Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?"
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind… 1 Kings 3:9-12, ESV
Nearly everyone recognizes that God rewards King Solomon for choosing the welfare of others over personal prosperity when given a blank check to have any wish he wanted fulfilled.
God praises Solomon for not asking for the death of his enemies. Jesus reflects this same morality when he teaches us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:43-8, NIV).
God also praises Solomon for not asking for personal wealth. Paul explicates this same divine perspective—which Jesus called “laying up treasure in heaven”—when he instructed: “Command them [the rich] to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:18-9, NIV). The writer of Hebrews also reflects the continued ethic of cautiousness regarding the dangers of wealth: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’.” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV)
Solomon did not ask for personal wealth and glory, and this reflects the continuing values of Jesus and the apostles, yet one has to wonder how often we really absorb these values into our own personal lives and into our politics.
Do we allow feelings of anger and revenge to motivate us, rather than seeking to do what is good and beneficial? Are we supporting a military establishment that has violent goals beyond defense? How much of our time and/or income is given to helping those in need? Even if we are in need ourselves there is a value in working together to solve problems together whenever possible.
We easily recognize that God rewarded Solomon for choosing the welfare of others over his personal gain; but we do not always recognize that the point of the story is directed to us regular people, not just to other kings. The Bible was not written for kings, but for everyday people.
What did Solomon ask for?
Solomon asked for the ability to discern between good and evil, or as some translations put it, right and wrong (v.6), which the passage understands to mean the ability to discern what is right (v.11)—sometimes translated to discern justice—which requires a “wise and discerning mind” (v.12).
Solomon wants this wisdom not for his own prestige or honor, but for the ability to serve the people of God. He feels overwhelmed in the footsteps in the giant of a leader that his father King David was, and he feels inadequate to fill the job requirements: “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" (1 Kings 3:7, NRSV).
Seems a bit humorous when you think about it. Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden of Eden by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They ate of it and came to know both, whereas before that they were in that childlike state we call innocence. Now in some ways Solomon represents all of us in the need to distinguish between the two. When we were young it seemed much simpler. The good guys wore white hats and bad guys wore black hats.
Solomon wants to have a skill which requires knowledge and sustained character to implement, as illustrated by the writer of Hebrews: “Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14, NIV).
What Solomon wants will take learning and experience, matters requiring effort on his part, not simply speaking the first thing that comes to his mind, although he will be able to count on God for guidance. He may well have written: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil" (Proverbs 3:5-7, NIV).
Perhaps this need is why the last thing God says in this dream is, “If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life” (1 Kings 3:14 NRSV). Although God is pleased with Solomon’s request at the beginning of his reign, Solomon needs to remember that he serves to fulfill God’s purposes and that there is no guarantee of continued success when Solomon does not accomplish what God wants accomplished. Likewise, we need not understand that every single detail of the future is predestined when we acknowledge that God has plans for the future that will definitely be accomplished. Solomon is an example of continued success amidst great failures—everything depends on God’s larger objectives. There is no way to make an exact correlation for obedience and temporal success in any given individual’s life.
Where does this passage leave us?
With its reference to the need to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, this passage takes us right back to the creation story where we read of our mandate to govern the earth: “God prepareth the man in His image; in the image of God He prepared him, a male and a female He prepared them. And God blesseth them, and God saith to them, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth'.” (Genesis 1:27-8, Young's Literal Translation).
We ALL share in the need to govern the earth. We ALL need wisdom to do our part. We ALL need the ability to discern right from wrong, good from evil, in order to complete this responsibility.
We are ALL in the same position as Solomon in our need to put others ahead of ourselves. As the Apostle Paul put it, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV). And the care of the earth’s resources needs to be a top priority given the protection of all life that is envisioned in the creation mandate.
This passage shows us that we need the wisdom of Solomon to accomplish what God wants us to do in the world.
It also leaves us with the question of whether we want this kind of wisdom for ourselves?
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. – James 1:5, NIV
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