Ask the Lord for Eternal Wisdom!

10th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/13/17
1 Kings 3:5-12


Ask the Lord for Eternal Wisdom!


Let me take you back 12 months. It’s the end of summer 2016. You’re trying to enjoy the closing weeks of what you envisioned to be a less-scheduled time of the year. But schedule changes are looming. The school year for your children is about to begin. The football season is ready to kick-off. To be honest, you’re looking forward to the change that fall will bring.

But one thing won’t change: the message that is in front of you all day long every day in every form of the media—the 2016 presidential election. Do you recall how annoying the last 3 months of the campaign were? In fact, its 12 months later and we still haven’t heard the end of it due to the alleged involvement of Russian operatives. It was a historically controversial election for more reasons than one. One of them is the fact that, for the first time in our lives, some of us held our noses and pulled the lever on the polling machine. I know others who refused to vote.

As unattractive as your options last November were, let me ask you this: Can you imagine voting for someone who isn’t yet legally an adult? Maybe not because our nation’s laws won’t allow such a person to seek the office of the President. But imagine if it were legal and such a candidate were in the running. Would you vote for such a person, given their utter lack of experience?

The ancient people of the nation of Israel didn’t have a vote and they didn’t have a choice. The next person to be their king was chosen without any input from them. As he sat on the throne of the most powerful nation in the world at that time, even he was aware of his obvious lack of experience. Who was he? That man is none other than the king we meet in this morning’s text from 1 Kings. His name was Solomon.

To be honest, I’m not absolutely sure what Solomon’s age was when this event occurred, but 20 years is a fairly good guess. Imagine being 20 years old and sitting behind the President’s desk in the Oval Office of the White House. Imagine being 20 years old and sitting on the throne of God’s people. Would the intimidation overwhelm you?

I’m sure Solomon felt that way. And he reacted to it properly. He didn’t feign that he had everything under control. He didn’t give the impression of being a know-it-all. He didn’t deliver blustery speeches to make it sound as if he knew what he was talking about. Instead, he went to the Lord in prayer. And what he requested astounds us. He asked the Lord for wisdom. And in doing so, he presents us with the silent encouragement to do the same. Ask the Lord for wisdom. And not just any wisdom. Eternal wisdom.

As I read this part of God’s word a few minutes ago, in addition to Solomon’s request, was there something else that impressed you? Take a look again at the words of 1 Kings 3. Are you impressed with Solomon’s spiritual mindset as he approaches the Lord in prayer? If you’re not quite sure what I mean, take a look again at the way Solomon refers to himself. For the most powerful man in the world on the throne of the world’s greatest nation at that time, did you catch how he refers to himself? He’s praying for himself, as we often do too, but he never uses the personal pronoun “I.” Instead, he repeatedly refers to himself as “your servant” and even as a “little child.” Can you imagine our US president—past or present—praying in such a way? Solomon’s prayer is submersed in godly humility.

One of the reasons for that is that he is keenly aware of his responsibilities. He says, “Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.” Solomon was not the leader of a petty nation that had no part in world affairs. By the time Solomon ascended the throne of Israel, its borders stretched from modern Iraq to Egypt. It was at the very center of lucrative trade routes. And by this time, the population of the people under his control was so large that there was no reliable way to count them. And he was responsible for the lives of every one of them!

What’s more, Solomon recognized God’s special purpose for the people whom he ruled. They were God’s special people, his chosen nation. No doubt his father, King David, had made Solomon keenly aware of the indispensable place this nation of people played in God’s plans to send a Savior into the world. In fact, that Savior would be one of Solomon’s descendants. In a very real way, Solomon was the earthly protector of that promise. Can you imagine having that responsibility as a 20-year-old?

And we see his young age on display in the verses right before our text begins. We read, “Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter.” Sounds likely a kingly thing to do, doesn’t it? Unless you know that the Lord commanded his people not to make alliances with other nations. He told them not to marry heathen people. He expected his king to set a good example for his people. The 20-year-old Solomon failed. A dark moment in his reign.

But then we read right before the verse where our text begins, “Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on [the] altar.” Every one of these animals was a whole burnt offering—an offering that declared complete devotion to the Lord. He led the people in God-pleasing worship of the Lord. A bright moment in his reign.

And it’s right after that bright moment that we hear how the Lord responded to the leader of his people, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” He handed Solomon a divine blank check. He opened the doors of his divine warehouse to Solomon. He threw them wide open and declared, “Let me know what you want. It’s yours.” Can you imagine such a thing? Even as someone double Solomon’s age, can you imagine such a thing?

Now imagine you’re the 20-something Solomon. What would a twenty-year-old in ancient Israel request? He already has a princess for a wife. So, should he ask for a whole shed full of racy chariots? Should he ask for luxurious winter and summer palaces where he can enjoy life? How about asking for more gold than anyone has ever laid eyes on? How about asking for such great power that no one would ever dare to challenge him? How about asking for a life of excellent health, free from pain and disease? How about unlimited happiness?

But you know what he asked for and, in doing so, he has earned the admiration of God’s people for thousands of years. From a heart full of humility he prays, “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” Solomon realized that his native abilities to lead God’s people were grossly inadequate. The ability to lead God’s people in a godly way required godly wisdom.

And God provided it. He said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.” Solomon became…well…as wise as Solomon. There’s no one else in this world with which to compare him. He surpasses them all as the Lord declared he would. We have the record of notable world dignitaries hearing of his wisdom and traveling from far-off places just to seek an audience with Solomon to see if his wisdom matched his reputation. And Solomon didn’t let them down.

In fact, the very next event recorded in the Bible is an example of it. Two women argued over being the mother of a child. One of them had just lost her child to death by an unfortunate accident. After hearing their claims, Solomon asked for a sword to divide the child in two. And the motherly instincts of the child’s rightful mother immediately moved her to plead for her child’s life. Solomon instantly gave the child to its rightful mother. In doing so, he used his God-given wisdom to discern right from wrong among God’s people.

If only that wisdom characterized the remainder of Solomon’s life! But the sad truth, as Scripture declares it, is that Solomon ignored God’s will for him to be a one-woman man and married literally hundreds of women. And his wives led him into idolatry. In a move we don’t understand, he supported the worship of the Lord and the worship of detestable idols. What happened to his godly wisdom?

In fact, if you pressed me for an opinion about the eternal future of Solomon, I’d have to say I’m not sure. Did he die in faith in the one true God? We’ll have to wait until we get to heaven to find out. Sad, isn’t it? Here was a man who had everything his heart desired, as he himself wrote in the Book of Ecclesiastes. But all those things left him empty inside. “Meaningless!” he declared.

What a tragedy! How could this happen? Because he forgot what his real treasure was. That treasure was his life in God’s kingdom solely due to his faith in God’s promise of a Savior. When Solomon devalued that treasure, the rest of his life unraveled.

Don’t let it happen to you! It won’t, when you hold to the eternal wisdom God has worked in you by faith in Jesus. If you lose everything else, but hold to your faith in Jesus, you still possess the only thing that matters—eternal wisdom. Our Lord Jesus knows how much we struggle with that—holding on to eternal treasure. That’s why he never let go of you or his work for you. He won eternal treasure for you when he sacrificed the most precious thing of all for you—his life on Calvary’s cross. With Jesus as your priceless treasure, you don’t need anything else. That’s eternal wisdom. Ask the Lord for that wisdom! He’ll gladly give it to you and keep you in it by his grace. Amen.