1 Kings 3

Discussion Questions

1. What is wisdom? What is the difference between God’s wisdom and what the world considers to be wise?
2. Solomon’s prayer displayed the disposition of his heart. What do our own prayers reveal to us about our hearts? If we were put in the same situation as Solomon, what would we ask God to do for us?
3. What does your version of the good life look like? What is the ultimate thing in your life? Are you prioritizing what is best over what is good? What are you clinging to, depending on, and looking toward for your own sense of worth, fulfillment and purpose? Can it bear the weight?
4. Are we actively asking God for wisdom, or simply hoping to passively pick up a little along the way? Are we inquiring of God for what we need to walk faithfully and be fully equipped in our own unique/individual spheres of influence? Can we see evidence of wisdom in our own lives? What are some examples/proofs?

Transcript

We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel, and if you’d like a paper copy to follow along with, just raise your hand and someone will deliver it to you. Or if you want to use your device, I think you can grab our Wi-Fi password, and there’s even a QR code if you want to download that and get the sermon notes and quotes. So, let’s just address the tiny little elephant in the room here. It’s not a sock puppet, although it looks like a sock puppet [shows his hand brace]. And I could let the puppet preach the sermon, but I’m not going to, although I’m just going to say there were some staff members that were offering me cash money to do that. I’m not going to throw anybody under the bus.

And it’s really not a very sexy story. I didn’t get into a bar fight. I didn’t defeat an intruder in our home. I was just trying to get a lug nut off a tire with the drill, and the drill won the argument, let’s just put it that way. Anyway, we’re continuing our study today of 1 and 2 Kings, that we’re calling “The King of Redemption History.” That is Jesus. He is the King of redemption history. And today we’re going to find ourselves in chapter three, which we’re calling appropriately enough, “The Wisdom of Solomon,” which apparently, I have little of or I would not have gotten into this argument with the drill.

The wisdom of Solomon. So, here’s a question. What do Aladdin and his magic lamp, the British girl band the Spice Girls, and the movie City Slickers all have to do with our passage today? I think most of us are familiar with the story of Aladdin, right? He’s a young man who finds a lamp, rubs it, out pops this big genie that offers him three wishes. And then the Spice Girls … Hang with me, hang with me. In their 1996 debut single, Wannabe, they banter back and forth “Tell me what you want, what you really, really want.” Do you see where I’m going with this? Some of the lyrics are actually theologically profound and then some are like trash. I almost read some of them and then I’m like, “Oh, can’t read that.”

Then if you remember that movie City Slickers, Billy Crystal and some of his buddies, they’re taking this midlife trip out west to a dude ranch to herd cattle, and he’s riding the range with the trail boss, Curly, played by Jack Palance. And they get into this conversation and Jack Palance turns to Billy and he says, “Do you know what the secret of life is?” And he says, “One thing. It’s this one thing. If you hold to that, everything else can just whatever. It’s this one thing.” And so, Billy says, “Great, what is it?” And Curly said, “Well, that’s what you have to find out for yourself.” So, we’re going to get to this in verse five of our passage, when God asks Solomon this question, “Ask what shall I give you.”

Man. What would you say in that moment if God asked you that question? If the creator of the universe says, “Matt, bro, I’ll do anything for you.” What would you say? What would I say? It’s like winning the cosmic size lottery, isn’t it? What would we say? We all have a vision in our minds of what the good life looks like, don’t we? It probably changes throughout our life as the seasons of our life change. I mean, when you’re 15 or 16, the good life probably looks like getting your driver’s license, right? Then a little later on, it might look like getting married or having your first child or landing your first job. It could look like a house in the city or a cabin by the lake, living debt-free, having a number one hit song – we have so many creatives in our congregation – or better health and fitness. I think health and healing for a loved one would be pretty high up that list of what the good life looks like.

We all have that vision and that version, don’t we? And I think Solomon probably had it too. How did he answer this question? Tell me what you want me to do for you. I think one reason we can trust the Bible to be true is because it’s honest. It is willing to call things out the way they are. We don’t see perfect people, except for one, in the Bible. Solomon answers this question well. In our chapter this morning, and he starts off this season of his adult life and his rule pretty well, but spoiler alert – he’s not going to finish well. It’s going to go really bad in a few chapters, and we’ll get to that later.

