1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
2:10 Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city
of David.
2:11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he
reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
2:12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his
kingdom was firmly established.
3:3 Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father
David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places.
3:4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the
principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt
offerings on that altar.
3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and
God said, "Ask what I should give you."
3:6 And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to
your servant my father David, 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 today.
3:7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place
of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know
how to go out or come in.
3:8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have
chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or
counted.
3:9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your
people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern
this your great people?"
3:10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
3:11 God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not
asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your
enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what
is right,
3:12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and
discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like
you shall arise after you.
3:13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor
all your life; no other king shall compare with you.
3:14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my
commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your
life."
Comments:
This reading deals with the story of the succession of David's
throne to Solomon, with the Lord's authorization of Solomon as king.
I'm thinking of exploring the concept of answered prayer, how you
don't have to be perfect to go to God.
Rich in Bama
I think that it also deals with wisdom to make good decisions.
Relying on the prayer and now through the Word given to us by Jesus
Christ. Nancy-Wi
Sorry for two posts, but I am struck by: "3:3 Solomon loved the
LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he
sacrificed and offered incense at the high places"
Solomon used his father's example and grew beyond it. This may tie
in for mentoring images of today. Nancy-Wi.
Nancy,
It's o.k. to do more than one post! I never thought we had a daily
quota! What you have to offer is great food for thought! So, go for
it!
Susan in Wa.
I think I too will focus to prayer: Why did this prayer please the
Lord so much? What is it that we pray for? Is it out of our own
self-interests? Do we pray out of a spirit of thanksgiving and
praise, like Solomon? In reseaching other texts in the last few
weeks I came across an Aghanistani folktale about bread (nice tie in
the with NT text) that might be appropriate. I believe it came from
the web site "Torah Productions."
Once there were two beggars who went daily to the palace to beg at
the king's gate. Every day the king gave each of them a loaf of
bread. One of the beggars would always thank the king for his
generosity. But the other thanked God for giving the king sufficient
wealth to give charity.
The second beggar's words always hurt the king. So the king decided
to teach him a lesson. The king ordered his baker to bake two
identical loaves, but in one he had him conceal precious jewels.
Then he instructed the baker to give the loaf with the hidden jewels
to the beggar who always thanked the king for his charity.
The next day the baker went to the king's gate and handed the two
loaves to the beggars. He took great care not to confuse the two,
for he feared the king's wrath if he should make a mistake.
When the beggar with the special loaf felt how heavy and hard it
was, he concluded that it was poorly made and asked the other beggar
to exchange loaves with him. The second beggar, always eager to help
a friend, agreed. Then they went their separate ways.
When the second man bit into the loaf, he discovered that it was
filled with jewels. He thanked God for his good fortune, grateful
that he would no longer have to beg for his bread.
The next morning the king was surprised to find only the first
beggar at the palace gate. He had the baker brought before him and
asked him, "Did you mix up the two loaves I had you bake?"
"No, your majesty," answered the baker. "I did exactly as you
commanded."
Then king turned to the beggar and asked, "What did you do with the
loaf you received yesterday?"
The man replied, "It was hard and poorly baked, so I gave it to my
friend in exchange for his."
Then the king understood that all his riches had indeed come from
God, and that only the Holy One can make a poor man rich and a rich
man poor. Not even a king can change the will of heaven.
Roberta
David was blessed with long reign, but now he dies like we all may
die someday. Solomon King next but he followed daddy's rules-but was
that enough? Loyal to ONe True God? he burnt incense and sacrificed
in high places...God blessed Solomon in beginning with wisdom and
then gave him all gifts...power, money. terriory, wives...It's good
to be the King! -mel brooks Clerically_Blonde in West Ohio
I think Solomn was wise already to ask for discernment. God is
pleased that he did not ask for wealth, long life, (power), or the
death of his enemies; but he asked for discernment.
Today all I see in the news or even in my life is people asking for
power and death of the enemy..whatever enemy it might be...Sadam or
the US. When will we be smart enough to ask for discernment, instead
of power, wealth, and death?
