Godly Wisdom
1 Kings 3: 1 –
15.
Introduction
I
am a self-taught typist. I type a full
sermon manuscript every week. I typed a
265 page final doctoral project. I’m
pretty fast, and I don’t usually look at the keyboard while I type…But I don’t
use all my fingers. I only use six of my
ten fingers.
I
started typing all my school work when I was in the eighth grade. My dad is an engineer, so we were one of the first
families I knew that had a home computer.
(Of course, we were the last family with a microwave, a VCR and a
touchtone phone.)
I
even went to college with my own computer.
Everyone in the freshman dorm was impressed, because my computer had a
30 megabyte hard drive. The computers in
the computer lab only had 20 megabyte hard drives. I think my cell phone has a capacity of 16
gigabytes! That means my cell phone can
store over 500 times as much information as my first computer.
Computer
storage has increased over the years for a couple of reasons. On one hand, technology is getting cheaper,
so we can afford to walk around with high powered computers in our
pockets. On the other hand, the amount
of information has exploded in recent years.
Some
philosophers estimate that the sum total of information on planet earth doubled
one time in the 1500 years between the time of Jesus and Leonardo da
Vinci. Then, it doubled again in the 200
years between da Vinci and the French Revolution. It doubled again in the 150 years between the
Revolution and the 1900’s. Then, it
doubled again in 1950, 1960, 1967 and 1973.
Today, it is estimated that information doubles every 18 months![1]
As
information has exploded, it has also become easier for us to access that information
through books and the Internet. But, has
the information explosion made us smarter?
I suggest that we have an abundance of knowledge but a shortage of
wisdom. There is a difference between
knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is about
information. Wisdom is about taking that
information and applying it in practical ways.
A
good example of the difference between knowledge and wisdom can be found in the
novel / movie, Jurassic Park. The plot involves a group of scientists who
have the knowledge to clone dinosaurs from blood found in prehistoric
mosquitoes. They were smart enough to
figure out how to clone dinosaurs. Yet,
they lacked the wisdom to know that the dinosaurs would eat them by the end of
the movie. It is possible to have a lot
of knowledge but to apply that knowledge in ways that are not wise.
Wisdom
is a significant theme in the Old Testament.
There are even books of the Old Testament which are referred to as
Wisdom Literature. This Old Testament
Wisdom Tradition is usually associated with King Solomon, whom Jewish people
consider the wisest man who ever lived.
1 Kings 3: 1 – 15.
Verses
1 – 3 give us a foreshadowing of Solomon’s life. All of his accomplishments and his failures
are summed up. Solomon was known for his
building projects. He built a beautiful
palace for himself, a wall around the city of Jerusalem and a Temple for the
LORD of Israel. He was able to
accomplish these lavish building projects, because he was the king during a
peaceful time. Of course, Solomon was largely
responsible for these peaceful times. He
made peace treaties with the surrounding kings by marrying their
daughters. These marriages were
strategic, because the foreign kings did not want to go to war against their
son-in-law. But, these marriages also
led to Solomon’s downfall.
Solomon’s
foreign wives brought their foreign gods with them to Israel. Solomon not only allowed his wives to worship
foreign gods, he also allowed his wives to dilute his worship and allegiance to
the One True God of Israel.
So,
at the very beginning of this Scripture, we are able to see Solomon at his best
and at his worst. This is a remarkable
fact about both the Bible and the kinds of people God chooses to do his work in
the world. The Bible presents our heroes
as flawed heroes. We read about their
successes and their failures. AND, God
chooses ordinary people to accomplish his work.
God is not looking for perfect people.
God is looking for people like Solomon…people like me…people like you…
I
believe this is the way God prefers to work in the world. If God used perfect people, then we might be
tempted to focus on the person rather than the God who is using them to
accomplish his work. If I thought I was
perfect, I would be tempted to take all the credit for myself, rather than
giving God the credit and the glory for using me and allowing me to serve a
small part of God’s plans in the world.