So, let’s just stay in our story today. Let’s focus on where we are, listen in to the conversations at hand, and then just look how they might impact and apply to our lives and our stories. So, why don’t we pray, Church, and then let’s read our text: Faithful God, we have awakened to Your new day. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We turn to You early because we depend completely on Your strength, Your truth, Your justice, Your wisdom. We have not made ourselves; we cannot keep ourselves. We could never save ourselves. And so, we give ourselves to You for this hour and this day, our creator, keeper and savior through Jesus Christ. Amen.

This chapter, it’s got 28 verses, and it divides pretty neatly into two sections, verses one through 15, which we can call “The Prayer for Wisdom,” and then verses 16 through 28, which we can call “The Proof of Wisdom. So, let’s start reading, chapter three verse one.

“Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house in the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord. Solomon loved the Lord walking in the statutes of David, his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places and the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place.”

Gibeon, it’s about six miles north of Jerusalem, and at this time the tent of meeting that Moses built out in the wilderness was at Gibeon. And so, a lot of people would go to worship there. David had brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, but we know the temple has not been built yet because Solomon’s going to build that. So, most people went to these places to worship. Verse four. “And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was a great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. And at Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and here it is God said, ‘Ask what I shall give you.’”

What a question. Verse six. “And Solomon said, ‘You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David, my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness and in uprightness of heart toward you, and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, oh Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David, my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil for who is able to govern this, your great people.’”

Man, there’s something in the way that Solomon responds to this question that makes me think that he’s already seen the vacuity of privilege, because he has grown up, his mom and dad, king and queen. He’s grown up in a palace. He’s used to money and power and privilege and all of the trappings, but then he’s also been part of the dysfunction of a royal family. He saw David at his highest and then he saw Absalom, his oldest brother, try and take the throne from his father. And then there was a season where they were all on the run. They all left for Jerusalem. Well then, he saw his dad reinstated to the throne and he heard that the throne is promised to him. Well then right as his dad is on his deathbed, his next older brother Adonija tries to steal the throne from him again.

So, he has seen all of this stuff and I think he realizes these things are not ultimate. And you can almost see the beginnings of him writing the book of Ecclesiastes here. He’s already in this thought process. Here’s a quote that I’ve run across from Jim Carrey. I’ve heard interesting things about him lately. Obviously, I don’t know him. I don’t know where he’s at from the Lord. He’s so wild and extreme. But look at this quote. He says, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” It’s powerful, isn’t it?

When we’re in a place of lack or struggle or desire or ambition, we’re wanting to attain goals, we think, “Gosh, it’s going to be great when I… it’s going to be great when we…” But he’s in this position of having accomplished a lot of his goals and he’s had fame and fortune and money and power and what a lonely, desolate, arid place to get all that and realize it doesn’t mean anything. It’s not enough. Wow. I think that’s where Solomon is at this moment. So, let’s keep reading. Verse 10. “It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.”

Boy, that is profound. I want to live my life in a way that pleases God. I think we all do. “God said to Solomon, ‘Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right. Behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.’ And Solomon awoke and behold it was a dream. And then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings and made a feast for all of his servants.”

That was a prayer of wisdom. Let’s get into the proof of wisdom. Verse 16. Well then “Two prostitutes came to the king and they stood before him. The one woman said, ‘Oh my Lord, this woman and I live in the same house and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth and we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house. Only we two were in the house. And this woman’s son died in the night because she lay on him, and she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me while your servant slept and laid him at her breast and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold he was not the child that I had born.’ But the other woman said, ‘No, the living child is mine and the dead child is yours.’ The first said, ‘No, the dead child is yours and the living child is mine.’ Thus they spoke before the king.”

What a sharp contrast between the lives of Solomon and the two women that come before him. And just think about their struggle in life, their loneliness, their loss. And if you think back, if women at that time, even in the best of circumstances generally had no rights and were basically considered as property, imagine the life of a prostitute. Virtually she would have no father, no husband, no brother. She would have no man in her life to protect her. She would be an outcast except when somebody wanted to use and abuse her body. So, here are these two women, prostitutes that both get pregnant, both give birth. They’re alone in this house. There were no witnesses to come forward, which was vital in Jewish law. So, on the surface, there was no way to tell who was really telling the truth. It was a real “she said, she said” situation.

But here’s the proof of this gift of wisdom and discernment granted to Solomon by the Lord. Verse 23. “Then the king said, ‘The one said, “This is my son that is alive and your son is dead,” and the other says, “No, but your son is dead and my son is the living one.” And the king said, ‘Bring me a sword.’ So a sword was brought before the king and the king said, ‘Divide the living child in two and give half to the one and half to the other.’”

