#2005-42
Sermon Series: Finding Your Focus
Title: Wisdom
Text: I Kings 3:7-14; 4:29-30, 32-34
Truth: God honors the prayers of His people for wisdom.
Aim: To help you pray for wisdom to determine the primary focus or priority of your life.
INTRODUCTION
A redhead is walking through the countryside, when she finds a bottle. She rubs it and, you guessed it, a genie appears.
The genie says, “You are allowed three wishes. But, I must warn you, anything you get, all the blondes in the world get twice as much.”
The woman agrees, “Okay. Give me a nice house.”
The genie replies, “You now have one nice house and all the blondes in the world have two.”
The redhead asks, “Give me a gorgeous man.”
The genie replies, “You have now one gorgeous man, while all the blondes have two.”
The redhead says, “For my last wish, Genie, see that stick over there, beat me half to death with it.”
Three women were walking down a street and found a bottle laying on the side of the road. They picked it up and a genie popped out. The genie said, “You will each get one wish.”
The first woman wished she was 20 times smarter. The genie made her 20 times smarter. The second woman wished she was 30 times smarter. The genie made her 30 times smarter. The last woman wished she was 60 times smarter.
The genie turned her into a man.
I’m very relieved to hear you laughing!
This is one of the famous passages in the Bible. The best we can imagine of ever having an opportunity like this is in a joke, but it was a reality for Solomon when God gave him a blank check.
The series of messages this month, taken from I Kings and the life of Solomon, is titled Finding Your Focus. Last Sunday we talked about ambition. Our ambition is for the glory of God and the good of others. We are to beware of improper ambition. Solomon also illustrates that we need God’s wisdom to know what is our proper ambition. How do we gain that wisdom? We are to pray for wisdom to determine the focus or priority of our lives.
The big question that is being asked from 2 Samuel 9-20 through I Kings 3-4 is who is to succeed David as king? I Kings 1-2 show us that the prophet Nathan supports Solomon’s rise to the throne. But what about the Lord? In chapters 3-4 we learn that Solomon receives the Lord’s affirmation. Solomon is God’s choice. This is the first of two encounters Solomon has with the Lord. Both stress God’s covenant with David and God’s desire to bless Solomon if he will follow David’s example of serving the Lord.
The passage also explains the origin of this man’s unbelievable wisdom. The author gives two examples of Solomon’s God-given wisdom. One is an example of practical wisdom when two prostitutes have a dispute over who is the mother of a child. You remember, he says to cut the baby in half and give each mother a half of the baby. The real mother, out of love for her baby says give the baby to the other woman so it can live.
The second example of his great God-given wisdom is his administrative ability in chapter 4. David had the nation organized for war. Solomon needed to organize the nation for peace. He organized the nation in such a way that the nation experienced peace and unmatched economic prosperity. It concludes with Solomon’s fame as a wise man spreading throughout the ancient world.
What we can learn from this time in Solomon’s life is God honors the prayers of His people for wisdom. We need God’s wisdom to determine the focus or priority of our life.
When does God honor the prayers of His people for wisdom?
I. WHEN THEY PRAY FOR WISDOM (I KINGS 3:7-9)
The kingdom is secure. Solomon turns his attention to ruling the nation. The one major fault of Solomon is seen at the beginning of his reign. He did not have a heart that was completely devoted to the Lord. God continually spoke to Solomon about this, and you will see that in this chapter. But he does have faith in God and devoutly worships Him. He goes to where the ark and altar are in order to meet the Lord. After offering this enormous sacrifice, that conveys how much he loves and values the Lord, God appears to him in a dream. God gave him the opportunity to ask for anything. Solomon is very aware he is not capable of adequately ruling the nation and he asks for wisdom. This so pleases the Lord that God grants his request and gives him riches and honor as well.
The core of Solomon’s prayer is, “Make me the right man for the job.” Notice that as I read v. 7-9…This is the job you’ve given me to do. I need Your wisdom for this job.
Solomon prayed for wisdom because he didn’t have the personal (child) or experiential (duties) wisdom to rule this nation (v.7). He is humbled that now he is the leader of the same people that in the past were led by Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel and David. It would be a good practice for preachers, deacons and Sunday School teachers to remind themselves of that occasionally. It would be a good practice for a father to ask God for wisdom because he recognizes he is leading people who are a gift from God. These are God’s people I’ve been called to shepherd.
The nation is growing and a new way of managing them must be devised. He knows according to Deuteronomy 17:14-20 he is to embody God’s standards for the people. All of that is overwhelming and humbling. So when God asks what Solomon what he wants, Solomon asks God for a “listening” heart. That’s the meaning of “discerning.” In Hebrew the word “listen” and “obey” come from the same root. As I’ve said before, in the Hebrew way of thinking if you heard God speak, you would obey. If you don’t obey then you must not have truly heard God speak. What human being would be so foolish as to hear the voice of God and not do what He says?