RB in CA
"You have one wish. Use it wisely." Pretty standard fare for Genie
movies, although sometimes the lucky person is granted three wishes.
What would we wish for? Wealth? Fame? Power? Intellect? Whatever we
choose, our choice speaks about our priorities. What is most
important to us?
-Dale in Chattanooga
Nancy-Wi Before you go too far with your thought about Solomon
sacrificing and offering incense at the high places, my memory and a
quick look at another preacher's page suggest that this was not a
good thing, thus the preface "only". As a retired and occasional
preacher I really appreciate these pages to get me on track when my
turn does come up. revstani
revstani Good point, I really had missed the "only" and it does
change the passage quite a bit. I'll chew on it a while... Nancy-Wi
Perhaps a connection between gospel and this is that "wisdom" often
is not a bright lighting flash of knowledge, but often glows
brighter after we chew on the scripture. may be reaching here a bit.
nancy-Wi
I lean to focusing on how, why, and what we pray for. But also the
way Solomon approaches with humility. Solomon knew that he did not
have a clue how to "come and go" like his great general father. Just
a note about the high places; everyone is correct. High places were
okay initially- there was no Temple until Solomon built it and
traditionally leaders went to high places to seek God (Moses). This
is a clue for the latter part of Solomon story, when he begins to
fail in the eyes of God as his daddy did. He built altars for
sacrifices in high places for his pagan wives and allowed worship
there. Just like David, he forgot who and whose he was. LCK
Be Careful What You Ask For -- sermon title for this week with the
focus on wisdom. There seems to be ample evidence of people (me?)
hearing the genie's offer of wishes and asking for what appears to
satisfy and satiate. Ah, but if I ask for wisdom what will happen
then? I don't want to focus too much on all the good stuff that
comes along with it; too slippery a subject. What does wisdom look
like these days? Alot to ponder. Supchappa
Dear supchappa, your comment reminds me of a quote from Oscar Wilde
that you might want to use for your sermon, "when the gods want to
get back at us, they answer our prayers." Interesting, eh? Roberta
Roberta, thanks for the Afghan tale. It may find its way into this
week's sermon at my churches.
In a number of my past Disciple Bible Study groups, we've done an
exercise of listing our weekly prayer requests in a single list
(30-34 weeks long). At the end of the class it's an amazing thing to
look back at all the requests and see how God has answered them. We
may not get the answers we want, but God is consistently faithful in
bringing us answers. By the way, the heavy majority were answered as
requested.
Peace & blessings, Rich in Bama
re: the issue of asking for wisdom
2 thoughts: first is that it seems a rote answer. You know, the
ritual response to a particular circumstances. Sort of like, "Hi,
how are you?" "Great! How are you?" Was this just the typical
response that would have been expected of a king or priest in dialog
with their local "god"? I have always taken it at face value, but am
beginning to ask more critical questions.
second - Was the granting of his wish, the beginning of his
downfall? let me explain. When you look at mainline denominations
and even smaller groups/sects/etc., they start out with great
devotion, fervor, and sincerity. As time goes on, they consolidate,
become more organized, successful, more money, easier life, more
power, more respect, more education...you got the picture, and they
fall further and further from their original ideals. Then you have
renewal groups, which either return part of the group to baseline,
and the rest leave, or leave and start a new baseline and the ones
left get worse and worse. make your own analogies to all pertinent
religious groups as you see fit.
My point - sometimes, not always, intellect and faith are at odds
with each other! It is not that you can't have both, but must be
VERY careful how you handle. Just like with money or power, enough
to get by is ok. Get a little more, you are in danger, get a LOT
more, and you have a disaster!
There you have Solomon. One excess led to the next. You have to keep
the focus on God, and God's priorities, not our own.
RPh in ok
I am having a hard time with this passage this week on Solomon. It
is hard find the greatness of Solomon like the writer wants us to
grab. That is because I know the end of the story. I know what
Solomon becomes and how bad he is. He is a man that loves woman and
cars. He uses people and has a nicer house than the Temple... (just
to name a few things) Yet God still blesses him.. And yes he even
experiences God in a dream after worshiping at the local shrines..
