Tag: Solomon

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Solving human dilemmas.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled. “Please, my Lord,” one of them began, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house. Three days later this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house. “But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. And in the morning when I tried to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.” ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Most often, when I think about wisdom, I imagine the problems and situations regarding finances, major life decisions and discerning God’s purpose for my life. You’ll notice that all of those are self focused. Of course we need wisdom to make decisions on who we might marry or stepping up to rent a more accommodating and expensive living situation. Or, even major health decisions over us or our children. These decisions alone are hard and we feel a sense of desperation. I recently spoke with a couple facing a major medical decision. The doctor only presented two options: stop taking these life saving medications or lose a major organ! Both were horrible options. They needed wisdom!

Here in Kings, this story follows the supernatural interaction between God and Solomon. Kings records that Solomon loved the Lord and kept all his father’s (David’s) decrees – plus Solomon gave offerings to the Lord… 1,000 of them! God was pleased with Solomon and offered him anything he wanted. Fame, riches, long life or death to his enemies – just name it and God would give it to him. Solomon asked for wisdom. Can I pause and tell you, every parent wants their child to do better, be better than themselves. Great parents want their child to seek good things, not selfish pursuits. God gave Solomon what he asked for PLUS all the things he didn’t ask for.

This story here is the first recorded story of the results of that wisdom. I see two amazing things in these verses. One: the first cases Solomon would hear as a judge would be from a woman (really both) who was an outlier, a sex worker in ancient times! This tells me that everyone rich or poor, good or bad reputations, had access to justice in this new court. Two: the case tells me that wisdom is not only for personal insight, but can and should be applied when helping others solve their most difficult decisions or resolve their conflicts.

Only one woman was telling the truth, but with no other witnesses available, it would be impossible to know which one. The point that leaps out at me, as a leader and dealing with people problems.; I need Godly wisdom to help resolve human dilemmas! This sad and messy issue would not resolve itself, it required someone outside of the two women’s lives and situation to bring a judgment and allow justice to be served. One child has died and the two mothers are fighting to keep the living one! I also notice there is no mention of a father in this child’s life! So, whatever happens, one woman will be raising the child alone.

As a pastor, I come across these kinds of modern human dilemmas all the time. People asking for prayer, asking for outside help on making difficult decisions. We all need wisdom, but oftentimes the situation calls for the necessity of Godly wisdom. The New Testament is helpful when James writes in 1:5, “If anyone lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously!”

Prayer

Dad,
We get ourselves into such a mess! And, yes, sometimes messes, conflicts and issues just come our way. We find ourselves so desperate to want to make the right decision, even if we have caused our own pain. That’s when we call out to you to ask for wisdom. I have total confidence that you will answer because you have done so in my life many times over. It becomes a really tricky part of faith! Faith to ask, faith to listen and faith to be patience and still while you work things out on our behalf. I am so very grateful for your wisdom. And, that you give it freely to those who ask.

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What do YOU want?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne. “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God asked Solomon in a dream. What a dream that must have been. Just coming off the Christmas Day experience yesterday, that question gets more and more difficult to answer as you get older – at least it does for me.

If God came to me in a dream and asked me what I want, I’m not sure I could answer right away. Solomon was probably 20 to 24 years old and was looking at ruling a population of 5 million people. And, shocker, Israel had become so large and powerful that their previous captors, Egypt, became an ally! The Pharaoh gave his daughter to be married to young Solomon.

In this dream where God asks Solomon a question that had never been asked, Solomon answers God. He humbly and honestly asked God for what he needed the most to carry on the legacy his father had left him. What leader doesn’t grab all that he can get with an offer like this at the outset of his totalitarian rule? Maybe Solomon had a sense, a taste of what ultimate power and wealth brought him. It didn’t look like more of the same would help him be the son, the King that God’s people needed him to be. So he answered, “give me an understanding heart,” so he could govern well. So the nation would be known, and have a culture of knowing the difference between right and wrong. Wow. Anyone who has studied history knows how many wacko leaders have taken the reigns of power and wealth, only to use them for their own selfishly sadistic purposes. We had those kind of rulers then, and we have them scattered throughout the globe even today. You can probably name the mentally-maniacal men ruling and ruining lives as you read this sentence! Solomon, as a young man, wanted to judge and govern well and to do so with God’s wisdom and justice. God, give us leaders that want this today.

