June 25, 2024 | Be God's Light
Solomon Asks God for Wisdom to Lead
Scripture: 1 Kings 3 (NIV)
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. 3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.
He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.
19 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”
22 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”
But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.
23 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”
24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”
28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
Devotional
Except.
This little word negates everything that comes before it.
A woman is faithful to her husband, except for her occasional affairs.
A man is honest at work, except for the money he embezzles.
“Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.” These high places had been the sites of pagan worship for the Canaanites, not the kind of place where one could honor God faithfully.
Exceptional.
This word amplifies everything around it.
The woman was an exceptional wife.
The man was an exceptional employee.
Though the word is not specifically used in this chapter, it is descriptive of Solomon’s request to God for wisdom. God was moved by his exceptional request. God had said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Most people would ask for health and wealth, fame and a great name. But Solomon simply asked for wisdom to govern well.
And this he did throughout his life.
Except.
Solomon didn’t apply his wisdom to his love life.
He collected wives like kids collect baseball cards. 1 Kings 11:4-6 says, “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been…. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.” We’ll look at this more closely next week.
In Proverbs 4:25-27, Solomon would write, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” If only Solomon had listened to his own advice.
What about your life can be summarized by “except”?
What about your life can be summarized by “exceptional”?
How is God calling you to reconcile the two?
Poem
Prayer
Holy God,
Source of all
Creator of majesty
Sole proprietor of glory
Your servant stands before you
A child so small
A man so weak
A king so overwhelmed
Generations before me
Have failed
Have sinned
Have lost their way
Only you can provide
Discernment
Wisdom
Guidance
And so, I beg you
Speak
Lead
Bless
That your kingdom on earth
Might reflect your kingdom in heaven
Might do your will
Might give you all glory and honor
For I am nothing without you
So small
So weak
So overwhelmed
But you, O Lord, my holy God
Are source of all
Are creator of majesty
Are sole proprietor of glory
