PROCLAMATION
“Give therefore Thy servant an
understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and
bad; for who is able to judge this Thy so great a people?” 1 Kings 3:9 (KJV)
EXPLANATION
These words were written under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God. The
human author is unknown although some Bible scholars attribute this book to the
prophet Jeremiah. Solomon loved The Lord and kept His statutes as his
father David had done. (1 Kings 3:3) He went
to Gibeon to offer sacrifices to The Lord.
It was there that The Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him what
he wanted. Solomon asked The Lord for an
understanding heart that he may judge the people and discern between right and
wrong. (1 Kings 3:5-9) The Lord God was
pleased with Solomon’s request. He
blessed Solomon with wisdom and understanding, and He also blessed him with
riches and honor which he had not asked for.
Solomon was the wisest man to ever live (1 Kings 3:10-12) and he was the
richest man of his time. (1 Kings 3:13)
The Lord told him that if he kept His statutes and commandments that He
would also bless him with a long life. (1 Kings 3:14) When Solomon woke up he went to Jerusalem,
stood before the ark of the covenant, and made an offering unto The Lord. Then came unto him two women who both claimed
to be the mother of an infant. After
hearing their story Solomon said bring him a sword and he would cut the child
in two and give a half of the child to each woman. One woman said give the living child to the
other woman but do not harm it, while the other woman said divide it. Solomon said give the child to the woman who
wanted no harm to come to the child for she is the mother. All of Israel heard of the judgment and they
feared Solomon for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him. (1 Kings 3:15-28)
APPLICATION
Most of the time our prayer requests are
often selfish and for our personal benefit.
All too often we limit our requests to The Lord God to money, wealth,
and material things when there are many things which are much more important and
more valuable. It has been said that the
best three wishes one can ask for are good health, long life, and
happiness. Here Solomon asked for wisdom
and understanding in order to be a blessing to the people. The fact that he wanted to bless others
pleased God and He blessed him with much more than he asked for. He who blesses others shall himself be
blessed. (Proverbs 11:25)
No comments:
Post a Comment