A Son Requests Wisdom

Daniel Norman

TGP A Kingdom Provided • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

1 Kings 3

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God gives His people wisdom from above

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Anyone here any do something called “spelunking”? You wouldn’t catch me doing it, I get too claustrophobic for that kind of thing. Spelunking is defined as the recreational exploration of wild cave systems. So you slap on a hard hat with at light on it, grab a friend and go into a cave to explore.

But just for the sake of my story, lets say I grew a backbone and we went out Spelunking together and you were in front trying to coax me deeper into the cave, when suddenly the ground gives way and you find yourself falling into an unexplored section of the cave. You yell back at me to follow you but I am too scared, so you walk around a little until your foot tings up against something metal on the cave floor. You get your light down on it and reach down and pick up something that looks something like your gramma’s gravy boat at Thanksgiving dinner, but then you recognize it to be an ancient oil lamp.

Here’s my question: Do you rub the lamp? I mean you never know right? Maybe a big blue Robin Williams or fresh prince of Bel Aire will jump out and grant you three wishes. You know the folk/fairy tale I am talking about right? Aladdin and the Lamp, where the one who rubs the magic lamb will awake a genie who is then duty bound to grant you three wishes. This is an ancient Middle Eastern fairy tale but it has been interwoven into all kinds of modern stories.

If some omnipotent being suddenly offered you 3 wishes...what would you wish for?

I think the part that is so intriguing to us is that it makes us stop to ask ourselves that question. If some omnipotent being suddenly offered us 3 wishes...what would you wish for? And maybe even more intriguing than that questions is what would our answers say about who we are and what we value most.

Often times the stories that have spun off of this idea find their drama in the fact that when someone gets the thing they wish for, it often isn’t nearly as fun, profitable or enjoyable as they thought it would be. Sometimes the selfishness found in our grandest wishes come with responsibilities that we never even imagined sitting on the other side of the magic lamp.

Have you ever really thought about that? Three wishes, on the spot what would they be? The answer to that question could be pretty telling about a person couldn’t it?

If some omnipotent being suddenly offered you 3 wishes...what would you wish for? Have you ever thought about that? Three wishes, on the spot what would they be? The answer to that question could be pretty telling about a person couldn’t it?

Tension

Of course it is just a story that would never happen, because there is only one “omnipotent being” and He never would nor could be confined to a human master... but the closest any Biblical story comes to this idea is in the story we are going to look at today.

And that is the beauty of this folk tale, it gets us thinking about what would happen if we were in a situation like this, and of course it is just a story that would never happen, because there is only one “omnipotent being” and He never would nor could be confined to some sort of human master... but the closest any Biblical story comes to this idea is in the story we are going to look at today.

In our Gospel Project Series we are going to begin in the book of 1 Kings today where David’s son Solomon takes the throne. He doesn’t rub a magic lamp, but the LORD God does say to him “Ask for whatever you want me to give you”. It was not a wish. It was certainly not a command. But it was something that showed the heart of Solomon, and because what he asked for please the LORD, he was given that request and much more.

- Being the wealthiest person in the world gives you a lot of freedom, but it also makes you an instant celebrity that has to deal with requests, responsibilities and questions that you never have to deal with as an average Joe.

- Having discovered the cure for cancer is a wonderful wish, but now you have to find out how to fund it, distribute it and even get people to believe that it works.

Would you wish for the healing of a loved one? Or for world peace?

But we might find as much struggle in finding application in Solomon’s story as we do in the one with the giant blue genie. Maybe this story is just another ancient “middle east folk story” told to make us think. I mean sure it’s in the Bible so may have happened to Solomon, but nothing like that has happened to me. God has never told me to ask anything…or has he?

When Jesus was here on earth he said:

Would you ask for extravagant wealth for you, or for your family, or for all your friends or where would that stop…???

