Untitled Sermon (10)

Ask What I Shall Give Thee

I kings 3:3-

1 Kings 3:3–9 KJV 1900

And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

Solomon 3:1-9

1 Kings 3:1–9 NKJV

Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall all around Jerusalem. Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

A lady was walking along the beach one day when she found a bottle lying in the sand.

She rubbed the bottle and out popped a genie.

The genie said, “ you have just one wish.”

The woman said, “I thought I get three wishes?”

The genie replies, “Im sorry, but these are hard times, so I can only grant you one wish.”

The disappointed women said, “well ok then.”

She pulled out a world map and said, “I wish for peace between these countries.”

The genie said, “lady, I’m sorry, but these nations have been at war for thousands of years, and besides that, I’m not a very powerful genie.”

“You’re going to have to make another wish.”

The women said, “ok, I wish for a sweet, caring man, who loves to help wash dishes and clean the house, and never watches football.”

The genie said, “let me see that map again!”

Lets take a moment to think about this.

If GOD promised to give us one thing that we pray for, what would you ask God to give you?

Would you ask for perfect health for you and your family?

Would you ask God to allow you to live to be 100 years old?

Or would you think more materialistic, such as enough money to live comfortably the rest of your life, or to move into a nicer home?

From our opening text we see that God gave Solomon this exact opportunity.

1. Solomon refers to himself in verse 7 as “a little child,” but actually he was about 19-20 years old.

Solomon refers to himself in verse 7 as “a little child,” but actually he was about 19-20 years old.

Solomon has just become Israel’s newest king, succeeding his father, King David, who had ruled for forty years.

2. Solomons kingship had gotten off on a very “rocky” start to say the least. Solomon’s older brother, Adonijah believed he was rightfully entitled to the throne, although David had promised Solomon that he would be his successor.

3. Well naturally this didn’t set well with Adonijah and he was determined not to go down without a fight.

Adonijah began rallying support from others to take the throne away from Solomon. One of Adonijah’s chief supports was Ablathar, who was a direct descendant of Aaron, and the High Priest in Jerusalem at that time.

4. Another of Adonijah’s supporters was Joab, who had been the commander of kings Davids army. And another man who rallied around Adonijah was a man named Shemei. Shemei had a long-standing grudge against King David because David had replaced King Saul. And now he was determined to get back at David by going against the man he had chosen to be his successor.

5. Well, long story short, young Solomon ordered the executions of his brother, Adonijah.........Ablathar the High Pries...... Joab the commander of Israel’s army......and Shemei.

It may seem as though Solomon took extreme measures, but he understood as long as these men lived they would be plotting to seize his throne.

6. One of the first things Solomon did after getting rid of his political rivals was he married the daughter of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt.

As we will see later on, Solomon’s marriages to heathen women would eventually become his undoing.

7. Shortly after David’s death there had been a relaxation in the worship practices of the Jewish people. They started offering sacrifices to God in the “High Places.” The “High Places were altars that had been built by pagans living in Israel to offer sacrifices to their pagan gods.

The people saw nothing wrong with this since there was no temple at that time, but in the eyes of God it was idolatry.

8. Solomon himself even went to these “High Places” to offer sacrifices to God; something his father David would never have done.

9. In verse 4 we read that on one occasion Solomon went to the “high place” at Gibeon to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

10. That night, God appeared to Solomon in a dream, and made that incredible offer to Solomon:

v.5 Ask What shall I give you?

11. God offered Solomon “a blank check.” The possibilities were wide open! Solomon could have asked for great riches, great power, ANYTHING!

12. But David didn’t ask for any of those things. Instead, realizing his deficiency to fill “the big shoes” left by his father, King David, and that he was inadequate for the job, Solomon asked for WISDOM.

There are two things to note about Solomon’s request:

(A) For one thing, it was a selfless request.

v.9 Therefore give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people......

Instead of asking for something selfish, Solomon wanted God to grant him the wisdom to be the best possible leader he could be for the Jewish people

Now how selfless is that?

(B) Therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, (watch this) that I may discern between good and evil.

Solomon was asking God to give him spiritual discernment. He wanted God to give him the wisdom to discern between good and evil, and right from wrong.

Lets keep reading this passage

1 Kings 3:10–14 NKJV

The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

I Kings 3:

Jesus tells us in ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.

God always keeps his promises. He had promised Solomon He would give him whatever he asked for. Solomon asked for wisdom, and verse 10 tells us this pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked for this thing.

God was fully aware of Solomon’s weaknesses and deficiencies. He knew Solomon could have selfishly asked for a long life or for great riches, but He didn’t!

God was so pleased with Solomon’s request, not only did He give Solomon the wisdom he asked for, God also gave him great wealth and great honor throughout the world. And God even promised Solomon that if he walked in His commands as his father David had done, He would also bless him with long life.

True to His holy word, God always gives us exceedingly, abundantly far more than we ask or think!

Solomon prayed for widsom

Solomon had his prayer answered far beyond what he had asked for

Lets take a look at the rest of Solomon’s life story

It would be found in

In many ways, Solomon was the biggest failure in all the bible. He had been given the greatest opportunity of any man who ever lived, and he squandered it.

While God had blessed Solomon with incredible wisdom, Solomon still had the “free will” to choose what he would do with Gods blessings, and he blew it big time.

These verses tell us Solomon had 700 wives, and 300 concubines.

As noted in the text, most of these wives and concubines were foreigners, and by bringing these women into his life, Solomon also brought their heathen gods into his land, and not only did Solomon fall farther away from God, so did the Israelite people.

Do you remember at the time God gave Solomon great wisdom, He promised He would bless him with long life “if he walked in His commands as his father David had done?”

Tragically, Solomon didn’t do that, and as it turned out Solomon died when he was about sixty years old, which was relatively young in those days as well as in our own.

Closing

We must understand God gives us the same Opportunity he gave to Solomon.

James 1:5–8 NKJV

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Can you honestly think of anything greater to ask for than God’s wisdom to know the right thing to do in every situation?

I want to challenge each and everyone of us to pray this prayer; Lord, I ask that you give me the wisdom to handle each and every situation I face this next week.

We must learn from Solomon’s mistakes.

We must beware of the dangers of squandering God’s blessings

You know, there is no getting around it: Life always comes down to the choices we make. ALWAYS!

How different would Solomon’s life have been had he chosen not to enter into a relationship with all those pagan women who brought their pagan gods into Solomon’s home?

One thing is for sure, he would have lived well beyond sixty years of age, because God promised him long life as a reward for his obedience.

This should be a sobering reminder to all of us of the dangers of “squandering” God’s blessings.

While God has blessed each of us far beyond measure, He still allows us “the free will” to choose what we will do with His blessings.

This is why it is so vitally important that we pray for Godly wisdom each and every day.

I asked God.....

I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me stronger

I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to solve

I asked for prosperity and God gave me brawn and brain to work

I asked for courage and God gave me dangers to overcome

I asked for patience and God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait

I asked for love and God gave me troubled people to help

I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities

I received nothing I wanted I received everything I needed

My prayer has been answered