“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?”
~ 1 Kings 3:9
Hi James and Ellen,
What do you want to have more than anything else that you could possibly have? If God should visit you tonight – in a dream, and told you that He would give you the one thing that you want the most, what would you tell God that you want the most? Would you tell God that the one thing that you want the most is to live a long life? Would you tell God that the one thing that you want the most is to have a lot of things – including a lot of money? Would you tell God that the one thing that you want the most is to have every guy, gal and kid like you? Would you tell God that the one thing that you want the most is to have insight or discernment in order to administrate justice or punishment fairly? Suppose that you have just become a king and you have God visit you in a dream to ask you what you want to have more than anything else that you could possibly have, what would you tell God that you want to have the most? Suppose that before you became a king, your dad – who had been the king, had accumulated an almost immeasurable amount of wealth, how would you feel about God asking you to tell Him what you want more than anything else when you probably already have what you wanted or if you do not have what you wanted or would want in the future, you probably could easily get whatever it is that you want or would ever want to have? Suppose that you had already made a pact or an agreement with Siamum or Psusenness II – an Egyptian Pharaoh, to marry his daughter, how would you feel about accepting God’s help when you probably already have proved that you can do whatever without His help? Suppose that the number of the guys, gals and kids who you are ruling over as a king are so many that you cannot count how many guys, gals and kids that there are, how would you feel about accepting God’s help when you already have all the power and prestige that any guy would ever want?
Solomon was probably about twenty years old when he became king over God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids – the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids. Solomon had all the money and stuff that any guy could ever dream of having. After David – Solomon’s dad, died, and Solomon was positioned as king, Solomon inherited a people group of guys and gals and a country that every other people group and country perceived as being large, powerful and wealthy. When Solomon was positioned king over the Israelite people group’s guy, gals and kids, Solomon knew God as His God and as His friend. Per his dad’s instructions to do it, Solomon had an absolutely magnificent temple built in Jerusalem for God’s presence to reside. Solomon also had a magnificent palace built in Jerusalem for himself and a wall built all around Jerusalem. While the resplendent temple that Solomon was having built in Jerusalem and where God would be worshipped, the tabernacle that God had Moses build was being kept in Gibeon. God’s specially chosen guys and gals – including Solomon, would walk to Gibeon to worship God. The Gibeonite people group’s guys and gals were an enemy people group of guys and gals who were living in the land of Canaan – which is the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their extended families would always have to live in as their very own land. The Gibeonite people group’s guys, gals and kids were supposed to have been killed by the Israelite people group’s guys when they overran Canaan’s land area. Some Gibeonite people group’s guys tricked Joshua and God’s specially chosen guys into not killing them. Because of the agreement that Joshua made with these Gibeonite people group’s guys, the Gibeonite people group’s guys, gals and kids were protected from ever being killed by the Israelite people group’s guys. In the agreement that Joshua made with the Gibeonite people group’s guys, the Gibeonite people group’s guys would be the water carriers and wood splitters for the Israelite people group’s guys and gals when they made sacrifice offerings to God on the tabernacle’s alter.
When Solomon trekked to Gibeon to sacrifice offerings to God on the tabernacle’s alter, Solomon sacrificed one thousand burnt offerings. The night after Solomon made the one thousand burnt offering sacrifices to God, God visited Solomon in a dream that Solomon was having. The 1 Kings 3 author recounts God telling Solomon in the dream to ask Him for whatever he wanted and . . . and Solomon telling God that he knew that his dad – David, had blessed Him through his faithfulness to Him as a righteous guy whose heart had stayed focused on Him and not on gods that had been made from wood, stone and metal. When Solomon was positioned king over the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids, Solomon was offering sacrifices and burned incense to inanimate gods that were made from wood, metal and stone. Solomon sensed that God was being kind to him because of the life that his dad had lived. Even though Solomon had or could get anything that he could possibly have or could get, Solomon knew what kind of life that he was living as a young guy so Solomon told God in verse 9 what he would like to have the most, “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?”’ God honored Solomon’s request. God gave Solomon a wisdom like no other guy would ever have. God also gave Solomon things that he did not ask for – such as wealth and honor, for the rest of his life. God also gave Solomon an opportunity to display the wisdom that He had given to him. Solomon determined between two prostitute mas who had had their newborn babies sleeping with them which of the two mas was the ma of the living baby after the other ma had inadvertently smothered her baby. Should God ever ask you in a dream one day what you want more than anything else, your grandpaa hopes that you will ask Him for wisdom.
1 Kings 3 (296)