Heavenly Wisdom: Four Beams of Divine Light for Kings

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings.—Wisdom is the mind's eye, by which she pryeth into all the secrets of nature and mysteries of State, and discerneth between good and evil, and prudently guideth all the affairs of life, as the helm doth a ship. She is the chief of the four cardinal virtues and may rightly be termed the hinge that turns them all about: wisdom to direct, justice to correct, temperance to abstain, fortitude to sustain. Discretion is the salt of all our actions; without which nothing that is done or spoken is savory.

Scripture mentions a fourfold wisdom: Godly wisdom is piety; worldly wisdom is policy; fleshly wisdom is sensuality; devilish wisdom is mischievous subtlety. Of this heavenly light, this godly wisdom, we display four beams:

First, to begin with our end, and to provide for our eternal estate after this life. Second, to inform ourselves certainly how we stand in the court of heaven—whether Elohim's countenance shine upon us, or there be a cloud betwixt it and us. Third, to consider what infirmities of mind our natural constitution, state, or profession maketh us most subject unto, and to furnish ourselves with remedies against them. Mark where we lie most open to temptation, and there have our watch ready. Fourth, to observe the carriage of all affairs in this great city of the world, and to set a mark upon Elohim's wonderful protection and care over the godly, and His fearful judgments upon the wicked.