King Solomon is best known for being wise. As our first Bible reading we read the prayer that he makes near the beginning of his reign. However, I’ve always questioned his wisdom… According to the Bible he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. From my perspective, anyone trying to keep 1000 women on the go at the same time is anything but wise! I love this little poem:
King Solomon the Wise
Had over a thousand wives
But don't you forget
For every wife he saw
He also gained
A mother-in-law
The number of women was certainly an exaggeration. However it does get at a point. The Message Bible simply translates it as Solomon was obsessed with women. Indeed they would be one of Solomon’s numerous downfalls.
Solomon’s most famous display of wisdom comes in the verses immediately following our reading. You probably remember well the story of the two women who both laid claim to the same child. Solomon resolved the issue by ordering the child to be cut in half with a half given to each woman. One woman said go ahead and divide it. The other woman, who was the true mother, cried out and immediately renounced the child to save it’s life. Solomon saw the compassion of the woman for her child and granted him to her.
There’s a bit of that sort of wisdom in this story of a bus driver. Two women in a bus were fighting bitterly over the last seat available. The conductor already tried to intervene but to no avail. So the driver shouted, "Let the ugly one take the seat!" Both women stood for the rest of the journey.
Solomon’s famous prayer for wisdom has its obvious good teachings. We’ll get to that in a minute. First though, we want to look at the strange circumstances behind it.
This prayer isn’t at the very beginning of Solomon’s reign. You may remember from last week that Solomon’s first acts as he took power was to “take care of” everyone who didn’t back him or was a potential threat. Second Solomon gets into international diplomacy. He makes a marriage alliance with the Pharaoh f Egypt for his daughter. Later in the text of 1 Kings we learn that Solomon was given a city as a dowry. From one perspective it looks like Solomon is making Israel a regional power. On the other hand, maybe it was the Egyptians who were actually gaining territory. When Pharaoh, leader of the Egyptian empire, has his daughter married to the king of a little neighboring country you wonder who’s actually gaining on who.
It is worth noting that part of 1 Kings contains something of an archive of Israel’s governing structure. If you make comparisons with the records of other nations of the time you discover that the Israeli government is modeled on the one from Egypt. So while our text makes it seem like Solomon has become an international power broker and is marrying for power, the reverse may actually be true.
Anyway, we are at least some years into Solomon’s reign when we get to this famous dream and prayer of his. The text tells us plainly that even though the Ark of the Covenant is housed in Jerusalem, Solomon is not using it as a center of worship. He is still sacrificing on the “high places” like the rest of the population. These “high places” were often sites originally used (and maybe still being used) by competeing religions. They are clearly forbidden in Deuteronomy 12. Solomon has also married a foreign woman, similarly forbidden by religious law. He is not off to a good start!
Despite being in the act of doing what God has strictly forbidden, God comes to him kindly in a dream in that very place. Here again is the message we saw with David. God calls and works through people who are seriously flawed. He works through people who are disobedient. He chooses people who are not faithful to religious expectations.
Why does God work this way? Why does God not choose those people who have better morals and more obedient? Why does God meet people when they are worshipping in places they should not? Why don’t books of the Bible like 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings read like stories of brilliant, upright, faith-filled people who were examples of righteousness for the nation?
You’ve heard me say before that the ancient Israelite authors are not afraid to show the ugly truth of things. Inspired by God they show how God is willing to stay true to promises and God is willing to enter into the messiness, and even vileness, of the world.
So God comes to Solomon in a dream while Solomon is where he should not be, doing what he should not do. Interestingly when God comes to him in a dream and asks Solomon for what he wants Solomon’s request is very faith-filled. Rather than asking for wealth or power or the destruction of his enemies he asks for an understanding mind.
Be sure to note this about the prayer. Solomon says that he is only a little child. That is not to be taken literally! Solomon is not a little boy. He’s fully a man. It is simply a statement of humility before God.
In the midst of many chapters of scheming and deception Solomon’s prayer is a wonderful model of faith. The prayer shows Solomon at his best. And we can learn a lot from his best.
Read it again sometime and notice several things. He starts off acknowledging God’s grace for him. That’s verse 6. Then he recognizes that he is not deserving of a special favor from God. That’s verse 7. Then he asks for God’s gift of wisdom so that he can carry out the work that God has called him to do as the king of the people.
All in all the prayer is remarkable and simple. But simple as it is many people struggle with it.
Many people seem to think that their very existence deserves God to be kind and loving towards them. While we can all claim to be made in the image of God and that therefore gives us value, that understanding is to be gained through humility, not demand.
Many people also seem to think that they have some sort of bargaining chip they can use with God. They pray, “God if you will do,…” this – whatever “this” is, “Then I will do,…” that -whatever “that” is.
You may remember before me using the example of a guy who was sitting in front of me in the stadium when I was a student at Penn State watching a football game. The game was not going well, we were pretty sure to lose. The guy starts praying that if we win he promises to go to church the next day.
Now God has numerous ways to get people to do things. And what is so inherently valuable about this guy that God would throw the results of a football game to get him to go to church?!? Most likely the guy had too much money riding on the game and couldn’t afford to have us lose!
Think about it. When you try to make a deal with God – whether it’s for a football game, or for health, or winning money, or for anything else… Any time you find yourself saying, “God if you do this for me then I’ll be able to do that for you,” then you’ve put yourself in a pretty high place thinking that you have something essential to offer to God that God can’t get anywhere else.
Better prayer comes from recognizing reality. There is nothing of value to God that any of us can really give God. God can get anything and everything God wants without us. It is only by God’s grace and kindness that God chooses us and empowers us for work.
Solomon prayed a thankfulness for the grace he had already received from God. He prayed a truthful statement that he had nothing essential that he could offer to God in order to deserve a gift. And he prayed that God would equip him to do what God had already called him to do.
Prayer needs to be authentic. Don’t become strategic and think that if you pray according to the model of Solomon’s prayer that you will be in God’s special favor or get more things. That’s not how it works. If you’re mad at God then be mad. If you think you can make a deal with God go ahead and try. But ultimately learn from the humility of Solomon. His prayer is not for quick solutions or easy answers. It is a prayer to be equipped for the struggle. This is an attitude that will suit him well. This is the attitude that leads to wisdom. And this is the attitude that creates truly good leadership.
There’s lots about Solomon you should not incorporate into your life – least of all trying to have 1000 spouses! But there is great learning from him as well; learning that through God leads to true wisdom.
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