Solomon was a king. There are not many kings left in this world and the rest of us may be tempted to think that there is not so much to learn from such a life. However, there is a sense in which we are all kings. Man was made to rule over creation. We all have kingly responsibilities of one sort or other – to churches, Sunday School children, employees, wives, children, at the very least to ourselves. We may also find ourselves in a position where we need to instruct others in kingly duties and so it is good for us to know about these things.
Perhaps one of the best-known things about Solomon is his wisdom and the fact that he gained it by praying to God. God told him that he could have anything he wanted, he had only to ask. Very wisely (God was already making him wise before he asked) he asked not for riches or honour but for wisdom. On the very face of it then there are lessons for us here –
Perhaps one of the best-known things about Solomon is his wisdom and the fact that he gained it by praying to God. God told him that he could have anything he wanted, he had only to ask. Very wisely (God was already making him wise before he asked) he asked not for riches or honour but for wisdom. On the very face of it then there are lessons for us here –
1. Our greatest need is not riches or honour but wisdom to make the right use of what we already have
Several proverbs bring this out
4:7 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!
17:16 Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?
16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!
17:16 Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?
2. God is a God who hears our prayers even before we ask
Before we call he will answer. He says as much in Isaiah 65:24 ‘Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.’ Remember how it was ‘while he was still a long way off’ that the prodigal’s father ‘saw him and was filled with compassion for him’ and ‘ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him’.
while they are still speaking I will hear.’ Remember how it was ‘while he was still a long way off’ that the prodigal’s father ‘saw him and was filled with compassion for him’ and ‘ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him’.3. If we go to God in faith and ask him for anything we truly need in his name, he will give it to us
‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 Jn 5:14, 15).
First we will look at the verses that precede Solomon’s famous prayer for wisdom. They are in 1 Kings 3:1-5.
Life is complex and incomplete and so we need wisdom
We are told that ‘Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt’ and married his daughter and that ‘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.’ later on, in 1Kings 9:16 we learn that
Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
Solomon then proceeded to build up Gezer. Back in 1 Kings 3:2 there is a note that ‘The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the LORD’ and that (3)
Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
We then read of how God appeared to Solomon at Gibeon and of their famous conversation. There is disagreement on how to take these preceding verses. Are they condemning Solomon from the start or can we take a better view of him from them? Are they somewhere in between? They certainly have lessons to teach us about how complicated and imperfect life is and the constant need for wisdom. We need to consider
Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
Solomon then proceeded to build up Gezer. Back in 1 Kings 3:2 there is a note that ‘The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the LORD’ and that (3)
Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
We then read of how God appeared to Solomon at Gibeon and of their famous conversation. There is disagreement on how to take these preceding verses. Are they condemning Solomon from the start or can we take a better view of him from them? Are they somewhere in between? They certainly have lessons to teach us about how complicated and imperfect life is and the constant need for wisdom. We need to consider
1. The relationship between believers and unbelievers, the dilemmas this poses in life and the need for wisdom
We read in verse 1 of Solomon’s alliance with the King of Egypt sealed by marriage to his daughter. We know from elsewhere that he had already married Naamah, an Ammonite princess. Those who condemn Solomon here do so on the grounds that he should not have married a pagan and was entering into a worldly alliance with Egypt to bolster his kingdom. They also remind us that it was Solomon’s pagan wives who eventually lead him astray.
On the other hand, there was no specific prohibition against marriage to an Egyptian and it is possible to view the move as a wise step in securing and establishing the kingdom inherited from David. In light of the rest of the story this would seem to be the correct view.
This well illustrates the dilemma for the Christian as far as involvement with unbelievers is concerned. On one hand we know that, as Jesus says, (Jn 15:19) we ‘do not belong to the world, but’ he has chosen us ‘out of the world.’
On the other hand (Mt 5:14-16) ‘You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’
The Corinthians were a little confused over this. Paul says (1 Cor 5:9, 10) ‘I have written to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.’
Christians tend to swing to extremes on this, personally and generationally – from monasticism to worldliness, from asceticism to indulgence. Neither extreme is right. Somehow we need to be in the world but not of it – we must ‘use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.’ (1 Cor 7:31).
Solomon was right to make an alliance with Egypt but if it did lead him into sin, as some suggest, then it was not good. We must get to know all sorts of people but we are to be an influence for good on them, like salt and light, not the other way round, being corrupted and benighted.
On the other hand, there was no specific prohibition against marriage to an Egyptian and it is possible to view the move as a wise step in securing and establishing the kingdom inherited from David. In light of the rest of the story this would seem to be the correct view.
This well illustrates the dilemma for the Christian as far as involvement with unbelievers is concerned. On one hand we know that, as Jesus says, (Jn 15:19) we ‘do not belong to the world, but’ he has chosen us ‘out of the world.’
On the other hand (Mt 5:14-16) ‘You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’
The Corinthians were a little confused over this. Paul says (1 Cor 5:9, 10) ‘I have written to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.’
Christians tend to swing to extremes on this, personally and generationally – from monasticism to worldliness, from asceticism to indulgence. Neither extreme is right. Somehow we need to be in the world but not of it – we must ‘use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.’ (1 Cor 7:31).
Solomon was right to make an alliance with Egypt but if it did lead him into sin, as some suggest, then it was not good. We must get to know all sorts of people but we are to be an influence for good on them, like salt and light, not the other way round, being corrupted and benighted.
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