I've been thinking a lot about wisdom lately--mostly because I desperately need it right now. This made me think about this super wise guy who lived a long time ago, Solomon. As I was contemplating him and his wisdom storehouses, I started wondering, "how is it that he could be so incredibly wise and yet turn out so morally bankrupt?" Hmm...something seems to be wrong here. I've heard a couple people talk briefly about it, but their explanations always left me unsatisfied. I've never felt like I had a good grasp of why or how the wisest man in the world could end up doing so many foolish things, particularly those against the law of God. Though I have to say...can you imagine a house full of 1000 women? That sounds like a recipe for an estrogen infused DISASTER! Ahem. I digress...
In 1 Kings 3 is the story of when God tells Solomon to ask for anything he wants. Verse 9 is where Solomon makes his request, "Give me a discerning heart, to govern your people, and to discern between right and wrong, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
Solomon said, "Give me a discerning heart, that I may govern this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?" Note: why was Solomon asking for wisdom? So that he could lead God's people. That's good, though, right? Yes! Absolutely! BUT it was too small. He stopped too soon. It seems that Solomon's prayer was more about keeping himself from failing than bringing glory to God. Solomon needed help so that Solomon could lead God's people. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I think this is the reason he walked away from God--because his goal was never 100% about God in the first place. Perhaps there was always this part of him that desired becoming great for his sake instead of God's.
I want to pause here and look inward for a moment. A friend posted a quote on Facebook today that said, "Are we doing the will of God to make ourselves look good or to glorify God?" If I'm going to be completely honest with myself, I'm not sure how I'd answer that question. But it's a question that needs to be answered, because it will determine who we are and what we do.
Had Solomon asked for wisdom for the sake of bringing glory to God, my guess is that some of his decisions would have been different. He probably wouldn't have intermarried with women from other nations, because his goal would have been to glorify God. Marriage to those women made a lot of political sense by creating alliances with those nations. In that way, it fulfilled his goal of governing the people in wisdom. However, it didn't make sense when it came to honoring God.
This leaves me with one final statement. Take a minute, examine your heart, and chew on this:
Are mine?
In 1 Kings 3 is the story of when God tells Solomon to ask for anything he wants. Verse 9 is where Solomon makes his request, "Give me a discerning heart, to govern your people, and to discern between right and wrong, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
"The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” (1 Kings 3:10-14)Wow, pretty neat, huh? He chose a good thing to ask for, so much so that God was pleased with His request. So how is it that the wisest guy in the world would blatantly go against God's commands and intermarry with ungodly nations? And then give into the influence of these ungodly wives and worship other gods (1 Kings 11)? I think that the key lies in the heart behind Solomon's request. His request was good, nevertheless it was missing something. And that something was really big. In fact, I would argue that it was so big that it was the reason that Solomon made some of the foolish choices he did.
Solomon said, "Give me a discerning heart, that I may govern this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?" Note: why was Solomon asking for wisdom? So that he could lead God's people. That's good, though, right? Yes! Absolutely! BUT it was too small. He stopped too soon. It seems that Solomon's prayer was more about keeping himself from failing than bringing glory to God. Solomon needed help so that Solomon could lead God's people. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I think this is the reason he walked away from God--because his goal was never 100% about God in the first place. Perhaps there was always this part of him that desired becoming great for his sake instead of God's.
I want to pause here and look inward for a moment. A friend posted a quote on Facebook today that said, "Are we doing the will of God to make ourselves look good or to glorify God?" If I'm going to be completely honest with myself, I'm not sure how I'd answer that question. But it's a question that needs to be answered, because it will determine who we are and what we do.
Had Solomon asked for wisdom for the sake of bringing glory to God, my guess is that some of his decisions would have been different. He probably wouldn't have intermarried with women from other nations, because his goal would have been to glorify God. Marriage to those women made a lot of political sense by creating alliances with those nations. In that way, it fulfilled his goal of governing the people in wisdom. However, it didn't make sense when it came to honoring God.
This leaves me with one final statement. Take a minute, examine your heart, and chew on this:
Any goal, dream, or desire is both misplaced and TOO SMALL if the motive behind it is anything other than bringing glory to God.Are your motives pure?
Are mine?
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