God’s Offer
The
Scripture tells us that Solomon was offering sacrifices at the altar in
Gibeon. If there had been a Temple in
Jerusalem, this would not have been an acceptable place to sacrifice. However, the Book of Chronicles tells us that
the Tabernacle used by the Hebrew people in their Wilderness Wanderings finally
settled at Gibeon. Therefore, we can
assume Solomon was probably offering sacrifices on the altar Moses built in the
wilderness, and that Solomon was worshipping God at the holiest place in the
land.
After
the sacrifices, Solomon went to sleep and had a dream. It is possible that Solomon went to sleep in
the Tabernacle. There was an ancient
practice known as “incubation,” where a worshipper would offer sacrifices and
pray to God for an answer. Then, they
would sleep in the church in hopes that God would speak to them in their
dreams. (Perhaps that is why some of our
folks go to sleep in church. They are
hoping God will speak to them in their dreams.
Actually, I think God is speaking to you in your sleep right now, saying
WAKE UP.)
God
showed up in Solomon’s dream and offered him carte blanche. Solomon could ask God for anything he
wanted…anything he thought he might lack as he began his rule as the King of
Israel.
In
some ways, we can think of this as a God’s way of testing Solomon to see what
kind of king he wanted to be. In the
ancient world, kings were known for their extravagant wealth and absolute power
over their people. At this point,
Solomon did not have wealth. And, there
was some doubt about whether or not the kingdom would hold together. So God is offering Solomon a choice about
what kind of king he wants to be. Does
he want to be a king of glory, who focuses on his own wealth and power? Or, does Solomon want to be a servant king,
who puts the welfare of God’s people first?
Solomon’s
rise to power was a brutal and bloody story.
He had his own brother executed, because Adonijah tried to become king
instead of Solomon. Then, he had
Abiathar the priest exiled and executed David’s military leader, Joab. It was beginning to look like Solomon would
become a brutal tyrant.
We
expect Solomon to ask for wealth to prove to his kingdom what a great man he
is. We expect Solomon to ask for his
enemies to die—at least the enemies he hasn’t already killed. We expect Solomon to ask for the kind of
honor and respect a king deserves. But,
that is not what he asks for. In fact,
Solomon surprises us with his request…
What
do you think you would ask for? This is
like the American dream. I’ve always
heard people say that the America dream is to work hard and make a better life
for yourself than your parents and grandparents had. But, that has not been my experience. In my experience, the American dream is
getting something for nothing. Finding a
Genie in a bottle or having God show up in your dream and tell you that you can
have anything you want without ever working for it. So, what would you ask God for? Money?
Power? Fame?
The
fact is we know what we would ask God for, because we know what our prayers
sound like. We pray about health and
finances. We pray for protection for
ourselves and for our children—even when we know we are making poor decisions,
we pray for God to protect us from the consequences of our decisions. Our prayers tend to be very selfish prayers.
Solomon’s Prayer
Solomon’s
prayer doesn’t sound very much like our prayers. It was not a selfish prayer. And, it can serve as a model for the way we
ought to approach God in prayer.
First,
Solomon began his prayer by praising God for God’s faithfulness to his father
David. God took care of David, and God
made a promise to David. God promised
that David would always have a son to serve as king over God’s people.
Then,
Solomon praised God for being faithful to him.
Solomon knew that his kingship was the natural result of God’s
faithfulness. God made a promise to
David. God kept his promise by allowing
Solomon to become the king.
Then,
Solomon approached God in humility. He
referred to himself as God’s servant and as nothing more than a “little child.”
We
believe that Solomon would have been in his twenties at this point. He was not a “little child”—notice that he
had already married the Pharaoh’s daughter.
But, Solomon recognized that he was wholly inadequate for the job God
had placed him in. Solomon was to serve
as the leader of God’s people. He was
stepping in to fill the shoes of his father, David. But, he was also taking the job once held by
heroes like Abraham, Moses and Samuel.
Solomon
did not begin his reign as king as an arrogant young man who thought he could
do a better job than his father. He
began by feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility and recognizing that he was
inadequate for the task. Therefore,
Solomon asked God for wisdom.
Technically
speaking, Solomon never asked for wisdom.