Would they

Matthew 7:7 ESV

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7–8 ESV

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

So there is no rubbing of a lamp here either, but it does seem that Jesus has given us an invitation to ask him for something and he has give us a promise for an answer. This is closer to the invitation the LORD gave Solomon than we might think and I believe that there is much for us to learn from Solomon’s request as we prepare to make our own.

ething and he has and a promise for an answer. This is very similar to the invitation the LORD gave to Solomon and I believe that there is much for us to learn from Solomon’s request as we prepare to make our own.

So open your Bibles with me to 1 Kings chapter 3, page 279 in the Bibles in the chairs. I’ll pray and we will look into something much greater than a dusty old empty lamp.

Truth

So last week we ended our study of King David with a look at his most famous Psalm, , but we were primarily in the book of 1st and 2nd Samuel. An interesting side note here is that when these books were first written they were not divided up like this. The original Hebrew text calls them just “The book of Samuel” and “The book of Kings”. The reason that they were divided into two is that the Hebrew Alphabet only has consonants. No vowels. So when the Old Testament was translated into Greek the books got way too long for one scroll. So they broke them down into the four books, giving them the reference numbers of #1 and #2.

I find historical stuff like that interesting, but more than that I wanted to point it out because of how 1 Kings begins. It begins really assuming that the reader has already spent some time in the book of “Samuel”. Because, if we had no knowledge of David’s life before the book of Kings, then

The book of 1 Kings begins by painting a picture of the mighty King David near the end of his life.

him in the the first sentence of this book would give us a very different picture of King David.

Listen to the opening sentence of the book of Kings

Anyway, the of Samuel and nd today we are moving into the book of 1 Kings. opens with a sad description of the mighty King David. If we had not come from the books of Samuel into this book we would have a very different picture of the King of Israel names David.

Once upon a time...

1 Kings 1:1 ESV

1 Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.

1 Kings 1:1–2 ESV

1 Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. 2 Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.”

:1It shows how far the mighty have fallen, and is a good reminder that even great men who live long lives end in the same way that you and I do. Old, tired and cold.

David was not just “old”, but that he was so old that they had to take drastic measures just to keep him warm. The “song writing shepherd boy who killed the giant and became the warrior king” is now struggling to just keep good circulation. And at this point David had not yet followed through on the promise he made before the LORD to establish his Son Solomon as the next King of Israel. I am sure he meant to get around to it, on those days when he felt a little stronger, but he never did. So with no clear direction given from David, various family members began to make plans of their own, and things got really messy.

Finally, David saw that he had to take action and he anointed Solomon King, but by then, things had already escalated to the point that one of the first things Solomon had to do as king was to do away with all those who opposed him. Even one of his own brothers. It just goes to show that waiting to do what you know needs to be done, usually only makes things worse. That is chapter one.

And sadly, it was not just David’s warmth that had left him, but also his drive to follow through on the things that God had told him to do. The LORD had led him to declare his son Solomon as his successor, but he had not take the necessary steps to put him into that role. I am sure he meant to get around to it, on those days when he felt a little stronger, but he didn’t. There is probably a good reminder there for us. Are there any steps that we need to take right now that we know will have great bearing on the future of those left behind when we go to meet the LORD. It is best to begin that process now, instead of waiting until a crisis comes where your loved ones have to come to you and force action.

And then we read in the next chapter how it was not just the warmth of his body that has left Davtid, but also his drive to follow through on what God had told him about his successor... reminder of the humanity that plagues every person. As we will look at more deeply next week, this life is but a vapor. No matter the greatness we believe we have achieved here on earth, every long life ends the same way. Old, tired and cold.

There is probably a good reminder there for us. Are there any steps that we need to take right now that we know will have great bearing on the future of those left behind when we go to meet the LORD. It is best to begin that process now, instead of waiting until a crisis comes where your loved ones have to come to you and force action.

There is probably a good reminder here for some of us. Are there any steps that we need to take right now that we know will have great bearing on the future of those left behind when we go to meet the LORD. It is best to begin that process now, instead of leaving those decisions for your family to fight over later.

