Solomon
After David's death God anointed Solomon King of Israel. This is a great blessing to David to have his son chosen as the next King of Israel. David was a great leader and lover of God. God prospered David and made his kingdom great. Solomon inherits it and that is an enormous responsibility. Think about it; these are some tall boots to fill. We will see that Solomon's attitude was humbleness and thankfulness before God.
I Kings 3
:3 And
Solomon loved the LORD
,
walking in the statutes of David his father:
only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. [temple wasn't built yet]
:4 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.
:5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night:
and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
:6 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.
:7 And now, O LORD my God,
thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father:
and I am but a little child: [child: na?r--of the age up to adolescence]
I know not how to go out or come in.
[how to handle life in general]
:8 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.
:9 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?
olomon describes David as he saw his father walk in truth, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. David's reward was to have a son who would reign in David's stead--a great honor in this culture. Solomon was quite humble before God, five times he mentioned his subjection; three times by stating that he was a servant, once a child and once unable to handle life. Solomon was fully aware that he was a servant of God and he asks for an understanding heart to judge this vast amount of God's people. Solomon didn't ask to be like his Dad because he knew he had to have his own relationship with God. As we follow these great examples of God's Believers we learn from them but we cannot be them, we must build our own relationship with Him.
:10 And the speech pleased the Lord,
that Solomon had asked this thing.
:11 And God said unto him,
Because thou hast asked this thing,
and hast not asked for thyself long life;
neither hast asked riches for thyself,
nor hast asked the life of thine enemies;
but
hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
:12 Behold, I have done according to thy words:
lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart;
so that there was none like thee before thee,
neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
:13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked,
both riches, and honour:
so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways,
to keep my statutes
and my commandments,
as thy father David did walk,
then I will lengthen thy days
.
Solomon received a wise and understanding heart. He was also given riches and honour, and no other king had as much as Solomon. If Solomon walked, did God's Word, God would lengthen his days. No person can guarantee success but God can.
:15 And Solomon awoke;
And he came to Jerusalem,
and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD,
and offered up burnt offerings,
and offered peace offerings,
and made a feast to all his servants.
Great was Solomon's thankfulness to God.
I Kings 4
:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much,
and largeness of heart,
even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
:30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east
country,
and all the wisdom of Egypt.
:31 For he was wiser than all the children of the east country,
and all the wisdom of Egypt.
[vs. 30 & 31 repeated means it is established]
We can see the wisdom that God gave Solomon in Proverbs.
Proverbs 1
:1 The proverbs of Solomon
the son of David,
king of Israel;
:2 To know wisdom and instruction;
to perceive the words of understanding;
:3 To receive the instruction of wisdom,
justice,
and judgment,
and equity;
:4 To give subtilty to the simple,
to the young man knowledge
and discretion.
:5 A wise man will hear,
and will increase learning;
and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
:6 To understand a proverb,
and the interpretation;
the words of the wise,
and their dark [deep] sayings.
:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
There are different kinds of wisdom. There is wisdom of the world that comes with experience and mentoring and there is the wisdom that God has given us in his Word. The wisdom of the world takes time to accumulate. God has given us wisdom beyond our years in His Word.
I Corinthians 1
:19 For it is written, [Isaiah 29:14]
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
:20 Where is the wise?
where is the scribe?
where is the disputer of this world?
hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
:21 For after that
in the wisdom of God
the world by wisdom knew not God,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
:22 For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
:23 But we preach Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumblingblock,
and unto the Greeks foolishness;
:24 But unto them which are called,
both Jews
and Greeks,
Christ the power of God,
and the wisdom of God.
:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men;
and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God. Indeed the wisdom of the world could not understand God. The world, in it's wisdom, could not understand how Christ can be our savior. So when we come across people who cannot fathom this concept, cannot understand the wisdom of the Word we shouldn't be surprised. The wisdom of God's Word is now in Christ and:
:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness,
and sanctification,
and redemption:
:31 That, according as it is written,
He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord.
This wisdom is of God-it is given to us, made unto us, accomplished in us. Why? So that we may glory in the Lord.
How can this be?
I Corinthians 2
:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God.
:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him? [spirit of man-man's natural soul
life]
even so the things of God knoweth no man,
[by the soul of man]
but the Spirit of God. [is the only way to know God]
:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
:13 Which things also we speak,
not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.[examined]
:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth [examines, discerns] all things,
yet he himself is judged [examined,
discerned] of no man.
:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord,
that he may instruct him?
But we have the mind of Christ.
Mind is the word nous meaning understanding. God says we have the understanding of Christ. Let us recognize the spiritual wisdom that God is so eager to give us. Let us stop and ask Him for knowledge and wisdom. If we have made Jesus Christ lord in our lives and believed that God raised him from the dead God has made us whole-complete, lacking nothing (Rom 10:9, 10). We are now His children by seed with holy spirit within. We have Christ is us. God makes a distinction between natural men and spiritual. It must be available to not have the spirit of God and not understand spiritual matters. But we are spiritual and we can know. We can understand His Word and live it victoriously. It is available.
Solomon was given great wisdom and it is written in God's Word for us. We can understand it and live it to the fullest.