In order to be prepared to lead others, Solomon must obey the Lord by keeping His commandments. His listening to God will give him the ability to listen to others. He needed the ability to listen to both God and the people so he could administer justice. If Solomon is humble enough and open enough to listen to God, then he will be humble and open to listen to the people. A stubborn, closed-minded person reveals he has trouble hearing God. The ability to know right from wrong, to judge between fair and partial can get complicated. We see that in the story of the two mothers and the one baby. Only God can give him the insight and consistency that he will need. This is why Solomon prays for wisdom.
Someone emailed this to me. It is titled ‘God Said, “No.”’
I asked God to take away my habit. God said, “No. It is not for Me to take away, but for you to give it up.”
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said, “No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.”
I asked God to grant me patience. God said, “No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn’t granted, it is learned.”
I asked God to give me happiness. God said, “No. I give you blessings; happiness is up to you.”
I asked God to spare me pain. God said, “No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.”
I asked God to make my spirit to grow. God said, “No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.”
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, “No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.”
I asked God to help me love others, as much as He loves me. God said, “Ahhh, finally you have the idea.”
Solomon knew that genuine success could be experienced only in discerning and doing God’s will.
Asking has changed the world. Jesus asked the disciples to follow Him. They did, and Christianity has fundamentally changed this world. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked this nation to treat minorities with equality and it threw off much of the bigotry and injustice of his day. If you are married it is because you asked. If you have a job it is because you asked. Every day is an opportunity to ask God for his wisdom to know and do His purposes for your life.
The great value of asking is it keeps us focused on the Lord. Yes, it may be a need in your life but for it to be meet or for you to have the wisdom to respond correctly, it will require the Lord’s help. Praying for wisdom keeps your focus on the Lord and his priorities.
When does God honor the prayers of his people for wisdom? When they pray for wisdom.
II. WHEN THEY EXPECT WISDOM (I KINGS 3:10-14)
There is one word that summarizes God’s reply, “Done.”
Read v. 10. A prayer that pleases the Lord is a prayer that will be answered. Do your prayers seek to please the Lord?
Read v. 11. The reference to the death of his enemies is referring to a long and secure reign. Solomon didn’t ask for that. He didn’t ask for any of the typical desires of ancient kings.
Read v. 12. The phrase “I will do” is in a tense that means completed action. In other words, “Solomon, what you have asked for is a done deal.” I wonder if this passage was in the back of Jesus’ mind when he was preaching the Sermon on the Mount. In chapter six he told us not to worry over temporal, material matters but to put the things of God first and he would see our temporal, material needs were met.
Read v. 13. This is not a guarantee for those who receive the wisdom of God. This was in keeping with God’s purposes for Solomon. But it is true that God’s answers are always more generous than we expect.
Read v. 14. The ancient people viewed long life as the blessing of God. This is a conditional promise. Most scholars believe that David lived to be 70 years of age, a long life for that day. Solomon took over when he was 20 years of age and ruled for 40 years. Toward the end of his life he went far away from the Lord. He did not enjoy the long life of his father. The nation suffered because of that.
The assurance that God did keep His promise to Solomon is the story of the dispute over the baby between the two prostitutes and the organizing of the nation that produced unparalleled prosperity and peace.
When we sincerely want to know Him and His purposes we can pray with confidence and expectation that He will answer our prayer.
Hien Pham was an energetic Vietnamese Christian during the Viet Nam war. He worked as a translator with the American forces, and was of immense help to them and missionaries. Shortly after Vietnam fell, Pham was imprisoned on accusations of helping the Americans. His jailers tried to indoctrinate him against democratic ideals and the Christian faith. He was restricted to communist propaganda, and the daily dose of Marxism began to take its toll. “Maybe,” he thought, “I have been lied to. Maybe God does not exist. Maybe the West has deceived me.” So Pham determined that when he awakened the next day, he would not pray anymore or think of his faith.
The next morning, he was assigned the dreaded chore of cleaning the prison latrines. As he cleaned out a tin can overflowing with toilet paper, his eye caught what seemed to be English printed on one piece of paper. He hurriedly grabbed it, washed it, and after his roommates had retired for that night, he retrieved the paper and read the words, “Romans, Chapter 8.” Trembling, he began to read, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him…for I am convinced that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” He wept. He knew his Bible, and knew that there was not a more relevant passage for one on the verge of surrender. He cried out to God, asking forgiveness, for this was to have been the first day he would not pray. Evidently God had other plans. What his tormentors used for refuse—the wisdom of God’s Word—was to him a treasure.
