadest aspect is the outcome of manhood, trained, disciplined, and cultured to its highest. It is human nature in equilibrium, the body harnessed, and the soul with a calm grip upon the reins. There are some who banish wisdom from the personal sanctuary of noble spiritual life. They tell us that wisdom is of the head, the intellect--a secular not a sacred quality. Ignore the distinction. A soul without reverence may become learned, but can never become wise. The reverent, the worshipful faculty is of all others the one that lifts man most above the level of the brute. Reverence is human, and it is so because in a high and noble sense humanity is Divine. The retaining this upwardness, this sense of reverence in the soul, is the first and highest duty of every man. This reverence we are in danger of losing. The very greatness of manhood is that wrong-doing and wrong-being are possible to us all, and possible to us always. Right can only be where wrong would have been a possible alternative. “Know thyself” is a maxim of supreme value. We can penetrate into the depths of ourselves, and discover our weakness or strength. No influence is more powerful in our destiny than the formation of habit. “Sow an acts and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character.” The chief hindrance to the getting of wisdom is the early formation of habits. They may morally imprison and slay us. You are responsible before God and man for your character. (W. H. Dallinger, D.D.)

Moral and material wealth

There are two things implied in this verse.

1. That material wealth is a good thing. “Gold and silver” are not to be despised. These are good--

(1) As the creatures of God. All the silver and gold found locked up in the chests of mountains He made. He created nothing in vain.

(2) As the means of good. How much good can be accomplished by material wealth. Intellectual, social, moral, religious good.

2. That the pursuit of material wealth is a legitimate thing.

I. It is “better” in its possession.

1. It is better because it enriches the man himself. The wealth of Croesus cannot add a fraction of value to the man. Millionaires are often moral paupers. But moral wealth, the wealth of holy loves, great thoughts, Divine aims, and immortal hopes enrich the man himself.

2. It is better, because it creates higher enjoyments. Money has no necessary power to make men happy.

3. It invests with higher dignities.

4. It is destined to a longer endurance.

II. It is better in its pursuit. It is better in the getting, the choosing.

1. The pursuit is more ennobling. The mere pursuit of material wealth whilst it develops certain faculties cramps others and deadens the moral sensibilities. Often in the pursuit of riches we see souls that might have expanded into seraphs running into grubs. Not so with the pursuit of true spiritual wisdom. All the faculties are brought into play, and the soul rises in might and majesty.

2. The pursuit is more heavenly. Amongst the millions in the hierarchies of heaven not one soul can be found pursuing material good. Their “excelsior” is for a higher assimilation to the Infinite.

3. The pursuit is more successful. Thousands try for material wealth and fail. The ditches along the road of human enterprise are crowded with those who ran with all their might in the race for wealth, but who fell into the slough of pauperism and destitution. But you will not find one who ever earnestly sought spiritual wealth who failed Every true effort involves positive attainment. (D. Thomas, D.D.)

Wisdom better than gold

I. In what respects wisdom is better than gold.

1. It is better in its origin. No man has got wisdom without a knowledge of its source and its purity. Whence comes gold? Let the miner answer, who digs it with great labour out of the earth. Whence comes wisdom? Let the Saviour answer, who of God is made unto us wisdom. God is the Source of wisdom. He that teaches man knowledge shall He not know? There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding.

2. It is better in its nature. Refine gold as you may, it has still dross; but the wisdom which cometh from above is pure. Love gold as you may, it never can become part of the mind; but wisdom can be incorporated with it. A rich man may have to leave his gold, or his gold may leave him; but no matter to what a wise man is subjected, he carries his wisdom with him.

3. It is better in its influence. Although gold is a good thing in itself, it has often a bad influence on depraved minds. Its possession not unfrequently contracts the mind, blunts the feelings, and increases covetousness.

II. For what purposes is wisdom better than gold?

1. It is better for guiding a man in the affairs of this life. How many, when they come to possess gold, show themselves to be fools! They spend it improperly, and damage their health, ruin their character, disgrace their friends. How much inferior is gold to wisdom! This gives a man forethought, teaches him to avoid evil, to improve time, and to conduct his affairs with discretion. It gives to the young man hope of success, to the middle-aged man perseverance in a right course, and to the aged man the reward of his diligence. Without it, the scholar can make no advancement, the traveller no interesting observations, nor the genius any important discoveries. By wisdom all the arts and sciences have been advanced.

2. It is better for guiding a man in the choice of things for another life. God is the very essence of wisdom. This, in the view of created intelligences, makes Him greater than His dominions do: He created man, and put wisdom within him, and riches around him; these riches could not have kept him from falling, but his wisdom could. No amount of gold or riches could reinstate him after he fell. But by wisdom he was restored. By wisdom God baffled Satan’s designs and bruised his head.

III. To what degree is it better to get wisdom than gold?

1. It is better, as the soul is more valuable than the body. The body is subject to decay, and must soon go down to the dust. The soul is immortal, and though it must leave the body at death, it continues its existence in another state. What can gold do for it then? How much better is wisdom, which adorns the soul with heavenly graces, and makes it shine in the beauties of holiness. Blessed with heavenly wisdom, the soul is rich for eternity.

2. It is better, as eternity is more enduring than time. Gold had its beginning in this world, and will end with it. Wisdom comes from another world and will continue in it.

3. It is better, as heaven is more glorious than this world.

4. It is better, as its possession gives more lasting happiness.

5. It is better, as a crown of glory is more dignifying than a crown of gold.

(1) Learn the great importance of being wise for eternity.

(2) True wisdom is now to be found.

(3) Let me entreat you, ask wisdom of the Lord. (John Miller.)

Better than gold

A few years ago the news of gold in California spread like wildfire all over the country. Everybody wanted to go and get some. The storekeeper shut up his shop and went. The mason threw down his trowel and went. The farmer left his crops, and the shoemaker his last, and hurried off to the land of gold. The excitement was so great that it was called the “gold fever.” Good as that getting was thought to be, there is something better to get, better than a whole gold-mine. Why is it so much better?

1. You cannot be robbed of it. Wisdom cannot be stolen. Neither can fire burn it, or water drown it. Locusts cannot eat it, or blight or mildew harm it. Bad times cannot damage its value, or bad partners gamble it away. You may sail round the world, and not leave it behind. You may be shipwrecked, and not lose it. You may be put in prison and carry it with you. It is not too rich for a cottage, or too poor for a palace. Sickness does not cheapen its worth, or health add to it. Nothing robs it of its value. Times and seasons, which alter everything else, make no alteration in this.

2. Wisdom is better than gold, because it pays better. “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” It says in keeping God’s commands there is “great reward.” Yes, wisdom yields a greater profit, a better gain, than gold or silver. Can gold buy the pardon of sin? Can it get you peace and happiness? Can it secure to you room in heaven? No, gold cannot purchase these; and these are what you want. When Mr. Astor had acquired his large property, and was called the richest man in the country, “I wish,” he said, “I could go back to a poor boy, and make it all over again.” The possession of it did not make him happy. Gold does not satisfy. (Church of England Magazine.)