Oh how true that is with people that we know and how much grace we
give and receive. We can't seem to get past the bad and the ugly to
see the creation God has made and still blesses inspite of who
they/we are!
I think I am going the direction of finding the good in the bad,
finding the God stuff in the middle of the junk.. (in steps Jesus in
the middle of the junk, out of chaos he forms order)
Thank God He still blesses us for we are no different than
Solomon... KIM ><>
To RPh in Ok,
Good points about the churches who gain in money, power, but lose in
the long run. A church I used to provide pulpit supply for in West
Virginia, was living on an endowment fund to pay their pastor etc.
But because they didn't have to work, to keep the church going, they
got lazy, didn't focus on mission outreach, but just continued in a
maintenance mode. Anything that resembled life, left and they are
about ready to close their doors. Interesting that churches in
underground China, or the persecuted church in many places
throughout the world are the ones that are thriving.
Susan in Wa.
Hi there,
I was particularly struck by the fact that Solomon took time to take
stock of who he was (new to the throne, a child, inexperienced...)
and he also took stock of his responsibilities and the value of the
people he was to rule (God's chosen people, a great and numerous
people...) After he reflected on himself and his people, he was able
to ask for wisdom and discernment. How often do we ask for things,
wish for things, demand things that we don't need, or that are
inappropriate. Do we stop and take stock or do we rush in thinking
that we need wealth, long life etc...Do we feel we are entitled?
Solomon was king and as a king you might think he would feel
entitled, but I'm not sure that is the case here.
Anyway, those are just some preliminary thoughts.
Erin in Ontario
Just a quick note...
I meant that I don't think that it is the case that Solomon felt
entitled here, in that moment of decision, obviously later on this
is not the case.
Erin
God's will is not a puzzle to be solved, but a mystery to be lived
into.
Prayer is the spiritual dialogue between the soul and God. It is
more than the recitation of a wish list before a divine Santa
Clause. It is the communication that takes place in relationship.
Our understanding of God's will is based not on our own activity,
but rather on the activity of God MOVING within our lives.
Many of us married folks would not have a good relationship if the
ONLY communication we ever had with our spouse (or God) was one
where all we said, was "I want, I need, I want, I need."
Effective prayer always starts in God, moves through us and then
returns to God - Robert Tuttle
Prayer is NOT something we do to get God involved. It is something
God does to get us involved! In prayer, God moves us to those places
in which the Spirit is ALREADY at work so that we can be a part of
that work! As God moves us along in our journey, and we are part of
the Spirit's working, our understanding of God is deepened, our love
for God increases, and our relationship with God is made more
complete. In other words, we understand God's will for our lives
which is true WISDOM.
revwill in NC
I would like to focus on leadership and what a great leader Solomon
is to have put the peoples needs above his own desires, his
unselfishness. Am I off base? I need a little more insight though.
Preacher Lady
After reviewing, studying and thinking about all of the commentaries
for this particular passage I think that we would do well to
remember the first part of Verse 14: If you walk in my ways, keeping
my statutes and my commandments. That I think is the key to what we
can expect from our Lord. I would also like to hear from Eric. We
haven't heard as much from him since he moved.
God Bless
In His grip,
Rev. Chris in AR
My title is "Prayer of the Wise" I expect to develop this with three
points -- Wisdom without prayer, Prayer without Wisdom, and Prayer
of the Wise.
I am asking for some illustrations of Wisdom without Prayer. Anybody
have thoughts around this.
Chap in ME
Chris said: "I would also like to hear from Eric."
Check out the Proverbs and Gospel pages, Chris....
Blessings, Eric in OH
I'd like some help with the literal translation of 3:5 if anyone can
help me out. I am focusing on the NRSV translation of God saying
"Ask what I should give you." I am wondering if this is close to the
literal translation, if so I think that this says something about
how we ask for things...do we ask for what God should give us,
things we need to carry out God's ministry in the world (like
courage, strength, discernment etc...)or do we ask for what we want,
like money, wealth, power.
I'd like to make this point, but I'd like to know if I have it right
before I put it in a sermon...if anyone could help, it would be much
appreciated.
Erin in Ontario
