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May 31st
The beginning of Solomon’s reign as King of Israel. We are reading 1 Kings 3,4 2 Chronicles 1 and Psalm 74.
God revealed Himself in a dream to Solomon. God told him that He would give him anything for which he asked. What an amazing promise.
We might wish that God would come to us in a dream with such an offer until we remember that we have something better in the written Words of Jesus. To the humblest believer, not just the king of a nation...not just for some random slumber in our life...but every single day... all day...just open the bible and believe Him.
Matthew 7:7. ”Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto You.” Jesus.
John 15:7 “If you abide in me and my word abides in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be given unto you.” Jesus.
So Solomon made his request to God as soon as he woke up. “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? And God was pleased.”
Solomon asked for more than just knowledge. He wanted understanding...and he wanted it in his heart...not merely in his head. The Hebrew word for understanding comes from the root word for “seeing”. Solomon desired a “ hearing heart”, one that would listen to God. Wow...no wonder God was pleased. May He give us “heart ears” also to hear God speaking to us.
Paul put it this way in Ephesians 1:18...”I pray that God would open the eyes of your understanding...” (to recognize and hear the Lord speaking to your heart.)
This reminds me of a retreat where Henry Blackaby shared the main message of his book, “Experiencing God”. “If we cannot hear God’s voice in our hearts, then there is something wrong. For hearing God is central to our Christian life.”
Then he sent all the participants at the retreat on a walk with God...reading a passage of scripture and listening as we strolled the East Texas Camp grounds. It was amazing. God gave me “heart ears” that night. And I heard the voice of the Spirit clearly that night and for years thereafter to this very day! Thanks Henry and thanks Lord Jesus!
God gave Solomon what he asked for that night. And he also gave him much more.
God made Solomon...the Wisest man...richest man in the world of his day. People came from the world over to see the buildings and the cities that he built. Perhaps Solomon was the most popular man in the world as well.
We will see much of this son of David in our reading to come. But today’s reading reveals the chink in his spiritual armor that would come back to haunt him and trip him up at the end of his days. He married an Egyptian princess to solidify an alliance with that nation...after God’s Word prohibited being unequally yoked with unbelievers.
And how did that work out for him? Well that’s the rest of the story.
Have a great day