The New International Version says he asked for a “discerning
heart.” Literally, he asked for a
“hearing heart.” This is important for a
couple of reasons. First, it tells us
something about the Hebrew understanding of discernment. While we typically speak about discernment as
a function of our eyes—to see clearly—the Hebrews spoke about it as a function
of the ears—to hear clearly. Secondly,
the Hebrew word for “hear” is very closely related to the word for “obey.” So, we can translate Solomon’s request either
as a “hearing heart” or an “obeying heart.”
Theologically
speaking, this should immediately make us think of God and the way God has
revealed himself to his people. God
never revealed himself through images.
Instead, God warned his people against images. God revealed himself through his word. God spoke to Moses, and Moses spoke to God’s
people. God spoke to the prophets, and
the prophets spoke to God’s people. And
God’s Word has been handed down to us in the form of the Bible.
On
a practical level, we can apply this to our modern lives by saying that the
person who obeys is the only person who truly hears. It is not enough to simply hear God’s Word
and then do nothing about it. Hearing
must lead us to obedience. We can think
of this in terms of communication. How
many times do you have to communicate the same message before that message is
received and acted on? I have no
statistics on this, but experience tells me it takes more than just one time
for someone to receive the message you communicate. Or, we could think of this in terms of
reading and studying the Bible. Hearing
God’s Word read and preached in worship is not enough. Reading the Bible at home is not enough. Studying the Bible in Sunday School of small
groups is not enough. We never truly
hear God until we begin to obey and live out the message God has given us.
God’s Answer
God
answered Solomon’s prayer by giving Solomon what he asked for (a hearing and
obedient heart) and by giving him what he did not ask for (wealth and honor).
I
can think of two ways to misread this Bible story. When I was a kid, I thought the point of the
story was “if you don’t ask God for money, God will give you money
anyway.” It’s a way to manipulate God
and get what you want out of him. The
other way is to think this promotes a “health and wealth” or “prosperity
gospel” point of view. To say that God
will make every believer wealthy.
No. The point is that when God is
your priority, God will meet your needs better than you could have ever
imagined.
Solomon
was famous in the ancient world (and continues to be famous in the Jewish
world) for his wisdom and his wealth.
This Scripture tells us how Solomon became wise and wealthy. Both his wisdom and his wealth were gifts
from God
While
Solomon never actually used the word “wisdom” in his request, God did use the word
“wise” in his answer. In verse 12, God
told Solomon that he would give him a “wise and discerning heart.” Or, a “wise and obedient heart.”
If
Solomon asked for a “hearing and obedient heart,” then God makes the connection
between wisdom and obedience.
This
is like the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is about cramming as much
information in your brain as possible.
Wisdom is taking that knowledge and using it in practical ways. Theologically speaking, it is possible to
have your brain filled with all the knowledge of the Bible but to waste that
knowledge by never applying it to your daily life. True wisdom involves hearing from God and
obeying God’s Word.
Conclusion
Wisdom
is an important theme in the life of Solomon and in the Old Testament. But, wisdom also shows up in the New
Testament.
James 1: 5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should
ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be
given to him.”
Since
we believe the Book of James was written by James, the brother of Jesus; and
since we know from the Book of Acts that James was the leader of the Jerusalem
church and lived as a Jewish Christian (a practicing Jew who accepted Jesus as
the Messiah); then it is no stretch to say that James understood wisdom as
hearing and obeying the Word of God.
We
can also say that James teaches us that wisdom is one of those prayer requests
that God wants to give us. All we have
to do is ask.
But
be careful what you pray for. God wants
to answer this prayer. And this is one
of those prayers that will change the way you live your life Sunday through
Saturday. When we ask God to give us a
“hearing and obedient heart,” we are asking God to help us listen as the Bible
is read and preached in worship. We are
asking God to show up and speak to us in our Sunday School and small group
Bible study. We are even asking God to
speak to us through daily Bible reading.
We are asking God to help us to obey his Word by loving our neighbors,
forgiving our enemies, sharing our faith with the lost, and serving people in
need.
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