Passage Read.
Pray
One day, three men were leaving their office to go on a lunch break. They somehow stumbled on a genie who offered them a wish each. The first immediately said, “I wish I was lying on a beach in Bali with a drink in my hand”, and poof, he was there. The second, seeing the first disappear, jumped in and said, “I wish I was skiing on the finest slope in the Alps”, and all of a sudden he was there. The final man, who happened to be the boss of the first two, said, “I want those two back at their desks by the end of lunchtime.”
Now that’s a silly story, but I wonder what you would wish for if you had just one wish. If you’re like me, you’ve probably thought about it. I had a quick look online, and I was surprised to see how many did not ask for unlimited wealth, or power, or riches. Some asked for world peace, some asked for love, others asked for forgiveness, whilst others asked for equality.
We see from the passage that Solomon did not ask for wealth or a long life; those were seen as the great blessings of God in those days. We see it through the old testament, but also into Jesus’ time that the mark of how blessed a man was by God was by how wealthy he was, and how long he lived and how many children he had was, which was a form of wealth.
Instead, Solomon asks for an understanding mind, v, 9 to govern your people and to discern good and evil. It seems like a strange request. At one point in my life I remember distinctly realising that, in my arrogance, I had thought that God had made me the way I am and so he could not take away my intelligence. Yes, I was young and naive, but God showed me that this was very much something God could take away, or at least make my intelligence count for nothing. I actually repeated a year of school. Did you know that? It’s something that always surprises my students, especially since they know that I am often entrusted to teach some of the top mathematicians, and some know that I went to one of the top universities in the world. But yes, God is very much in control of all those things, and woe betide us if we forget it.
Now, this may sound strange, but is Wisdom the wisest thing to be asking for and what other lessons can we learn from Solomon.
I is a rare thing when God says that he is pleased with someone, as humans, we are weak, we fail time and time again and often we not only ignore God’s commands, we willfully disobey Him, and since He is our Father, King, and the Creator God, it is well worth noting when he is pleased. I will talk about whether Wisdom was the best thing for Solomon to have asked, but we note the attitude with which he asked it.
Firstly, Solomon asked God with humility.
We see that Solomon starts by praising and acknowledging God
v. 6 Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.
Always a good start. Those of us who learned to pray as little children are often taught the acronym ACTS, that is, Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. We start with adoration, praise of God, and we only ask for things, supplication at the end. We remember God’s greatness at the beginning of our prayer and that helps us to put our request in context. We see that this mixes in Solomon’s words with Thanksgiving, and when trying to hold to that order of prayer, I’ve always struggled to keep those two separate. They flow naturally into one another, don’t they? God, you are the Almighty Creator God, maker of all things, thank you for creating us and everything that sustains us and brings us joy…
When we realise who we are praying to, it puts us in our place, doesn’t it? Who are we to be asking anything?
And we see this in Solomon’s attitude of humility.
V.7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude.
I have talked so many times about pride being the great sin. Every sin has its root in pride, especially as Christians, thinking that we know better than God’s law. So, anyone who has been a Christian for a good amount of time knows, it is only when we humble ourselves, can we learn. And only when we learn, do we grow. And that can be a painful process. God sometimes has to break us, to remake us. If you’ve ever seen a potter with clay, and that’s an image that the bible presents to us in Romans 9, you see the potter giving the clay a good pounding first to get rid of the impurities and air bubbles. And that’s what it feels like to be a Christian sometimes.
I’m not advertising it well, am I? The life of a Christian is one of pain, and suffering, of being broken down and being built up, but it is also one of peace and joy found through this process.
The second thing that we learn from Solomon’s attitude that pleased God is that the asking was for service.
V.9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?
You see, God made us to serve Him. To rule the earth under Him.
Romans 6:18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
It’s when we think that any part of our body or lives are our own, do we start to resent God’s influence of it, and again that is when pride creeps in.
