July 20, 2022
Daily Devotion:
"A Solomon like Decision... "
1 Kings 3:9
New International Version
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
Anyone can tell the difference between black and white. It's gray that confuses us. Is it dark gray or light gray? If black and white were knowledge, gray would be wisdom. Knowledge can be learned from lectures and books. Wisdom is only acquired through experience, thought, and refection. Solomon's exceptional wisdom was a gift from God. Who can forget that stroke of genius and keen insight into human nature when Solomon dramatically resolved the dispute as to whose baby it was? Don't you find it intriguing that in order to resolve the "gray" issue, Solomon wisely reverted to couching the controversy in stark black and white? ("Cut the living child in two!") Both definitive "black and white" and the more uncertain “gray" have their place. The trick is having the wisdom to discern between them.
Yet take a close second look at Solomon's prayer for discernment to distinguish between right and wrong. Do any of us really need wisdom to understand what's right and what's wrong? If given a stark choice, probably not. But normally our most difficult choices are between two conflicting “rights" or two conflicting "wrongs." In these cases, how do we decide? We can't exactly call for a sword and threaten to cut up some innocent baby! No, but the Bible does speak of "the sword of the Spirit," which is able to deftly divide even bone from marrow if necessary. So if you find yourself having to make a Solomon-like decision, pray that God will give you an extraordinary spirit of discernment.
The black and white question is: If God answered Solomon's prayer for wisdom, is there any reason why he couldn't answer my own for discernment?
