1 Kings 3 - Wishes and Wisdom

One of my favourite questions to ask people is: What’s your favourite Disney movie? I’ve heard a lot of Lion King’s and Frozen’s and Beauty and the Beast’s over the years, but my personal favourite is probably Aladdin. The songs are fun, the story is interesting, and who doesn’t love Robin Williams as the Genie? The movie’s just super entertaining!

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to have a magic lamp with a genie that grants three wishes. What would you ask for? Would you ask for a million dollars? A fancy trip somewhere? An entire garage full of new bikes? A million more wishes? (That last one has to be cheating!)

Some of us might really like the idea of a genie offering us anything we could ever want on a silver platter. And sure, that idea sounds nice, but I wonder what we would do with all the stuff we might be tempted to ask for.

They say that people who win the lottery don’t end up being happier than they were. Sure, there’s the initial excitement of winning and getting to spend all that money, but eventually you realize having that much cash isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You quickly realize that money actually can’t buy happiness.

That’s why I think Solomon’s story is so interesting. Solomon was one of Israel’s greatest kings. He was David’s son and took over ruling Israel after David died. He learned from his dad that being a good king meant following God’s commands and having a relationship with Him.

Now, back in the Old Testament, a large part of having a relationship with God meant offering sacrifices. Some sacrifices were done to cover up people’s sins so they could meet with God again, while others were just ways of thanking and praising God for everything He gives us. Thankfully, we don’t have to offer sacrifices anymore because Jesus took care of our sins forever when He died on the cross. And we have other ways of saying thank you to Him – like singing songs, listening to His instructions, reading the Bible, and stuff like that.

But back then, Solomon knew the importance of making sacrifices. The Bible actually talks about one time where Solomon made 1000 sacrifices to God at one of Israel’s altars. 1000 sacrifices! Can you imagine? Only a king would have all the animals and food stuffs needed to make that many sacrifices at once!

But our story really picks up the night after those 1000 sacrifices. The Bible says that while Solomon was asleep that night, God appeared to Solomon in a dream.

Try to picture that for a minute. There you are, sleeping away, dreaming of swimming across the ocean or flying through outer space or climbing a mountain made of Kit-Kat bars when all of a sudden, God appears in your dream. I don’t care that it was only a dream – once I realized it was God in my dream, I’d immediately fall on my face and worship.

But then God said to Solomon, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” (1 Kings 3:5 NLT).

Now this isn’t quite a genie offering three wishes. If anything, it’s even better. The God who made the entire universe and rules over every living thing has just offered you anything you want. Anything.

And I wonder, if we were kings or queens, what would we have asked for? Would we have asked for our kingdoms to be richer than anyone else around us? Would we have asked for success in battle so we could conquer other nations? Or would we have asked for peace on our borders so our people would be protected?

I’m sure all of these things ran through Solomon’s mind. I could do great things with more money! Solomon would have thought. I could build roads, build castles, build temples. I could help the needy and make sure no one ever starves again!

But after all these things ran through his head, Solomon realized there was something that was more important. He thought of his father and how close David had been with God. And he remembered what his dad had taught him – that having a close relationship with God will make you a better king than any money or power or fame ever could.

So Solomon said to God, “Lord, you showed great love and kindness to my dad. You helped him rule well because he was faithful to You. And because he served You, You gave his throne to me so I could rule.”

Then he continued, “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 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 3:7-9).

Wow. What a thing to ask for! Solomon asked for wisdom. He knew he was young and still had a lot to learn. Sure, money and power would have helped, but wisdom would make the people love and respect him. It would make other nations come to him for advice and help him know how best to rule over Israel with the resources God had given him.

This was an extremely humble and selfless thing to ask for. Solomon was putting the interests of his kingdom before himself. And actually, Solomon showed great wisdom by asking for wisdom. He understood that wisdom begins with knowing God.

God was pleased with this request. He said, “Because you asked for wisdom and not for money or power or long life, I will give you what you asked for. I will give you a wise heart like no one ever before or after you. But not only that, I will give you what you haven’t asked for! You will be rich. You will be famous. No other king in the world will compare with you for the rest of your life! And if you obey me, like your father David did, then that life will be long.”

At that, Solomon woke up. He had to wonder if the whole thing had been just a dream. He probably didn’t feel all the different, rolled over, and went back to bed.

But we do know this – it wasn’t just a dream. Read the next few chapters of 1 Kings, and you’ll realize that Solomon truly was a wise king. In fact, there are stories of rules from countries miles and miles away coming to visit Solomon to hear his wisdom.

And with his wisdom came a great rule. Under Solomon’s leadership, Israel’s borders grew to the biggest they’ve ever been in all of history. And Solomon ruled so well that the country became extremely rich. So rich that “silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day” (1 Kings 10:21). Can you imagine that? Silver being like the change you have in your pockets!

Of course, things didn’t stay perfect with Solomon. He eventually let his wealth and power get the better of him. He stopped focusing on God and used his wisdom to get power and status for himself. And this led him down a dangerous road. He turned away from God and worshipped idols instead. And his decisions had consequences that echoed through Israel’s history for hundreds of years after that.

Why do I bring that up? Because Solomon forgot what he knew when he was young. Wisdom begins with knowing God. Proverbs 9:10, something most people think Solomon wrote when he was a younger man, says, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.”

This isn’t fear as in, “Ah, a big scary monster is trying to eat me!” No, this kind of fear is more like reverence. That means it is honouring God and being amazed by how great He is. Fearing God means putting Him first and letting Him direct our paths, the wisest thing we can do.

Jesus says something similar in the New Testament. He says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33). Solomon sought God and His wisdom first, and as a result, God gave Solomon everything he could ever want or need. But Solomon lost track of this wisdom at the end of his life, and his relationship with God and his kingdom suffered for it.

Wisdom begins with knowing God. When we know Him, everything else will follow. This means the wisest thing we can do in this life is grow closer to our Lord and Saviour. We don’t even need a genie to do that! We can start right here, right now.

So do the wise thing. Read your Bibles. Get to know God. Let Him teach You about who He is and how much He loves you for who you are. And as we grow closer to Him, He’ll share His wisdom with us each and every day.

________________________

Hey all! Thanks for checking in! Because of the chaos and busyness of life, you may have noticed I'm posting a tad less frequently. Going forward, I'm hoping to maintain a posting schedule of about every three weeks (with the odd exception). That means next time should be March 18, where we'll pick up a little bit later in Solomon's life. Hope to see you all then!

~Brentagious