He asked the commander if he could clean the latrines regularly, because he discovered that some official was using the Bible as toilet paper. Each day he picked up a portion of Scripture, clean it off, and add it to his collection of nightly reading.
Through a miraculous set of circumstances, Pham was released from prison. He immediately began building a boat to help him and fifty-three others escape the country. All was going well until days before their departure four Vietcong showed up at his door. They told him they’d heard his plans to escape. He denied it. He felt guilt stricken. He promised God he would not do that again, hoping the Lord wouldn’t test him on that promise. A few hours before they were to leave the same four Vietcong returned to his door. He told them the truth. They leaned in and asked if they could go with him!
While out on the high seas, all fifty-eight found themselves engulfed in a violent storm. Pham cried out to the Lord, “Did you bring us out here to die?” He said if it had not been for the sailing ability of those four Vietcong, all of those people would have died at sea. They made it safely to Thailand and he eventually made it to America where he is a businessman today. (Ravi Zacharias)
What I am saying is that God is so desirous of us remaining focused on His purposes you can pray with confidence when you ask Him for wisdom. You can expect God’s wisdom
when you sincerely ask Him for it. He will do the miraculous if that is what it takes to show you His purposes for your life. Ask in confidence.
When does God honor the prayers of His people for wisdom? When they ask for wisdom, when they expect wisdom and live by wisdom.
III. WHEN THEY LIVE BY WISDOM (I KINGS 4:29-30, 32-34)
This passage also affirms God kept His promise to give Solomon wisdom. Wisdom is often defined as the skillful use of knowledge to life. It is that, but in the Bible it adds the dimension of being able to evaluate life’s priorities in the light of God’s purposes and committing yourself to those purposes to serve God. Don’t miss that biblical wisdom is more than the skillful use of knowledge for successful living. It has that added dimension of recognizing God’s priority in the light of His purposes. A person who knows and lives out the purposes of God is wise.
The breadth of Solomon’s wisdom seemed endless. Solomon’s understanding was like individual grains of sand on the beach along the ocean. Only God could give a man that kind of insight on so many subjects. Solomon was a walking encyclopedia. His fame spread throughout the ancient world, and wherever Solomon’s fame went so went the name of his God. What we see in these verses is Solomon using God’s gift of wisdom for the benefit of Israel and others. God gives wisdom when His people live by the wisdom He gives them.
You would be mistaken to think that God simply downloaded this into Solomon’s brain. God gave it to Solomon as he sought wisdom. He thought deeply, read widely, observed life closely, discussed openly and applied himself to learn the will and wisdom of God on a wide range of subjects. It didn’t come out of thin air. We get wisdom as we seek to know Him through His Word and prayer and fellowship with Christians. We learn how Jesus loved us and we seek to love others as Jesus loved us. As we live out the wisdom God gives us about Himself, it is then we gain more wisdom.
Several years ago, ten whales were found beached on the Baja Peninsula. Rescue efforts were too late and they all died. At first marine biologists were puzzled and unable to explain the senseless loss of life. However, their investigation revealed a simple, yet sad scenario. Newspaper headlines said it all: “Giants perish while chasing minnows.” Apparently, the whales lost their focus and beached themselves while chasing fish they could never catch in such shallow water (Barry Cameron).
When Solomon lived wisely, he focused on evaluating life’s priorities in the light of God’s purposes and committing himself to serve those purposes, he was blessed. It’s when he chased the world’s definition of power and wealth and pleasure that he experienced God’s judgment.
Don’t miss how much it pleased the Lord that Solomon asked for wisdom. God was so pleased that Solomon wanted to know how to live out the priorities of God that He made Solomon rich, He made Solomon famous, He made Solomon smart, He made Solomon secure.
The greatest need in our homes is husbands and fathers that are wise. They know what God’s priority is for their family and they are leading their families to accomplish that. The greatest need in our churches today are not educated ministers, and I’m for education, but it is pastors that are wise in the ways of God and live that out. I have many books in my library on preaching, church growth, Sunday School and counseling. But I don’t have a single volume that is dedicated to the specific subject of how to become a wise pastor.
What America needs is for Christians to live wisely. When that happens, America will be a different nation. The reason there is so much foolishness taking place in our homes is because we lack God’s wisdom. What we need is for Christians to ask God to make them wise about His priorities. God wants to answer that prayer.
Take this to heart. Don’t miss how much this pleased the Lord when Solomon asked to be made wise in the ways of God.
There is something you can do to increase this much-needed, most important divine gift. Pray. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom. Expect to Him to answer you even if it is in surprising ways. Live out what you already know is God’s wisdom. Don’t be distracted by the world’s minor, temporal issues. Concentrate on the eternal. That pleases God, and that is always wise.
