Pursuing Wisdom

Prayer

Solomon’s Reign begins, 1 Kings 3-4

Last Sunday we started our journey into the book of 1 Kings, covering the first two chapters. There we saw Solomon being named king by David over his older brother Adonijah - and all the political maneuvering that took place in the midst of it all. But 1 Kings 2 ends, as v. 46 tells us, “The Kingdom was now established in Solomon’s hands.”

There’s two main stories I want to cover this morning as we make our way through the next couple of chapters of 1 Kings. As a reminder we’ll be taking a break for Kings starting next Sunday as we enter the season of Lent.

But before we dive into these stories, I want to offer a couple of quick notes from the beginning of 1 Kings 3 that are going to give us some clue into Solomon’s reign. This is 1 Kings 3:1, Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem.

We learn here that Solomon married the daughter of the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But note that this is no great romance, it’s for political reasons, part of an alliance. As we’ll see as we make our way through 1 Kings, Solomon is going to enter into a lot of these alliances - and gain a lot of wives, 300 of them, and 700 concubines to boot.

We also get a mention of some of the building projects that Solomon engaged in - he built his own palace, he’s the one who will build the first temple in Jerusalem - which ends up being a huge part of the story of Israel, as well as what would be a new wall, as Jerusalem was already a fortified city.

I hope you’re getting a sense of how well the nation of Israel is doing. Under Solomon, this will be Israel’s heyday - in terms of building projects, generation of wealth, its standing among other nations. Much of that has to do with peace David established, his victories over the enemies of Israel. But much of it stems from what we’re going to look at this morning, the wisdom of Solomon. Two stories we’ll be covering morning reveal Solomon’s wisdom.

We’ll start with story of Solomon asking for - and receiving - wisdom from God. Story begins with Solomon making his way to Gibeon to make sacrifices to the Lord. That night, as Solomon sleeps, the Lord comes to him in a dream and says to Solomon, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Now take a moment to think about this - this is huge. The Lord is coming to Solomon and asking him, what do you want? There’s a suggestion here that the Lord is ready to grant Solomon whatever he asks. It feels a little bit like a genie-in-a-bottle wish. What’s your wish, I’ll grant it. So, consider for a moment, what would you ask for? This is the Lord asking, tell me what you want me to give you? What would you want from the Lord? Telling question.

Solomon makes a beautiful request, as we see in 1 Kings 3:7-9, “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

Essentially, Solomon is saying I’m new at this, I don’t know what I’m doing and this is such an overwhelming and important task you’ve given me. These are your people, Lord, how can I lead them well?

So Solomon asks for a discerning heart in order to govern the nation, to be able to distinguish between right and wrong. Solomon is asking for wisdom.

And the Lord is happy to give it to him, 1 Kings 3:10-12, The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

God’s promise here is amazing - he’s telling Solomon that he will be the wisest man ever - there’s never been anyone like him, nor will there ever be anyone like him. That’s saying something - there have been a lot of incredibly wise people throughout history (now, to be sure, a whole lot more foolish people - but still, the point stands). Solomon will be the wisest.

And because Solomon didn’t ask for wealth or honor or a a long life, but asked wisdom, the Lord tells him that he will give him all of these things, and no shortage of it. Solomon will be the greatest king of his time. And because Solomon will be a great king, Israel will prosper greatly.

This brings us to our next story, which follows immediately afterwards as a demonstration of Solomon’s wisdom. My guess is that this story will sound familiar to most of you. Story begins with two prostitutes coming before Solomon to settle a dispute, serious dispute. Interesting to note the even these two women, prostitutes - low on the social hierarchy, engaged in immoral behavior - are still able to bring their case before the king for justice.

So the first woman tells the story - these two women live in the same household, and this first woman had a baby, three days later the other woman had a baby as well. So, one night, when it was just the two of the women and their babies in the household, the second woman’s baby died tragically because she lay on him. So this woman gets up in the middle of the night and swaps the babies out, taking the first woman’s baby and placing her dead baby in the woman’s arms as she lay sleeping.

The first woman woke up, terrified to see that her baby had died. But as the morning light hit the room she realized that it wasn’t her baby. The second woman, as you might imagine, disputed this version of the story, claiming that the baby that was alive was indeed hers.

Now this presents a huge dilemma for Solomon. He has no way to prove the claim of the one woman over the other. There are no witnesses. This is long before DNA testing, can’t give the women a polygraph. It is one woman’s word against the other. On what basis will he make a ruling? How do you make a wise and just discernment here?!

This is where Solomon shows his wisdom, 1 Kings 3:24-25, Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

Solomon’s ploy works, the woman whose son it was, the Bible tells us, “was deeply moved out of love for her son” yelled out that the child be given to the other woman rather than be killed. The other woman didn’t care, she’d just as son see the child be put to death so neither of them would have a child anymore.

Solomon’s ruling revealed which woman was the real mother of the live son - as well as his great wisdom, which spread far and wide.

Seeking a Discerning Heart

The other day I had lunch with a friend and he was wrestling with a dilemma he was facing regarding the church he and his wife are a part of. And it was a dilemma, lots of complicating factors, he was looking for some counsel, some wisdom.

I have to be honest, I was at a bit of a loss, didn’t know what to say - certainly didn’t want to give him bad advice. So I kept asking questions, hoping to get further insight into the situation, into how he and his wife were in the midst of it, what they were thinking and feeling - in part, I was asking questions to stall, hoping that something would come to mind that I could say that would be helpful.

Because - and I trust this is true of all of us (at least I hope it is) - that we want to be wise people. That like Solomon, we would desire wisdom, understanding, discernment. And I wanted to be able to share that with my friend. Now, to be clear, there’s great value in just being a good listener, helping someone process whatever situation they find themselves in, asking questions - that can be a gift in and of itself. Sometimes we’ll figure things out as we share them with others. So it’s always good to be a friend who listens well. I hope I was that at the very least.