Man, what a shocking thing to hear, right? It just on the surface seems so callous and so brutal. But verse 26: “Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, ‘Oh my Lord, give her the living child and by no means put him to death.’ But the other said, ‘He shall be neither mine nor yours, divide him.’ Then the king answered and said, ‘Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death. She is his mother.’”

Gosh, look at the self-sacrificing love of the mother, to give up her child to save his life, but also look at the utter devastation and brokenness of the other woman, whose life was so hard already and so bitterly disillusioned by the death of her son that she was just numb to this idea and was just like, “Whatever, cut him in two. I don’t care.” Solomon rightly discerns the truth of the matter. And look at verse 28. “And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered and they stood in awe of the king because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.”

Man, I think that verse really stands out in this chapter. The people “perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.” In other words, the wisdom of God leads towards things being made right. The wisdom of God leads creation towards things being made right. Well, what can we take away from this chapter? Why does it matter? What does this have to do with our lives today? Well, there are three things here. I think we can observe something about the disposition of Solomon’s heart, and I think we can ask a question about how we are to live in light of this. And then we can also look to Jesus as being the one true king.

So, first, what does Solomon’s prayer reveal about the disposition of his heart? First, he has an obedient heart. In verse three, we read that Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David, his father. Solomon was pursuing God. He had an obedient heart. And then we read in verse six that he had a thankful heart. It’s so important to look at Solomon’s first response to when God says, “Ask what I shall give you.” The first thing he said is not, “Give me money, give me money, give me, give me, give me.” It’s not, “me, my, me, my.” The very first thing he does, he says, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant, David. You are a faithful God. You have kept your promises.”

Wow, what a great way to start that answer. In verse seven through nine he has a servant heart. Solomon says, “You have made your servant a king. Your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen. Help me govern them.” His posture is already to serve, and he has a humble heart. Verses seven and eight, he says, “You’ve made your servant a king, but I am but a little child, I don’t even know how to go out or come in.” God, I need your help. I’m aware of my limitations. And he has a discerning heart. He’s praying for a discerning heart, but he already has a discerning heart because he’s aware he needs discernment.

Verse nine, Solomon, he’s humble enough to know that he needs an understanding mind and the ability to discern between good and evil in order to govern God’s people. And then lastly, in verse 15, in Solomon’s response to God’s answer to Solomon’s prayer, we see a worshiping heart. After all this, after all that’s said and done, Solomon goes to Jerusalem. He goes to the Ark of the Covenant, and he offers up burnt offerings and peace offerings. So, in all of this, Solomon is asking God to equip him to serve in the role God has for him.

We know that the arc of Solomon’s story doesn’t have a great ending like so many. Solomon doesn’t finish the race well, but in this moment, he’s not in it for himself. He’s not asking for money, sex and power. He’s aware of the role that God has for him and he’s asking for God’s help to serve, to serve in the role that God has for him. Well, in the way Solomon starts off, the very first chapter of Proverbs could be taken straight from this prayer, chapter one, verses two and three. “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice and equity.”

Gosh, you can just see how this grew out of Solomon’s experience with the Lord here in chapter three of 1 Kings. And Psalm 72, verses one and two, which some scholars think is written by David as he was aging, a prayer for his son, Solomon. But others think it’s written by Solomon himself, and the author is asking for these various gifts of justice and righteousness. “Give the king your justice, oh God, and your righteousness to the royal son. May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice.”

What a humble prayer that is. Well, this conversation between Solomon and God, what would that look like in our lives? Because for most of us, we’re not going to be a king or a queen. Somebody, maybe in this room, might serve in government, local, state, national, but for most of us, we’re not going to be king. But in our relationships, in our work, in our communities, each one of us, our little sphere of influence, how can we have this disposition of heart, which is our second takeaway? How do we walk in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord? Scripture is really consistent in its answer to this question. From the Ten Commandments and Levitical law to the prophets, to Jesus Himself, what we might call a cross-shaped life, God calls to attention our vertical relationship with Him and then our horizontal relationship with each other, especially those who are the most vulnerable and at risk among us.

And here’s just a few verses: Amos 5:24, “Let justice roll on like a river righteousness, like a never-failing stream.” Amos is going to be our first minor prophet that we study. So, come join us for the lunchtime talks and then look at a couple more. Micah 6:8, “He has told you, oh man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?”

And then in the Gospel of Matthew, this conversation Jesus is having with a scribe and the man’s asking him what’s the greatest commandment, and we know this response. Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and all the prophets.”