This was one of David’s greatest struggles late in life, while he was just trying to keep warm he never followed through on establishing his Son Solomon as the next King of Israel. I am sure he meant to get around to it, on those days when he felt a little stronger, but he never did. Finally There is probably a good reminder there for us. Are there any steps that we need to take right now that we know will have great bearing on the future of those left behind when we go to meet the LORD. It is best to begin that process now, instead of waiting until a crisis comes where your loved ones have to come to you and force action.

David’s oldest Son got together several leaders in the land and declared himself the new King, but when David heard about it, he finally took the steps to anoint his choice, Solomon as King. So in the middle of the celebration fest of the first born son, the city of Jerusalem errupted in celebration over the anointing of Solomon. So much so that the text says:

”1

And sadly, it was not just David’s warmth that had left him, but his drive to follow God through on the things that God had told him to do. The LORD had led him to declare Solomon as his successor, but he had not take the necessary steps to put him into that role. I am sure he meant to get around to it, on those days when he felt a little stronger, but he didn’t. There is probably a good reminder there for some of us. Are there any steps that we need to take right now in the things in our lives that we know we are going to have to let go of someday. It is usually begin that process now, instead of wating until a crisis come where you are forced to take action.

Son of the While this other son was throwing a celebration party over his self-appointed role as King, King David had Solomon anointed King.

1 Kings 1:40 ESV

40 And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.

This is what happened to David. While he was simply trying to keep warm, one of his other sons decided that he should take action to declare himself the next king. And things got really messy. While this other son was throwing a celebration party over his self-appointed role as King, King David had Solomon anointed King.

This is

1 Kings 1:39–40 ESV

39 There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.

1 Kings 1:

This was a crazy loud party, and when the guests at the other party heard what was going on, they split too. so loud that the guests at the other sons feast stopped what they were doing to inquire what was going on. When the heard that David had anointed another son king they all freaked out and ran home. Initially, Solomon tried to deal mercifully with his brother and the others that tried to steal the throne, but in the end he ended up putting them all to death because of their wickedness toward him and his father. So this is how Solomon recieved his position as King, through bloodshed and a political coupe of sorts. Not an easy start to such a important role.

So this is how Solomon recieved his position as King, through bloodshed and a political coupe of sorts. Not an easy start to such a important role.

The next chapter contains David’s word’s to Solomon before he dies, and I want to read them this morning because they should ring somewhat familiar to us:

1 Kings 2:1–4 ESV

1 When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

1 Kings 2

On his deathbed, David reminds his son Solomon of the covenant that the LORD gave him. How it extends to each generation that follows him. And this sets up the big question of Solomon’s reign. Will he keep the commandments of the LORD or not. Into this questions we begin our text for this week. Our first marker is Solomon’s

It shows how far the mighty have fallen, and is a good reminder that even great men who live long lives end in the same way that you and I do. Old, tired and cold.

The Request for Wisdom ()

