Well if you would turn with me to the book of 1 Kings, page 282 in the pew Bibles. Lord willing, we have these two Sunday evenings to think together about the rise and ruin of Israel’s most glorious king, Solomon the wise. And if you look at our text, chapter 3, you might notice that Solomon’s whole life is bracketed, bookended by two great loves. His reign begins, chapter 3 verse 3, with a statement about his love for the Lord. This is a king with a devoted heart. But next time, we’ll look at his heartbreaking fall in chapter 11, a chapter which begins with Solomon’s love for many foreign women. This is a king with a divided heart.
For tonight, though, we’ll focus on his rise in chapter 3 where God equips His anointed king with all that he needs to rule over the golden age of His kingdom. In the runup to our reading, various enemies of Solomon’s father, David, have been faithfully hunted down. And in chapter 2 verse 46, we read, “So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon,” which brings us to chapter 3 verse 1. Let’s ask for the Lord’s help and then we’ll read it together. Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, fairest Lord Jesus, immortal, invisible, only wise God, yet Son of Man, we read these ancient words about a flawed, human king, and we pray that through them You would fill our hearts and our minds with the King of righteousness and grace who will judge the world in equity. We confess, Lord, that we are but little children, so give us the wisdom we need to love and fear You, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Amen.
First Kings chapter 3 and verse 1:
“Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.
Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, ‘Ask what I shall give you.’ And Solomon said, ‘You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but 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 many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 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, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.’
And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.”
Amen. This is the Word of the Lord. May He bless it to us tonight.
Friends, I have something very difficult to ask of you this evening. I have to ask you to give your heart to a king I know you do not trust. In fact, you have every reason not to trust him, don’t you, because you know how his story ends. Maybe even as we read this passage you were putting up your emotional guards, spotting all those telltale clues in verses 1 to 4 that this Solomon is going to turn out a wrong-un. Last week, a group of friends started reading through a book on marriage together, and I was one chapter into this book when my wife pointed out that a decade after it was published its author left the mother of his six children for another woman. And I’ve got to admit, his comments on the metaphysical impossibility of divorce, they hit a little different after that little piece of information! To be honest, I weighed up whether I would bother turning the page. Is this the guy I want to take marriage advice from?
And in a similar way, perhaps you’re thinking, “Why would I want to risk any emotional investment in this character who I know is going to end his life in deep and sad disgrace?” Well here’s why. Before he breaks your heart, the writer of this history wants you to see in Solomon a teeny, tiny reflection of the King you can truly trust. He’s not playing any tricks. In fact, he’s entirely up front about Solomon’s ambiguous character. There’s a marriage alliance, verse 1, with the most dangerous superpower in the world. Politically genius. Spiritually suicidal. Then, verses 2 and 3, there’s some pretty sketch worship in the kinds of places the pagans like to do it. Maybe with a hint there that if only Israel’s king had got on with building the temple, those high places would not have been such a constant snare to his people.
So the seeds of Solomon’s eventually fall, that we’ll see next week, they’re all here, right from the start, which pastorally is very reassuring. Isn’t it? People don’t love Jesus one day and then wake up in a far country the next morning. That would be far more troubling. But it’s as if the writer is giving us just enough disclosure to make sense of the story when we come to the end, but right now, Solomon’s flaws are not where he wants our attention. Because before his fall, Solomon is going to take his kingdom as close as it ever got to a heaven on earth. If you read over the next few chapters, you’ll get a little taste of what it’s like to live in a land of plenty, a land of peace, a land of justice, a land that all the world wants to come and be a part of. And it all happens under the rule of a wise and selfless king. Shalomon, Solomon is the king who brings shalom to his people.
And so before he breaks our hearts, our writer wants to get us maximally team Solomon. Even as he gives us these hints of Solomon’s failures, he gives us the assessment that colors everything in the next few chapters. Verse 3, “Solomon loved the Lord.” And for all his flaws, that love was genuine because he showed it by walking in the statutes of David. Solomon was a king with a big heart. And when he loves, he loves in a big way – for good and for ill. In fact, this love is unique. There isn’t any other figure in the Old Testament who we’re told, straight up like this, is marked by a love for God. And so for now at least, our writer wants us to give our hearts to this king. Because the killer question is the one that Solomon asks God in verse 9. Do you see it? “Who is able to govern this your great people?” What is it we need in a ruler if we will ever be able to give ourselves joyfully to him?
