June 02, 2014 - Monday

Start Time: 07:31 P.M.

End Time: 8:08 P.M.

Title: Solomon Asks for Wisdom

Scripture: 1 Kings 3:1 – 28

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.  The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”  Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.  “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 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?”  The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God 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. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

NOTES:

Ø God reached out to us first!  He knows our needs and at times, He initiates the conversation about providing for our needs when we are too shy, or hesitant to ask Him.  Solomon just became king and he was young.  He followed the instructions of his father and obeyed the Lord by walking according to t instructions given to him.  Yet, Solomon from the time he was appointed king, doesn’t know how to ask God.  He may have seen God moved in the life of his father.  He was a witness to it but he never felt God in his life moving really until God, Himself, initiated the meet.  Solomon was like us, doing the things our fathers are already doing.  Walking to tradition and obeying what our ancestors have instructed us to do, yet personally Solomon had no experience with God even when he was anointed as king…until God reached out to Him first!  Amazing!  God extends His presence, His life, His love to us even before we started a relationship with Him.  We may have seen the Lord moving in the lives of others just like Solomon, and we may have settled with that so long as we obey the instructions of our fathers to us, yet God is not contented with just that.  He wants relationship and so He reached out to us.  The same way He did to Solomon by appearing on his dreams.  Know that God doesn’t want us to be just bystanders or witnesses, He wants us to be involved in Him.  Hallelujah!  The best part of it all, He always makes the first move in building that relationship with us!  Praise God!    Solomon did not ask, God asked Him what He wants!  Solomon did not beg, God knew and offered His help.  Today, God is doing the same thing.  He wants to offer His love, He wants to give us answers, He wants to ask us what we want…will we accept His offer?

Ø God is pleased when we live uprightly that influence the people looking up on us and when we leave an imprint for others to follow.  David was an upright man and he was a man after God’s own heart.  But the best thing he did in his life was able to mold a disciple, his son, who has seen his father rule and take care of God’s people.  When God asked Solomon what he wanted, Solomon clearly established that God was great in the life of his father, David.  Solomon was speaking of what he has seen firsthand, not just someone who has heard of this with another person, but he saw it with his own eyes, how God walked and preserved David and because of that, it became an imprint in him that life with God makes a great ruler like his father.  So when it was his turn to rule, he asked for one thing he definitely knows how to be successful in his reign, he asked for guidance from the same God who guided his father, a great ruler, all his reign. 

                                                                                                   

→ Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.  “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast.  The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”  The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.” But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king. The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’” Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”  The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”  Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”  When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

NOTES:

Ø When God chooses you, He creates opportunity for the world to know that You are His!  Solomon requested for wisdom and God was pleased and gave it to him but to ensure that the world knows that Solomon is truly the chosen king, despite of his age or experience, God will always find a way to establish His chosen people’s authority and position.  This case of the two women fighting over a baby came as a problem yet, God turned it into a glorious declaration of Solomon’s wisdom that came directly from God.  God’s gifts to us contain supernatural abilities.  They are not ordinary and when used according to God’s plan, its purpose will make a declaration of God’s presence and support on You.  Only when it is used for God’s will otherwise, it will be not functioning as it was designed to.   When God gives us gifts, the world will truly know of it because thru it, God will be glorified!  Hallelujah!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your love and kindness.  Thank You because You initiate the relationship with us.  You do the 1^st step and all we have to do is respond.  Lord thank You because You are patient with us and You allow us to make the decision voluntarily.  Thank You Lord because You are pleased with people who live uprightly because our lives on earth will leave an imprint to the next generation so Lord, help me to walk uprightly and to walk on Your word and commands always.  Help me Lord to always seek Your guidance.  Thank You Jesus because when You give us abilities, these abilities are supernatural and when used for Your glory, it establishes and declares Your support and presence in our lives.  Thank You for that Lord.  Help me to always use my gifts for Your glory Lord because this is what my heart desires.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!