First Kings 3:13

The Bible says in First Kings 3:13-15, “And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.[14] And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.[15] And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.” Because Solomon only asked for wisdom and understanding when he could have asked for anything, God decided to give Solomon what he asked for and many other things also. God does the same for us when we come to Christ. We fall at the feet of Jesus and only ask for salvation and the forgiveness of sins, and he gives us so much more. Yes, Jesus saves our soul, but He also makes us kings and priests with God. He gives us the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, reveals Jesus to us, gives us understanding of the Word, and guides our path if we are willing to listen and to follow. He answers our prayers. He makes us children of God. He gives us spiritual gifts. He uses us as a part of His great plan. He prepares us a home in heaven. And that list is just a few of the things that He does for us. There are countless benefits to praying that one honest prayer to Jesus.

Notice verse fourteen where God told Solomon, “And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.” Life on this earth is a gift and a privilege. If you know Christ as Savior and are walking with Him, the longer that you live, the more opportunities that you will have to do things to glorify His name. This verse associates long life with walking in God’s ways and keeping His commandments. Jesus’ commandments are not grievous. Jesus’ commandments will not keep you from enjoying life, but His commandments will help you to have a happier and longer life if it is God’s will. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

The Bible says in First Kings 3:16-28, “Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.[17] And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.[18] And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.[19] And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.[20] And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.[21] And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.[22] And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.[23] Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.[24] And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.[25] And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.[26] Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.[27] Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.[28] And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.” God promised Solomon that He would give wisdom to Solomon and these verses are proof that God did just that. Also, these verses show once again that God is involved in all things with all people. God arranged this entire matter in order to set up the circumstance where Solomon’s wisdom would be displayed. God used these two harlots. God made the mother of this child get pregnant, or at least allowed her to get pregnant and have a child. God had the other harlot get jealous and to come up with a scheme to steal the baby. And God had the whole matter appear before King Solomon. Solomon’s wisdom is seen in a couple of ways. First of all, Solomon knew that there is nothing stronger than a mother’s love, and only one of these women had that kind of love for this baby. Secondly, Solomon had the wisdom to come up with a plan that would reveal which one of the harlots truly loved the child and which one did not: a sword and the command to cut the child in half.

The Bible says in First Kings 4:1-7, “So king Solomon was king over all Israel.[2] And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,[3] Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.[4] And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:[5] And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend:[6] And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.[7] And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.” The purpose of these verses is to show how wise King Solomon was because of how organized he was in ruling his kingdom. Also, Solomon put the right people in the right jobs. Christianity is supposed to be like that also. The Lord has something for everyone to do. That is why it is important that you be surrendered to His will and find what He has for you to do. You have one or more spiritual gifts that Jesus gave to you. He wants you to use your gifts in a congregation of believers. That would be a Biblical church: the type of Christian fellowship where every believer is benefitting from the gifts of everyone else.

After naming the individuals that Solomon put in charge of various parts of his kingdom in verses eight through nineteen, the Bible says in First Kings 4:19-25, “Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.[21] And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.[22] And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,[23] Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.[24] For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.[25] And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.” These verses show us how greatly God had blessed the kingdom of Israel under Solomon. Nations are blessed when the leaders serve the Lord. That is one of the reasons that we will always pray for our leaders no matter what country we live in and no matter what government we live under. It says in First Timothy 2:1-4, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;[2] For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.[3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;[4] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

One of the reasons that Israel was so prosperous is given in verse twenty-five that says, “every man under his vine and under his fig tree.” Notice the word “his” used twice. That is private ownership. The Bible upholds, supports, and puts forth the importance of private ownership. That is why in the New Testament teaching about giving, it says in Second Corinthians 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” God allows every person to control their own possessions and to decide what they will do with their own money. Of course, every believer will give an account for everything that they did, even the relatively unimportant issue of what they did with their money. It also says in Second Corinthians 9:6, “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” There is an even stronger warning in James 5:1-6, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.[2] Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.[3] Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.[4] Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.[5] Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.[6] Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”

The Bible says in First Kings 4:26-34, “And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.[27] And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.[28] Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.[29] And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.[30] And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.[31] For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.[32] And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.[33] And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.[34] And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.” Solomon was a king over a great kingdom. He had a great army made up of thousands of chariots and thousands of horsemen, and there would have been many more thousands of foot soldiers. Solomon was wise, and therefore he knew that some nations were potential enemies and he had to be ready. Verse twenty-nine reminds us of the reason that Solomon was so wise: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart.” That should remind us all that what we really need is wisdom to handle our responsibilities and challenges, and God can give us that wisdom if we ask for it. Solomon had so much wisdom that it was apparent to all that no one on earth was wiser. Thankfully, Solomon’s wisdom is left for us also because we have the book of Proverbs. That is a strong reminder to read and to meditate and to learn from the book of Proverbs.

In describing Solomon’s wisdom, it says in verse thirty-three, “And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.” Solomon’s wisdom was the fact that he understood the world around him. God created the world and everything that is in it, and therefore there are great spiritual lessons if we understand what we see. To be a spiritual person means to be a very practical person because God put us here to live on this based on how the world really works. If you do not know how it works, just look around and learn. The ant is a hard worker so that it will not starve later. What work are you doing to make sure that you do not starve later? Solomon wrote in Proverbs 6:6, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise.” A young person who gets mixed up with the wrong crowd will fall into great trouble and maybe be destroyed by it. It happens to many. Solomon saw the young men who went astray and Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:10-18, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.[11] If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:[12] Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:[13] We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:[14] Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:[15] My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:[16] For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.[17] Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.[18] And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.” Solomon saw the wrong kind of man who chases after the wrong kind of woman, and Solomon said in Proverbs 2:17-19, “Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.[18] For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.[19] None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.” Solomon saw what happens to those that are overcome by alcohol or drugs and ruined by it, and Solomon wrote in Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”

What do we need to live this life? In addition to having Jesus as Savior, we need wisdom.

___________________________________________________