Jesus is telling this guy, “Look, all the way back to Genesis chapter 18, to the Ten Commandments, to Levitical law, to all of the prophets, all of that is held in these two commandments. Love the Lord your God. Love your neighbor as yourself.” What a great template God has laid out for us in how to walk in all of life. This is the disposition of heart to walk in a way that pleases the Lord. Then the specific question becomes, this is our next slide, what role might Christ be calling you to fulfill in the ongoing unfolding story of redemption history?

Pastor Jim asked a very similar question a couple of weeks ago. We know we’re in the middle of God’s story of redemption history, and as we just saw, we know plainly how we are to walk. But then the question becomes for all of us, what role might Jesus be calling us to fulfill in this unfolding story at this moment? Maybe it’s a role that’s going to last a lifetime. Maybe it’s a role that’s just going to last for a season, but my question is, what might Jesus be calling you to at this moment? Can you be present in this very moment to that which Jesus is calling you to?

All of this, Solomon’s role and his story, our role and our stories, which are all a part of Jesus’ grand narrative story of redemption history, all of this points to Jesus, which brings us to our last takeaway. Jesus Christ, He’s the only king who is truly wise, completely righteous and fully just. As brilliant as Solomon is, and Pastor Tommy’s going to share this with us next week in chapter four. He was brilliant. Not only was he wise, but he was also knowledgeable in all sorts of areas. But for all of that, he’s a human being. He’s fallible. He’s sinful, and he drifts away from the Lord towards the end of his life.

We need a king that is truly wise, completely righteous, fully just. There’s a circular relationship with these three things; wisdom, righteousness and justice. Because you could be wise but not righteous – you could be an evil dictator. Or you could be righteous but not wise – you could just be a blundering fool. Or you can certainly be wise and still be unjust. We see examples of that all the time. Only in Jesus do we see this perfect embodiment of these three. Jesus is not only righteous – He is righteousness. He’s not only wise – He is wisdom. He’s not only just – He is justice.

In order for us to be able to trust Jesus, we have to know that He’s absolutely capable of being truly wise, completely righteous and fully just. Otherwise, we can’t trust Him. We have to approach Him with a guarded heart. But that’s not the case. We know that He is all of these things, and in order to believe that He’ll one day finally and fully make all things right, we have to know that He’s fully able to do this as our Lord and king and fully willing to do this as our savior and redeemer.

God tells us in Jeremiah 25, “Behold the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and execute justice and righteousness in the land… and this is the name by which he’ll be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”

Jesus is our righteousness. He is righteousness for us, and he is righteousness in us. We have a phrase that we use to communicate in our baptism preparation. We use this to communicate our need for salvation, that sin is not only global, it’s also personal. It’s not only out there, but it’s in here. We all need forgiveness from sin – a way out. And we can also say that conversely, the need for the gospel, then it’s not just personal in here, but it’s also global. And in our culture, around every corner, there is an ongoing cry for justice. We see it in our country, seeking for wrongs to be righted, but we see it all around the world. There is a desperate need for justice.

Author Nancy Guthrie says, “You and I experience a lot of perversions of justice in this world. And the good news… is that justice is going to be done by one who is perfectly just and perfectly righteous.” We can trust Him to be just because He’s righteous. That’s the promise of the Gospel. Because Jesus experienced the very depths of injustice and defeated death on the cross, He is trustworthy. He is able, and He is willing to make things right. He has the ability to actually do this. Because of that, we can view our entire life through this lens: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way.”

Tim Keller puts that idea like this, “I am going to judge my circumstances by Jesus’ love, not Jesus’ love by my circumstances.” Friends, we can lean heavily, heavily into that truth. No matter what our circumstances are, we can view them through the lens of Jesus’ love for us and His intent to finally and fully make all things right.

And I’ll finish with this Dale Ralph Davis quote, “This is the hint that we have in 1 Kings 3. The wisdom, discernment and justice of Solomon point to one who will outstrip Solomon, to one in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And if such a King already has begun to reign, must we not assume, as his subjects, that he will never ordain or order anything in our circumstances except what is in line with wisdom at its highest and best?” Friends, we can trust this truly wise, completely righteous and fully just king.

Amen. Let’s pray, Church: Faithful God, You are all that is good and beautiful and true. Your story is the true story. Jesus, You truly are the king we want and the king we need. You alone are truly wise, completely righteous and fully just. We know that we can totally trust You and we bring our lives to You today. Hold us fast in Your everlasting arms. In Jesus’ name, amen.