August 18, 2024 Sermon
Sermon Title: “Solomon Asks for Wisdom”
Scripture: 1 Kings 2:10-12 and 3:3-14
(Other lectionary suggestions include Psalm 111, Ephesians 5:15-20, and John 6:51-58.)
1 Kings 2:10-12 and 3:3-14
Death of David
10Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David. 11The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.
3Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. 4The 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. 5At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.” 6And 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. 7And 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. 8And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. 9Give 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?” 10It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11God 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, 12I 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. 13I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”
The wisdom of Solomon is of course legendary. There is even an Old Testament-era book called “The Wisdom of Solomon.” It wasn’t written by him because it came much later than when he lived. But his reputation for being wise has always been around, apparently. Even Jesus, who walked the earth maybe 900-800 years after Solomon, knew of Solomon’s reputation. Remember when Jesus talks about the lilies of the field and how they neither toil nor spin? Jesus says, “Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.” So, Jesus knew about Solomon’s reputation.
Was Solomon really that wise? Maybe. We all know the story of the two women fighting over a baby. Both had apparently given birth, but one baby died, and one of the women insisted the live one was hers. Wise Solomon knew what to do! He said, “Bring me a sword and we’ll cut the baby in two, giving half to each woman.” As we all know, one woman said, “No, give the live baby to the other woman,” while the other woman, according to the story, said, “No, cut the baby in two. That’s only fair.” But as we know, Solomon said to give the baby to the woman who was more concerned about the life of the baby rather than what was rightfully hers.
Think with me for a moment.....Could this story really be true? I wonder, because I can’t believe ANYBODY who wasn’t crazy would want to cut a sweet little baby in two! We all know what would happen: we’d have a dead baby on our hands! So, it’s a great story, but could anybody be that cruel? Also, how was the baby to be cut, right down the front with one eye and half a head going to one woman and the other eye and the other half head to the other woman? Or would one woman get the top half from the bellybutton up and the other would get the legs? It makes me sick to think about it!
But the point is, Solomon was one wise ruler, according to the Scripture and the tradition, and he is given credit for asking for wisdom instead of riches, and he was given BOTH! In a way, I’m sorry this story is in the Bible, because just because Solomon was given both, that doesn’t mean that you and I will be given both, too! So be sure you ask for what you want, and I hope you’ll be smart enough to ask for what is important, as Solomon did.
Something else here, too: Solomon gets credit for building the first temple, and so he is looked upon with almost as much favor as David is. But what happens after Solomon isn’t good: a rebel named Jeroboam revolts against Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and the kingdom is divided. So, the Hebrew people were sitting on top of the world for a VERY short time, starting perhaps with King Saul, and then King David who was the REAL hero, and then his son Solomon. It could be argued that Solomon bankrupted his kingdom in his zeal to build the temple. He entered into a business relationship with Hiram of Tyre for some of the beautiful wood that was used to build the temple. Boy, nothing lasts forever, not even the beautiful temple built by Solomon. It was destroyed in 586 B. C. by Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar,
Even though Solomon asked for wisdom, he DID make some mistakes. Earlier in our Scripture reading for today, we are told that Solomon “sacrificed and offered incense at the high places,” to quote the Rev. Lauren Miller of a Lutheran church in Virginia. (You may recall that I quoted her last week, too, in the sermon about the death of Absalom, one of David’s sons.) The “high places” sometimes fostered the worshipping of other gods. We have to remember that the temple hadn’t been built yet, so perhaps we should cut Solomon some slack for worshipping at the “high places.” However, this practice by Solomon “is a foreshadowing of one of his greatest downfalls. Solomon’s many foreign wives eventually lead him away from God, and the kingdom is torn apart.” Says Rev. Miller, “Apparently even wise guys make some stupid moves.”!
Is there any good news in all of this? I think so. “If God is willing and able to make use of imperfect people like Solomon, then surely God can work through us, too.” I really love it that we have the Bible, which tells us about so many people who went before us and who were less than perfect. We have mentioned David and now his son Solomon. In the New Testament we have Peter, who denied Christ three times. And yet this big, blustery fisherman ends up being a leader of the church in Jerusalem. I have seen this on a bumper sticker, and perhaps you have, too: “Believers aren’t perfect, but they are forgiven.” That’s you, that’s me, and that’s Solomon: not perfect but forgiven. Amen.
Pastor Skip