1 Kings 3:3–5 ESV

1 Kings 6–9 ESV

1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. 2 The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 3 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house. 4 And he made for the house windows with recessed frames. 5 He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. 6 The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house. 7 When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. 8 The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third. 9 So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar. 10 He built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar. 11 Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, 12 “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.” 14 So Solomon built the house and finished it. 15 He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress. 16 He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. 17 The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. 18 The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen. 19 The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid an altar of cedar. 21 And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. 23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. 24 Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. 27 He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29 Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. 30 The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms. 31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided. 32 He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. 33 So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in the form of a square, 34 and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35 On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. 36 He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams. 37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it. 1 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house. 2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. 4 There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. 5 All the doorways and windows had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers. 6 And he made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in front of them. 7 And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters. 8 His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken in marriage. 9 All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. 10 The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. 12 The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and the vestibule of the house. 13 And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work. 15 He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same. 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17 There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital. 18 Likewise he made pomegranates in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital. 19 Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits. 20 The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework. There were two hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other capital. 21 He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. 22 And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished. 23 Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 24 Under its brim were gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 25 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 26 Its thickness was a handbreadth, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths. 27 He also made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28 This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames, 29 and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. 30 Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each. 31 Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round. 32 And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. 34 There were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands. 35 And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand its stays and its panels were of one piece with it. 36 And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around. 37 After this manner he made the ten stands. All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form. 38 And he made ten basins of bronze. Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands. 39 And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house. And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house. 40 Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: 41 the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; 42 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 43 the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; 44 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea. 45 Now the pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the Lord, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze. 46 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the bronze was not ascertained. 48 So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, 49 the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50 the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple. 51 Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord. 1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. 2 And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 8 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 13 I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 14 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16 ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” 22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, 23 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; 24 you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 25 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. 27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. 31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. 33 “When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers. 35 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance. 37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, 39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 40 that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. 41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. 44 “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause. 46 “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48 if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). 52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.” 54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. 55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.” 62 Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. 64 The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings. 65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days. 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people. 1 As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’ ” 10 At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, 11 and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. 13 Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day. 14 Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold. 15 And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife; 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel— 21 their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day. 22 But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen. 23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who had charge of the people who carried on the work. 24 But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo. 25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the Lord, making offerings with it before the Lord. So he finished the house. 26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.

1 Kings 3:5–9 ESV

5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

1 Kings 3:3–9 ESV

3 Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

Here it is, the big ask. Not a genie from a lamp, but our omnipotent God looking to test the heart of the King of His people, so he asks Solomon what would you have me do? This is how he answered:

1 Kings 3:6–7 ESV

1 Kings 3:6 ESV

1 Kings 3:8-

Do you hear the wise words of His Father David echoing here in his understanding of who he is, and how he got in the position that he is in? He recognizes that the success of his father, and now his own success relies on the faithfulness and steadfast love of the LORD, so he continues...

1 Kings 3:6–9 ESV

6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

1 Kings 3:7–9 ESV

7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

1 Kings 3:8–9 ESV

8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

Understand that Solomon’s rise to power was not a rags to riches story like his fathers. He was born into the luxury of the great Palace of King David during the glory days of the nation of Israel. He grew up with servants, citizens and lesser lords bowing to him as a prince and now he is King. If anyone would have excuses for sense of “entitlement” it would have been Solomon... and yet here he is humbling himself before God.

The power in this moment is that Solomon confesses to the LORD that he has been given a role that he cannot do on his own, he is dependent on the LORD for any success that he could have in this role that the LORD has given him.

1 Kings 3:Understand that Solomon’s Kingship was not a rags to riches story like his fathers. He was born into the luxury of the great Palace of King David during the glory days of the nation of Israel. He grew up with servants, citizens and lesser lords bowing to him and now he is King. If anyone would have reason to feel entitled it would have been Solomon- and yet here he is humbling himself before God. In this moment, Solomon confesses to the LORD that he has been given a role that he cannot do on his own.

I submit to you this morning that God is looking to put each and everyone of his people into this situation. Not necessarily the King of a great nation, but certainly a role in His Kingdom where we recognize that will not be able to accomplish it with out His help. A role that will challenge us and demand that we step out to do something beyond our human capabilities. A role that we would dare to say “yes” to, even though there are many parts of us are saying “there is no way”.

There is no way that I could tell my co-worker about how I rely on my relationship with Jesus in times like that...

There is no way that I could sing on the worship team, in the shower fine, but in front of people...

There is no way that I could speak up at small group about something that I don’t understand or disagree with...

There is no way that I could tell my hunting buddy that I can’t go on Sunday because being with my Church family is just that important to me...

There is no way that I teach a Sunday School class of squirrely middle schoolers, lead a Ministry Team or be an Overseer...

And if any of these are you then you are right, you can’t do these things... on your own, but don’t you think that God knows that. Don’t you think that if God is the one who is calling you into any of these things then it is so that you will find yourself in a position like Solomon where you know that the task in front of you is too big for you. The fact that you cannot do it without God’s help is probably the reason that he is calling you into it, so that in saying yes, you will have to lean on Him more than ever before and that is exactly what He wants!