So we must remember that when we ask of God, we must do it in humility and our asking must be for serving him. This is where people misunderstand the verse John 14:14.
“If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
People interpret this to mean, we can ask God anything and, like a great Santa in the sky, he will do it. What are they missing? Can you see it? It’s right there isn’t it? “Ask me anything, IN MY NAME”. That “in my name” means in his service, or rather “for service to Him”, and if we come to God acknowledging that he is the creator God, who knows all things, we know that he has a plan already, and he has put all things in place for his Glory, and whilst we know that he responds to prayer and responds powerfully, we know that he is in control and always has been. So if he doesn’t answer our prayer, then he has a greater plan for us and his glory.
But yes, we should ask, and like Solomon, asking for Wisdom for God’s service is a good thing.
James 1: 5 says If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
The second thing that I want to have a look at in this passage, and I promise that my next two points are shorter, is God’s giving.
Did Solomon deserve God’s gift? What had he done to deserve it?
We already see some problems with Solomon’s reign from the start. He marries Pharoah’s daughter making an alliance, and we know that God has strictly charged the Israelites not to mix with the heathens. We see later in the bible how little God thinks of sacrifices if there is no reverence behind them.
Solomon is undeserving, and so God demonstrates his love for His servant and his people once again, by giving his gift freely.
And we see here that God gives overwhelmingly.
I know that some of you have kids. I don’t have kids, but I have a niece and two nephews, and I have 5 god-kids. If I know that one of my god-kids likes Starwars lego sets. When I go out shopping, am I going to be looking for the cheapest little set I can get? No. I’m going to get the massive set, the best that I can afford. The delight in their eyes is worth it.
We have been studying the gospel of Luke, and in Chapter 11, it says “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
God has given us the greatest gifts of all. Salvation and a way to a relationship with Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit indwelling in us, revealing all truth to us.
V.12 Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
God gives overwhelmingly.
The last point is where one point leads to another, and I’m possibly stepping on Craig’s toes here, when I look ahead at what happens to Solomon, but hopefully that’s not too much of a surprise.
Luke 11:31 says, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
And we see the wisdom of Solomon in this next familiar story. But again, familiarity is always a danger. Who is the judge of this situation? None other than the king himself.
And who is he judging? Two prostitutes. Isn’t that amazing? Two people who most kings would not even deem worthy to be their presence.
And what is he judging? A household squabble. I’m not disputing how terrible this situation is. Our heart goes out to the mother whose son had died but isn’t this something that could be judge by a local judge. It’s not a threat to the nation? Nor are these members of high-ranking officials who could kick up a huge fuss. Why is this judgement brought before Solomon?
Because the Kings of Israel were supposed to be the servant of the people. The servant of all God’s people. There is not a hint of arrogance or dismissiveness here. And whilst Solomon’s first ruse, and we can see that it was a false play, he never meant to kill the child. Whilst his first ruse sounds quite harsh, we see that he cares that this child goes to the correct mother, and we see the King’s justice is for all his people. And so this great king, one of the greatest in, not just Israel’s history, but renown even today, is serving prostitutes. Who does that remind you of?
Jesus came to suffer to die, not just for kings and rulers, for the wealthy and powerful, but for beggars, thieves, and prostitutes. He came to serve everyone, and he spent his time with the lepers and tax-collectors, and prostitutes.
But, as I said, we will see that wisdom isn’t enough. Not to keep us from foolishness, not from sin. We see Solomon having so many wives, and allowing the worship of false gods to flourish. We have the Spirit of God indwelling in us, and yet we still sin. We still ignore it.
Asking God for wisdom isn’t enough. And so we need Jesus. We need him to die for us. We need his forgiveness. So when we pray, yes, we should ask for wisdom, as Solomon did, to know good from bad, but we also need to ask for forgiveness for our continued failure and sin, and we need to ask for obedience, and the love that leads to obedience.
PRAY
