The Guided Decision Series

Imagine having in your grasp the one thing that your heart desired more than anything. Of being assured that whatever that one thing was it was yours. What would you wish for? Understand it’s not the genie thing, no three wishes but one. What would your wish be, and remember this is it, no mulligans or take backs, no chance to say “darn, I should have wished for . . .”

That was the situation where Solomon found himself in the scripture that was read earlier. If we go back to 1 Chronicles 29:26-28 So David son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. He reigned over Israel for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. He died at a ripe old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth, and honour. Then his son Solomon ruled in his place.

You remember David right, he was the author of most of the Psalms, and he was the shepherd kid who killed the giant Goliath in battle. It was David who became king, established Israel as a major force in their world, and established Jerusalem as the political and spiritual capital of Israel. David was considered to be the greatest king that Israel would ever have. And in the New Testament the coming Messiah is often referenced as the “Son of David” for example Matthew 12:23 The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”

Well David was dead; the bible says he died at a ripe old age having enjoyed a long life. That’s right if you take the time to check and do the math he was . . . seventy, which coincidently is when I plan to retire from Cornerstone. So you have me for another 147 dog years. So David has died and left the throne not to his eldest son but instead to Solomon the son he had with Bathsheba.

And as Solomon ascends the throne he is asked by God in 2 Chronicles 1:7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

Let’s go back to where we started. Imagine having in your grasp the one thing that your heart desired more than anything. Of being assured that whatever that one thing was it was yours. What would you wish for?

According to the story Solomon didn’t hesitate 2 Chronicles 1:9-10 O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?”

Not sure if God asked “Is that your final answer?” but apparently it was the correct one because we read the response of the Almighty in 2 Chronicles 1:12 I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!” Cool, not only did he get what he wanted he got what I’m sure he could only imagine.

King Solomon is known for his temple and for his mine, but more than anything Solomon was known for his wisdom. He is the author of the book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and was renowned throughout his world for his wisdom. There is a story told in 1 Kings 10:1 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honour to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. And then we discover the result of her testing 1 Kings 10:3-5 Solomon had answers for all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. When the queen of Sheba realized how very wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built, she was overwhelmed.

Over the next several weeks we are looking at Andy Andrews book “the Traveler’s Gift”, in this novel which he has subtitled “The 7 Decisions that Determine Personal Success”. The main character David Ponder visits 7 historic figure who each offer him one principle to base his life on. Last week we looked at the principle given to Ponder by Harry Truman and that was the responsible decision. We need to come to the point in our lives that we are willing to accept responsibility for the choices that have brought us to the place we are in our lives. So we have to decide that we will not blame our parents, our friends or our circumstances for our life. As long as we blame others we are saying they have control over who we are and what we do, once we accept that responsibility we realize that we hold control of our future. But that was last week.