The reason I believe this to be true is that God wants every one of his children to operate in an utter dependence on Him, and for most of us that will never happen because we refuse to do anything that we can’t do on our own strength. But the God who created us, loves us and wants to guide us into every good thing… He calls us into things that are too much for our strength, in order that we would walk with Him more closely.

Some of us have been struggling for some time in feeling far from God, and in that struggle we have pulled out of the very things that would draw us closer to him. Retreating into a personal safety that is probably the most dangerous place we could be - because we don’t even think we need God there.

Solomon saw the task ahead and he knew he was helpless to accomplish it without the direct intervention of the LORD. He knew that the days were evil. He had just put his own brother to death because he challenged him for the throne. So when the LORD asked what he wanted from Him, he said that he needed the supernatural wisdom of God to determine between good and evil...so God gave him...

The Gift of Wisdom ()

1 Kings 3:10–12 ESV

God was pleased with Solomon's humble request, so he granted it willingly and extravagantly…and then He went so much further...

1 Kings 3:13–15 ESV

13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

1 Kings 3:1

1 Kings 3:10–15 ESV

10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

What a different perspective from our culture today. If you or I ended a story with “and then I woke up” we wouldn’t think there was much weight to the experience, but from a Middle Eastern perspective the fact that the story was found in a dream made it even more weightier. So Solomon wakes from this dream and he knows that something incredible has happened and he sets out into a right and Godly response to it.

It is easy to miss this, but God met Solomon in this dream when he was somewhere that he should not have been. God had given instructions on how, when and where He was to be worshipped and Solomon was not obeying those instructions. He was worshiping at a “high place” where pagans worshipped, and yet to accomplish his purposes God choose to meet him there, and to call him to something better.

I am convinced guys, that no matter where you are right now, God wants you to have His Wisdom. God always meets us where we are, he just loves us too much to leave us there! He wants us to follow Him into the better way that He has designed for us. He wants us to walk in his wisdom, in his definition of right over wrong in this world that He created to operate best under his design.

James 1:5 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Ephesians 5:15 ESV

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

But having wisdom is not virtuous on it’s own. Just because we have been given the ability to understand how God created his world to work doesn’t make us righteous. It only shows us what is right and wrong…we would have to put that wisdom to use. We would still need...

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Ephesians 5:15–16 ESV

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

We can’t just go with the flow in this life, the flow will bring us into evil. We need to exercise Wisdom!

anyway, and it drew him back to the right place to worship Him. So it was all a dream.

the world that God created works does not mean that we

The Exercise of Wisdom ()

God said that He would give Solomon a wise and discerning mind to the degree that no one before or after him would compare. Even today we have books of his wisdom to glean from. Three of the books of the Bible were written by Solomon in part or whole and approapriatly we call them “The Books of Wisdom”.

But that is not the end of the wisdom of Solomon as we can find in 1 Kings references to other ancient books that have now been lost where the wise decisions of Solomon were recorded. But even thought mankind has benefitted from the wisdom of Solomon for thousands of years, the first story of his wisdom still stands out as one of his greatest. It is found here in Chapter 3 of 1 Kings. This is how this first story goes:

This is how this first story goes:

1 Kings 3:16–22 ESV

16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.

1 Kings 3:16-

So you can imagine the dramatic scene of these two mothers arguing before the King. There are no other witnesses. There are no known fathers to consider. It is purely a “She said” “She said” debacle that has worked it way all the way up the lower courts to the King. But Solomon has an answer:

It seems like anbut...

a “she said” - “she said” case. there were no other witnesses to the crime. Because of how they became pregnant, there were no father’s involved. It was the classically impossible one person’s word over another and who are you going to believe. So in the wisdom that the LORD gave Solomon, he responds:

1 Kings 3:23–25 ESV

1 Kings 3:

As the King, Solomon was often approached by citizens of the nation to give judgement on issues that we not able to be clearly decided in lower courts. One day two women of ill repute came into Solomon’s throne room seeking justice. These two women lived and worked out of the same house, and they were pregnant at the same time. The first woman had here baby three days before the second. After the second woman had her child she tragically

Wait a minute! This is what we are calling wisdom? (As I look around the room right now I can see who is hearing this story for maybe the first time) because at first glance this sound nothing like Godly wisdom and a lot like barbaric terror. But the story isn’t over, there is method to what our modern ears hear as madness:

1 Kings 3:26–27 ESV

26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.”