Prayer

Dad,
We still have rulers, kings and leaders in every part of the world. And some are responsible for populations as big or much bigger than Israel at the time of Solomon. I live in a country that used to be united as individual states, under a series of balanced power or cooperative leaders. Now, under our nation of Divided States of America, we have deep divisions and distrust with sweeping, reactive grasps of power. We have each cycle of elections and votes trying to wipe out the changes of the other regime. We all ache for justice for our own agendas. I see the end coming. Especially when the world looks for that one person who has all the answers. They search for the one who will give us what we want AND promise peace. Each time I’ve seen this cycle of chaos in our world, I understand the real possibility that THE antichrist (not an antichrist), the imposter of all time will come to power soon. When, where, who – I do not know. But all the signs start showing up again. My longing for the Kingdom of God grows in these turbulent times. Come quickly Jesus – maranatha!

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Am I a one percenter?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.” Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​The heart searches, but does it find fulfillment? First of all Solomon was afforded something most humans never have access to – leisure.

I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard about this 99% of the world don’t have a lot. Does the majority of humanity even have the resources to enjoy leisure?

Solomon had a life that gave him the opportunity to even ask the question, “What do I really want?” Most work, sleep and eat very little and have no time to ask about dreams, wishes or even a moment to search for Solomon’s list.

Look at what he tries out for fulfillment. Pleasure. Laughter, enhanced by wine. Then he pauses and admits, “I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.” He knew he was entitled. He knew he had the access, money and opportunity to push every boundary possible to see what’s out there to fill the emptiness and/or cravings in his soul.

He tried more noble pursuits, like building. Oh, he didn’t build these things himself, he only dreamed the design and architecture of what he desired. Slaves built HIS dreams. Read the plurality of he “built,” big homes, vineyards, gardens, and man-made lakes (reservoirs). He bought slaves! He bought people to serve himself and his kingdom. And, he had the unashamed, zero self-awareness to couple those purchases with animals. He bought people like he did animals, and used them for his search for fulfillment! He acquired massive amounts of wealth, wealth upon wealth, money that makes more money, by ever increasing in value. He hired singers and had numerous sexual encounters with women and possibly men as well (concubines). He captured his plenty in this sentence, “Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure.” He even tried actual WORK. What did he go out an pull a weed? Did he play slave for the day?

What is the point of all this pursuit? And, why the excess? Solomon decided, since he was the wisest human to ever exist until Jesus came along, that he would find the answers and record them for anyone interested in knowing what’s out there.

You know what he found, exhausting every known pursuit – nothing! Nada! Zilch! He writes, “There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.” I question the wild, abandoned pursuit of any of these things Solomon thought would bring him fulfillment or satisfaction of life itself.

But, I do know this. One, he did it so that I don’t have to wonder, “what if.” Two, Jesus, being the wisest ever, lived a totally and completely opposite kind of life. He didn’t live for pleasure, humor, wine, buildings, vineyards or gardens. He didn’t buy people or animals to amass a popular image. Jesus was financially BROKE, not having any real money or real estate to his name. Every cool little luxury he had was borrowed! Yeah, donkeys, rooms, goblets, gardens and even his own tomb – all donated by others. He died naked and even wore someone else’s burial clothes!

Solomon lived a life of excess and ecstasy so we can see how worthless it really is. Jesus lived a simple life, even a poor life, to show us the perspective of God towards a truly generous and eternal life. Jesus owned NOTHING, but had EVERYTHING. And, in God and accomplishing his mission, found the fulfillment that Solomon searched for.

Prayer

Dad,
If I am living the 1% life, and I believe I am. Then I really need to pay attention to a couple things: To whom much is given, much is required and I need to live a far more grateful, thankful existence. I need to constantly tend to my generosity and gratitude!