Think of it, for 250 years, “from sea to shining sea,” this has been a proud land of no kings, hasn’t it? And even this monarchist has to admit it’s worked out pretty well for you! But it hasn’t been heaven on earth, has it? So what do you need in a king before you will bend your knee to him and let him rule over every corner of your life? Well, that is what chapter 3 is meant to show us – the kind of king you can truly trust to rule you, heart and soul, forever. Look down at verse 10 because that’s where we get God’s assessment. Solomon, at least in these glory days, is showing us the kind of king who pleases the Lord. Three things, then, for us to learn this evening from this little, muddled, flawed, glorious shadow of the Good Shepherd. The king God delights in looks for wisdom humbly, loves God’s people deeply, and leans on God completely.
First, verses 4 to 7, the king God delights in, looks for wisdom humbly. Notice that when we first meet Solomon in this chapter, he is looking for God. Where at an awkward moment in Israel’s timeline, the great task of Solomon’s reign would be to build the temple, but right now, the ark of the covenant, the symbolic dwelling place of God, that was parked where David left it after he got it back from the Philistines – in some tents outside Jerusalem. But Chronicles tells us that the tabernacle structure, the whole worship complex that they had carried around the wilderness, that had been set up somewhere else at the great high place in Gibeon. And so worship in Israel right now is not set up as it should be. And yet Solomon is seeking the Lord, even if it’s in a slightly muddled and confused way. And in verse 4, he makes 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar at Gibeon. It’s almost over the top devotion, isn’t it? Here is a man whose love is never small. But this is the extraordinary thing. Even though this imperfect worshiper is apparently seeking God in the wrong place and in the wrong way, God, in His incredible grace, stoops down to earth, verse 5, and meets with him in a dream, there in Gibeon. And not only that, but He offers His king a blank check, doesn’t He? It’s an extraordinarily generous offer. “Ask what I shall give you.”
And as an aside, I wonder if that reality has dripped down into your heart yet when you come before Solomon’s God in prayer. Sometimes we think we need to come to Him armed with all of our facts and our figures and our arguments as if we were pitching a proposal to a boss that begrudges giving us anything good. But all the initiative in this chapter is from God. Solomon doesn’t have to twist his arm with all those offerings. If anything, he’s barking up the wrong tree! But God meets him in incredible grace and He offers His king the world. All the blessings over the next few chapters have their source in the amazing grace of God. Seek Him sincerely and you will find Him.
But now look at the humility, incredibly humility, in Solomon’s request. If you’ve been following the narrative carefully, you’d know two things about this man by now. First, that he is already wise. Twice in the last chapter, David, his father, had appealed to his wisdom because there were threats left to his kingdom, enemies left over from David’s reign, whom Solomon had to deal with wisely. And second, you’d know that this was a man who listens because the first thing we are told about his reign in chapter 2 is that he followed his father’s advice in dealing with those threats. Here is a king who is already wise and already listens to advice. And yet his first instinct when his kingdom is established is to seek the Lord’s help. And what does he ask for? Well wisdom, which boils down, literally in verse 9, to “a listening heart.” What our translations call “an understanding mind.”
And what’s the basis of his plea? Well, first, verse 6, it’s something in God. He knows that God has always shown great, steadfast love to his father, David. When I was a kid, I would promise blind that I would mend my ways, I would never misbehave again, and often my mother would look at me and reply, “Child, your promises are like pie crusts – flimsy, crumbly, flaky, untrustworthy things.” Well, Solomon knows that his God is no pie crust God. But secondly, this already wise, already listening king, says something in himself, verse 7. Solomon sees that he is totally inadequate as the shepherd God’s people need. “And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father, David, though I am but a little boy and I barely know whether I am coming or going.”
To “come in” and “go out” in the Bible, that is shepherding language, king language. We met it a few weeks ago, didn’t we, at Moses’ prayer where Joshua was ordained at his ordination. Israel needed a man who would go out before them and come in before them. You see it twice – that same language in John chapter 10. The Good Shepherd calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. So do you see what a beautiful picture of humility this is? Here is the new king on his knees, crying out to God, “I don’t know how to be the good shepherd Your people so badly need!” True wisdom is humble, it’s gentle and lowly of heart. It seeks God. It depends on Him. It doesn’t rest in itself. The king God delights in looks for wisdom humbly.
