ASK! WHAT SHALL I GIVE YOU?

“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” (1 Kings 3:5)
“And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?” (3:6-9)

What if a politician today were to ask the Lord for what Solomon did? The main thing he asked for “an understanding heart to judge the people.” The term more literally means ‘a heart with skill to listen.’ I think this wish was the skill to listen to the voice of God and to listen to the voices of the people. By so doing he could distinguish between right and wrong, good from evil. He wanted to establish God’s justice and mercy as king. I might perhaps listen to a politician if what he/she said and proposed was with ‘a heart with skill to listen.’

We know this gift was given to Solomon. He was probably 15-22 years old when he took the throne according to the big Solomon books. The next story in this chapter is the famous tale of one woman stealing another woman’s baby and claiming it as her own. Solomon decides to cut the baby in half to determine the real mother… (1 Kings 3:16-28) Wise stuff.

“You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Jesus