Solomon’s Legacy with God’s Granted Wisdom

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Reading through the first few chapters of 2 Chronicles as I did this morning because of my Daily Bible Reading plan, brought me again to the realization that God empowers those who love Him and are committed to His purposes.

In 2 Chronicles 1, we see Solomon worshiping God at Gibeon. He went there because the tent of meeting, which God had established through Moses was there. There, Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings to God (v. 6).

Starting in verse 7, Solomon prays to God. He did so in response to God’s appearing to Solomon that evening. When we speak of prayer, what we need to remember is that we are communicating with God. We are talking to Him and trusting Him to guide us in the way He would have us go. In order for that to occur though, we need to be willing participants in His will. We must be willing to set our own wants and considered needs aside, exchanging them for whatever God’s will is for us. It may certainly be that at least some of our wants will coincide nicely with God’s will, while others may not or may not at this time.

I’ve learned over my life that God will often place something on my heart but in doing so, does not mean that it will come about immediately or even soon. The difficulty for me has been to keep myself from running ahead of God to get the thing done that it seems He has put on my heart. When I was much younger, I would simply run with it, assuming that God was directing my steps. My response to that was often seen in “Great, I’ll take it from here!” and then I would use my strength, my so-called wisdom, my understanding to bring things about. What I have learned is that God often gives glimpses of things that do eventually come to pass and when He is allowed to lead, they come to pass in a very natural way, without a great deal of effort on my part.

I have also learned that whenever any “idea” comes into my mind, it is best to sit on it for a bit; to pray about it, giving it to Him for Him to bring to fruition. When I’ve done this, I have found greater fulfillment because it has become clear that God has not only provided a clear picture of His will, but has also brought it about. This does not mean I’m not involved. It means that I don’t waste a lot of time, effort, and energy attempting to bring it about. It’s more like watching it unfold, though I am certainly part of that process. It has been difficult for me to learn this because I have a type “A” personality. So many times in my life, I have gotten “great” ideas and without thoroughly vetting them, attempted to put them into practice. The results have been mixed at best. Those times when I just waited and endeavored to move along at the same pace the Lord appeared to be moving, is when things seem to fall in place far better.

I recall buying the home we are now living in. Previous to purchasing our current home, we had put a bid on another home. The bid was accepted and we began the escrow process. Everything was fine until the inspection. We learned there were several problems what lenders would not overlook. We went through the inspection list carefully and picked out only the most important ones for the seller. Turned out the seller – through his realtor – indicated then that the house was being sold “as is” and the seller would not fix. He would provide up to $1,000 toward fixing a few things (like mold in the crawl space), but that was it.

I was a bit flabbergasted because I thought the seller’s reaction was a bit insane. How was he going to sell his house? We sat down and added up all the things that needed to be done to bring the house up to what we believed would be a workable situation for us. For instance, the electrical panel in the house was full to capacity and the owner had actually “double-tapped” several appliances into one circuit breaker. To be done correctly, a larger panel should have been installed (or at least a sub-panel), which would allow room to add more breakers. The seller wasn’t interested in doing anything about that relatively dangerous situation.

When it was all totaled, we realized that if we accepted the seller’s refusal to do anything except for the mold, we would be paying an additional $12,000 of our own money. The other serious problem was that he was selling 8 additional acres of land right next to his. Unfortunately, though the seller said he had the land surveyed at one time, the paperwork had been lost and our realtor’s lawyers said without being able to join the extra 8 acres with the first 2 (and the house), they most likely could not seal the deal. So, if the seller did not want to pay (again) to have the land surveyed, it would be up to us, which would add another $2,500 at least to the overall additional amount that we would need to spend.

Ultimately, we said “no” to that house and kept looking. Interestingly enough, we found our current home quite by accident really. It had just come up listed but wasn’t even in the MSL listing yet and it already had an accepted offer on it. Fortunately, the offer was contingent on the sale of their home. We submitted an offer and the original people had 72 hours to sell their home or drop out of the potential sale. They could not sell their home, so we became front-runner. Compared to the previous situation, everything about this sale and escrow went very smoothly.

