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

Wisdom (Part 1): Week 1, Day 2

Welcome to day two!  Today we are going to INTERPRET the Word of God in its own context, using the Scripture alone.  This is such a vital part of Bible study, because we are letting the Word of God speak for itself.

Read through 1 Kings 3:3-15 slowly, absorbing the words.

Now, read through the passage again, and write the answers to the following questions in your notebook:

1. What two significant pieces of information about Solomon were given to us in verse 3?
2. Where did Solomon go in verse 4? Who was he sacrificing to?
3. What did God ask Solomon in verse 5?
4. Solomon praised God in verse 6.  What was his specific praise?
5. The word "yet" in verse 7 shows a contrast.  What is the contrast?
6. What does Solomon ask God for in verse 9?
7. In verse 11, God lists three things that Solomon could have asked for instead of discernment and understanding.  List these three things.  Why do you think God chose those three things to list specifically?
8. In verse 12, did God grant Solomon his request?
9. Look at the words "so that" in verse 12.  What do they signify?
10. What else did God grant Solomon, according to verse 13? verse 14?
11. Where did Solomon go in verse 15? Who was he sacrificing to?
12. What do you think Solomon was thinking, to make such a contrast in his location and worship?

Tomorrow we will come back for the best part of Bible study - the APPLICATION.  I hope you will think on what we have studied so far, and be prepared to apply it to your life.

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

Week 1: Day 1

Wisdom (Part 1): Week 1, Day 1

Welcome to our study of wisdom!  This study is going to be fantastic, and I am so glad that you are here with me.  As we go through this study together, we will be using the inductive method of Bible study.  For more information on this type of study, read My Purpose post.

Today we are going to OBSERVE the text of 1 Kings 3:3-15.  Start by reading this passage slowly, absorbing each word as your read.

3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

10 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14 If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

15 Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. 

Now read through the text again, and use the following markings:

• Mark every reference to God and Lord using a purple triangle colored yellow, and color all pronouns yellow
• Mark every location by coloring them green and underlining them brown
• Mark Jerusalem, Israel, and any reference to God's people with a blue star of David
• Mark time phrases with a green clock
• Mark the word yet by circling it in blue
• Mark wise and wisdom with a blue cloud colored yellow
• Mark understand and discern by coloring them green
• Mark that, so that, and because by circling them in red

Read back through the text again slowly, and see if these markings bring any more clarity to what you have already read.  Write in your notebook one take-away from today's reading.

Tomorrow, we will INTERPRET this passage of Scripture.  I can't wait for you to gain even more understanding of what we have already read!