1 Kings 3:

1 Kings 3:23–28 ESV

23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’ ” 24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

Sheewww, right. I mean can you imagine being there that day as you herd Solomon call for the sword - wait, he is gonna do what? …he is going to draw out the true mother with a variable that cannot be reached through wordy arguments. The variable of sacrificial love. He knew that the real mother would rather be without the child then see harm come to him. And this is only one example of how Solomon exercised his wisdom. There were books packed full of them, but of this particular event we read:

1 Kings 3:28

1 Kings 3:28 ESV

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

Whose wisdom was it? The Wisdom of God.

Solomon humbly requests Wisdom

God gives him Wisdom…and then

He exercises it in justice for God’s people

Gospel Application

So what does this have to do with us? We are not Kings like Solomon, where do we see ourselves when it comes to requesting, recieving and excercising the Wisdom of God?

Gos

Well remember that Jesus invited us to ask him for good gifts, insisting that God wants to give us good gifts. And says that if we lack wisdom all we have to do is ask and God will give it to us. So He wants to give us His wisdom. He wants us to be able to discern between what is right and wrong, maybe more than we truly want to know it.

How are we to apply the story of Solomon and his requests for wisdom? Where does the Good News of the Gospel come from this story?

You see James also says,

God wants you to have His wisdom. He wants you to be able to discern between what is right and wrong, because you will not be able to do choose right without it.

James 4:17 ESV

17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

It might be easier to not have God’s wisdom, because then we think we have an excuse, because if we know the right thing to do then we are responsible to do it. Remember that just possessing “wisdom” is not virtuous in itself, only exercising it.

Ephesians 5:15–16 ESV

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

We are going to see in the weeks to come that even the wisest man who ever lived, could not exercise his wisdom in such a way as to save himself from sin. He knew “right from wrong” better than any other person, but he did not choose right from wrong better than every other person. Having wisdom does not save you. Only perfect righteousness can save a person. And there is only one person who had that, The God-man Jesus Christ.

Solomon’s wisdom and wealth was so vast that it drew people from around the world. One of the most notable visits was from someone called “The Queen of the South”. She came rolling into town with her extravagant caravan that would have surpassed anything we have drummed up in our Aladdin stories. She came in to test the wisdom of Solomon, and she did. And Solomon answered every one of her questions and the text says that his wisdom and wealth were so impressive to her that “there was no more breath in her”

I say most notable, not just because we find her story here in 1 Kings, but because hundreds of years later Jesus also speaks of her. He was answering the Religious leaders of his day who refused to believe that He was who he said he was. First he spoke of Jonah, who spent three days and nights in the fish, just as he would spend three days and nights in the belly of the earth. And then he references the queen, noting how believed in the LORD because of the great wisdom of Solomon:

Matthew 12:42 ESV

42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

that he was she is also mention

James 1:5 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Well the first thing is to understand what Wisdom really is?

Colossians 1:9 ESV

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

James 4:17 ESV

17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Ephesians 5:15–16 ESV

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

God said there would be no man wiser than Solomon, but there was, is and never will be anyone greater than Jesus. Through his perfect life, death and resurrection he is able to give us something even better than his Wisdom. When we trust in him for our eternity, he gives us eternal life. There is no wiser decision than to trust Jesus.

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James 3:13–17 ESV

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

James 3:

The “Queen of the South” believed because of what she saw in Solomon, but Jesus is so much greater than Solomon, and he has offered you something much greater than three wishes. He has offered you eternal life! If you have not yet trusted in Him then today would be a great day...

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James 3:13–17 ESV

Is there wisdom

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