But my point here is that we should seek wisdom, we should pursue it. Wisdom is all about understanding, it is the application of knowledge, discerning what it good and right. Rooted in the fact that we live in a created world - a world made by God, who formed and fashioned us, and the world around us. He created the world with purpose and design, according to a particular order.

To be wise is to live rightly in that order, according to that purpose and design. To have that proper understanding. This cuts across all of life - all areas. We can see that in its vast array of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, which is based on the wisdom of Solomon.

Solomon gave a great example of that understanding when making the judgment of the two women because he understood the nature of humanity, and sinful nature. That it’s a heart infected by sin, by jealousy and bitterness, that would drive someone to steal a baby - same hardened heart that would rather see an innocent child be put to death rather than bear the pain of seeing another woman enjoy her live child while she grieves the death of hers.

Let me share some of the wisdom that Solomon offers in the book of Proverbs - you’ll see how it covers all of life. And how it reflects discernment, understanding of what is, what is true, what is right and wrong. Proverbs 22:7, The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. Now Solomon is simply reflecting the truth that those who are rich rule over the poor, he’s not advocating for that. And he’s teaching that when you get into debt, you are, in a real sense, enslaved to the person or institution you’re indebted to. That financial obligation binds you. Which is why it is wise not to go into debt. Not to spend more than you make. Which is so easy to do with credit cards today. Financial Peace University is rooted in this wisdom, teaching these truths.

If you go to Proverbs 6, you’ll find wisdom regarding too very different subjects - the foolishness of laziness and the foolishness of adultery. Listen to this from Proverbs 6:6-11, Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— 11 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. The wisdom is pretty obvious here, it won’t go well for you if you’re lazy. Why? Because we were made for work. God made us to do good work. And to live against that, how God made us, is foolishness, unwise - it won’t serve us well.

Likewise with marriage. God made us sexual beings, but only for and in the context of a lifelong covenant relationship between a man and a woman. That’s how God designed it, because the primary purpose of sex is procreation, for the bearing of children, to be fruitful and multiply. So to pursue anything outside of that is foolish. We see that wisdom reflected in Proverbs 6:26-29, For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life. 27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? 29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. You play with fire, you’re going to get burned.

List goes on - wisdom against lying, being quarrelsome, not acting out of anger. All of these things harm relationships, the way God made us to love one another. I hope you’re seeing here that wisdom always comes down to living in a way that reflects understanding of how God made us, who we are - our human nature, the created order of things.

If wisdom is seeking understanding about how things are, how life works - than to seek wisdom is to seek God. He is the fount of all wisdom. It is the Lord God who is the maker of heaven and earth - he created it with order, he knows how everything works, he gives it all design and purpose. He knows how our minds work, our bodies, how sexuality, our hearts - our emotions, our wills, our true nature - the Lord knows it all. He has full understanding, there is nothing beyond his comprehension.

Why Proverbs instructs us to rely on the Lord, on his wisdom and not our own, Proverbs 3:5-7, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. Hey, don’t be a dummy. Don’t think you’re smarter than God. For wisdom, go to the source, the one who knows it all.

Here’s the wonderful thing, the Lord wants to give us wisdom. In fact, he delights in it! We saw how pleased he was with Solomon’s request - you want wisdom?! I’ll give you more wisdom than anyone’s ever had. And wealth and honor and long life to boot. The Lord is not stingy with wisdom, he wants us to be wise, he wants us to seek wisdom from him, to ask him:

James 1:5, If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. There’s the promise right there. Ask and it shall be given to you. And note that it says, without finding fault. James is telling us, it’s not as if God is hesitant - “you’ll just mess it up.” God wants us not to mess it up, that’s why he wants to give us wisdom. That’s why when I was with my friend and he was speaking, I was praying, asking the Holy Spirit to be with me, to give me wisdom. I didn’t want to steer my friend wrong - who better to ask then the Lord?

Spiritual Disciplines - Be a person who seeks after wisdom, who leans not on your understanding, but seeking God, his truth. Some thoughts on how to do this...

Discipline of Study - All truth is God’s truth. Truth is simply stating what is. Reality. What God made is reality, it is what is. Be a student of nature (1 Kings 4, Solomon’s wisdom is described in terms of knowing plant life, and about animals and birds, reptiles and fish). God’s glory and divine power are revealed in creation. We should study it to be wiser people. We should be students of people. Of history. We should be people who understand the times we live in, our culture. Students of Philosophy (literally, love of wisdom). Often coming to understand other world views brings into clarity the Christian worldview. Be a student of your own heart, behavior, motivation.

Personal example - reading a book all about metabolism (food transferred to energy in our bodies) and how it relates to our health. How God designed our bodies to work, down to the cellular level. Gaining knowledge, challenge will be to apply that knowledge and change some of my eating habits. That’s where the wisdom comes in, applying knowledge!

So you might find one area to focus on (there’s no shortage of things to be a student of) - financial management, parenting, health, apologetics (defense of faith), theology, spiritual formation, nature...

And as you engage in study, cultivate a sense of wonder, willingness to ask questions - part of the beauty of children is their sense of wonder, they don’t refrain from asking questions. Wonder about yourself, I wonder why I’m feeling fear at the idea of this. Why I reacted so strongly to that, why that bothered me so much. Wonder as you speak with others, an openness to hearing others, to genuinely understand their perspective (doesn’t mean agreement, just understanding). Curious about the world around us, how it works.

Finally, ask the Lord. Take him at his word. Trust that he will give you wisdom, and he will give it generously, that he delights in doing so.