We still had to pour some money into the home to improve things but it wasn’t that we had to do that. We chose to do that to make the home more amenable to ourselves. Had we pushed through the first home, I’m pretty confident we would have regretted the purchase not long afterwards. We now live in the country on several acres and while it was a bit hard to get used to at first, neither my wife or I can imagine living in a residential neighborhood again. We like where we are and there are many benefits to living here.

I have learned through things like this that God works on His own timetable and for us, it is extremely important to stay in step with not only where He is moving but the speed with which He moves. When we do this, we truly begin to learn what Jesus meant when He said that we should “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30). His yoke becomes easy to bear when we remain in step with Him and do not run ahead.

What Solomon did way back in 2 Chronicles is essentially the same thing. When God came to Solomon that evening of the day he sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings to the Lord, God was testing Solomon. Certainly, God knew how Solomon would respond, but because it was acted out and written down, we also know how Solomon responded and was rewarded accordingly.

In 2 Chronicles 1:7, God says to Solomon, “Ask what I shall give you.” Wow, can you imagine that? I wonder what I would have asked for? What would you have asked for? Solomon could have asked for anything – long life, riches beyond compare, great health, etc., but what he actually asked for was something that benefited the people of Israel. Solomon asked for wisdom. Wisdom is putting knowledge to good use, not just having head knowledge.

 Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great? (v. 10)

God was very pleased with this response and this is exactly what He gave Solomon. But God did more than that.

Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like. (2 Chronicles 1:11-12 ESV)

Now, before we think that God would do the same for us, let’s remember that Solomon was king over Israel. As such, to have honor and wealth proved that God was with Solomon. It was a sign of God’s blessing on him. It made Israel itself look good that God had blessed Israel’s third king so mightily.

Because Solomon was only concerned about ruling over God’s people of Israel justly, and because of that, only wanted true wisdom that came from God Himself  to be able to be the best king that he could be, God granted his request and then blessed him beyond what he had asked for.

Solomon was not perfect by any stretch. He made some mistakes, starting with the fact that he married women who were not of Israel and with them, even gave them permission and places to worship foreign gods. It created problems for Solomon and Israel later on.

But at the beginning, Solomon’s heart was turned to God. Solomon understood the awesome responsibility of ruling over a group of people such as Israel. It was not something to be undertaken lightly. Solomon knew he needed tremendous wisdom in order to rule justly and fairly, something that most kings after Solomon never expressed.

Solomon’s life speaks to us even though we are not kings over a nation. Solomon wanted God’s wisdom to live a life that would bring glory to God. That should be our prayer as well. But we also need to be warned that even with wisdom, the correct decisions need to be made. Just having wisdom is not enough if you are not going to follow it’s dictates. Solomon fell down here on a number of fronts and so can we even though Solomon’s responsibilities were likely far more than ours because of the weight of trying to rule over and lead hundreds of thousands of people.

In truth, each and every Christian has the tremendous responsibility of following God. We must understand His will and put it into practice. We must learn to separate ourselves from those things that seek to pull us away from God. We must be of one mind where God is concerned. We must ask for increasing wisdom to know His will and to follow Him as He leads us into the fulfilling of His will. James tells us that wisdom comes from God and we should not hesitate to ask Him for it.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5 ESV)

But don’t ask God for wisdom if you are not inclined to follow Him into fulfilling His will. That, James says, is being “double-minded” and no one who is that should think that God will provide the wisdom they seek.

Wisdom from God begins when we enter into a salvific relationship with Him. It grows as we begin and continue to get to know Him through His Word. If you are not reading and studying His Word daily, you will be like the person who is tossed to and fro at the sound and sight of every new wind of doctrine. You will not have any stability in your walk with God. You will literally be flailing to anchor yourself but will fail.

Be like Solomon. Ask God for wisdom and find it as you seek Him through His Word.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective