Wisdom
Week of September 13, 2009
“I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.” I Kings 3:7
Solomon was wise enough to humble himself before God. He understood that God gives wisdom to the wise (Dan. 2:21). At the very outset of his kingship, Solomon asked his heavenly King to help him carry out his duties. Who better to consult? In doing so, Solomon obeyed God’s greatest commandments: to love God and others.
God answered King Solomon’s prayer by giving him three rewards of favor:
1. A wise and discerning heart above and beyond anyone else’s
(I Kings 3:12).
2. Riches and honor, for which he did not even ask (v. 13).
3. A long life, conditional on obedience (v. 14).
We would do well to remember God’s priorities and King Solomon’s example. Proverbs 8:17-21 says that wisdom promises to bestow wealth on those who love her. Notice, love comes before wealth. God is love, and God is also wisdom (I Jn. 4:8, I Cor. 1:30). Obedience stirs the heart of God in our favor, and God’s loving rewards are both cyclical and generational.
Consider I Kings 3:6 where Solomon says to God, “ . . . You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David because he was faithful to you and righteous, and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.”
What a beautiful, new expression of God’s love for a son and father who loved Him and trusted Him enough to sacrificially obey.
Indeed, love is not selfish (I Cor. 13:5). Neither is wisdom. Love puts God first (not riches), as Solomon did. And wisdom rewards (Pr. 9:12). Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” God rewarded Solomon according to this very precept.
Proverbs 11:2 says that “with humility comes wisdom.” We would be wise, like Solomon, to humble ourselves before God to receive more of His greater wisdom. I Corinthians says, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Clearly, God’s ways are higher. He has greater vision, knowledge, wisdom and love than we. So why would we want to limit ourselves by depending upon our own limited heart and mind?
Colossians 2:3 says, “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are hidden in Christ. If we will humble ourselves and seek Him wholeheartedly, He will reveal His mysteries to us through revelation, and we will grow in wisdom, just like Jesus (Lk. 2:52).
Solomon’s father, David, said in Psalm 51:6, “You teach me wisdom in the inmost places.” What greater intimacy? The Lord has fresh manna and new wine to serve us, but will we join Him in the inmost place to receive it? Solomon understood that God is magnificent in wisdom, and he sought Him (Is. 28:29).
May we be obedient to “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know Him better” and so that we “will shine like the brightness of the heavens” for His glory (Eph. 1:17, Dan. 12:3).
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