Wisdom (Part 1): Week 1, Day 3

What a great day this is!  I love to be in the Word of God, and I am so thankful for you and your dedication to knowing more about Him and studying His Word.  Today we are going to take what we have studied in 1 Kings 3:3-18 and APPLY it to our lives.

This is a fairly famous passage of Scripture, where King Solomon becomes the wisest king in the Bible.  The passage starts off telling us about the character of King Solomon - that he loved the Lord as his father King David had done, but that he also sacrificed offerings and offered incense on the high places.  This is the Scripture's way of telling us that Solomon loved the Lord, but he also worshiped false gods and idols.  Solomon was caught between two completely separate things - God and false gods.  He was not actively choosing one over the other, but sitting comfortably between the two.  What a terrible place to be.  We should never become complacent in our relationship with the Lord.  We should always be moving forward, focusing all of our attention on Him and His plan for our lives.  God chose to appear to Solomon in Gibeon, at the place where he offered true and false offerings.

God asked Solomon what he wished for.  This almost reminds me of the big, blue Genie in the movie Aladdin.  Solomon could be granted any wish that he could wish for.  What a question!  What a temptation!  The whole world was available to Solomon at that point in time, if God had chosen to grant his request.  Skip down to verse 11, where God list out the three things that Solomon could have asked for, but didn't.  We listed these things in our notebooks during our last time of study together.

1. Long life
2. Riches
3. Death of all his enemies

These are things that any one of us might have wished for, if given the opportunity.  I think that in today's day and time, number two seems the most appealing.  In a time where people are struggling to make ends meet from one month to the next, having an abundance of riches would seem amazing.  In Solomon's day, where there was so much fighting and people trying to overthrow the thrown, I could see where Solomon could have asked for the life of his enemies.  But, he did not ask for any of these things.  Instead, according to verse 9, Solomon asks God for wisdom.

Solomon recognized that God showed great mercy to David, and it was because of the mercy of God that he, himself, sat on the thrown.  Solomon recognized that God raises up kings, and takes kings down (look at Daniel 2:20-22).  Another thing that Solomon recognized was that he had a huge job ahead of him - to be the king over God's great nation.  In verse 7, Solomon says that God made him king over this great nation, but he was just a young child.  Solomon knew that he needed help being king, and here was his opportunity to ask for that help.  In verse 9, Solomon asks for understanding and discernment.  In this verse, understanding means: to hear, listen.  Discernment means: to understand, see; to pay attention, consider, teach, examine.  Solomon asks God for wisdom so that he could know what is good and what is evil

God was pleased with Solomon's request.  Oh, that we would ask things of God that are pleasing to Him! Not only did God grant Solomon the wisdom that he requested, but God also granted Solomon the things that he did not request - riches and honor.  God also told Solomon that if he were to walk in the ways of God, God would give him a long life.  In verse 12, God tells Solomon that he is going to be one of a kind. "There has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you."

Solomon awoke from this dream, went straight to Jerusalem, and offered sacrifices to the true God.  Solomon knew  that God granted his request, and he offered up praise and sacrifice to thank Him for it.

I made a reference to the Genie in Aladdin at the beginning of this post.  No, I do not think that God is in the "wish-granting" business.  I do not think that God will just give us anything that we ask for.  But, I do believe that if we ask God for wisdom and discernment, He will give it to us.  I do not ever start a time of Bible study without asking God for wisdom and discernment.  I could not understand the Scriptures without the help of the Holy Spirit. I know that He helps me in my understanding of His Word, and as I apply what I study to my life, He helps me discern how to properly live my daily life.  I'm not perfect by any means, but I strive to live my life the way the Lord would have me to live it, and I know that the time that I spend in prayer and Bible study help me to live in His ways.

My sisters, I challenge you to ask God for wisdom and discernment in your time of Bible study, and in your every day life.  We must live in the ways of the Lord, and in order to know what that is, we have to be in constant communication with God - through prayer and Bible study.  If we ask God for wisdom and discernment, He will give it to us.  Give it a try.  You won't be disappointed!

To read the previous posts on Wisdom, click these links:

Week 1: Day 1, Day 2