But secondly, verses 8 to 9, the king God delights in loves God’s people deeply. Now if you’ve read the fairytales, you’ll know that finding the genie in the lamp who offers you your heart’s desire, that hardly ever turns out well for human beings, does it? We all like to think we’d be Aladdin. I have a sneaking suspicion most of us would end up like mean old Jafar. Take it from a man born to play a Disney villain, you don’t need a corny British accent to have a heart that grasps for whatever it can get for itself. A genie in a lamp never goes well for sinful people. Whoever heard of a human leader who didn’t get a taste of power and end up in it for himself? God gives us here an extraordinary window into Solomon’s heart. He offers him his heart’s desire.
And what does he ask for? Well, actually the thing that most pleases God is all the things he doesn’t ask for. That word “ask” pops up six times just in verse 10, and three of them in the Hebrew are all about what he has not asked for. Whoever heard of a leader who was given the chance and did not snatch at a long life? Whoever heard of a leader who would not seek riches for himself? Whoever heard of a leader who would not pray to get one over his enemies? But the king God delights in has offered his heart’s desire, and he seeks not his own interest. It’s extraordinary. Here is a human ruler who seems genuinely selfless. His heart is all wrapped up in these people he has been called to shepherd. In fact, verses 8 and 9 are bursting with the sense of burden that he is carrying for them. Do you see the big repeated word in those verses? It’s very revealing. How does the most glorious king Israel ever had think of the minions and the surfs and the plebs under his command? Well, he does not think that they are there to serve him; rather, they are there for him to serve. They’re not his to use. That’s not the repeated word, is it? But verse 8, “They are Your people whom You have chosen, a great people.” Verse 9, “Your people, Your great people.” God has been faithful to His promises and this chosen people are now as numerous as the sand. But more valuable than diamonds. Each of them more precious in God’s eyes than we could dare imagine. Elect in Christ before time began.
And that is who Solomon has been entrusted to rule over. And so he asks for the thing his people most need, not the thing he most wants. He asks for a shepherd whose heart knows right from wrong. “Give Your servants,” literally, “a listening heart to govern Your people so that I may discern between good and evil.” A heart in the Bible isn’t so much where your emotions bubble up. A heart is the core of your person, your thinking, choosing faculty. And he knows that the ruler we need is a ruler whose heart will listen to God.
We’ve met this language before, haven’t we? Adam, remember, tried to snatch at this knowledge of good and evil. He tried to rule the world his own way, snatching at his own knowledge, and it plunged all mankind into sin and misery. Solomon knows that only one thing can bring true joy to human beings, and that is a king who rules God’s way in justice and righteousness and truth. It’s almost as if what we needed is a second Adam, a do-over. Well friends, where will you ever find a ruler who will love you like that? One you can trust right down to your bones? Wants to give himself to you not take what he can get from you? One who, when he has something hard to ask of you – perhaps something so hard you don’t really even understand it – nevertheless, you know all the way down that he has your interests at heart? If he forbids you the one thing you are convinced would make you happy, how will you ever come to terms with that unless you know that whatever his reason it must be deeply wise and deeply loving because he is deeply on your side. Surely that is the kind of king we need if we will ever submit our lives to anyone. And surely Jesus is that kind of King. The King who even as He struggled for breath on the cross was still giving to His people rather than taking, praying for His enemies, longing for people’s good.
Think of this. The thing that let Jesus endure the agony of the cross, the joy set before Him, was His love for you. You are the precious inheritance He was promised. Anyone else would have spared himself, put himself first. Aren’t you glad that the burden of ruling and judging that innumerable number of human beings, all God’s elect in all times and places, has fallen on the shoulders of a king who loves God’s people so deeply?
And finally, verses 10 to 15 – the king God delights in leans on God completely. Here, I think, is the big idea of the chapter. God is pleased with His selfless king, verse 10, and supplies all that he needs to shepherd his people. All the blessings that we see over the next few chapters of this book, this little picture of a heaven on each, all of them come because Israel has a king who leans on God to rule the kingdom His way. All of Solomon’s gifts and graces have a source. First, God grants exactly what he asks for – moral discernment that surpasses any man who ever lived. And then, in gratuitous kindness, he adds all those blessings that Solomon never asked for. This is a God who loves to pour unasked blessings out on those children he loves. Solomon seeks first the welfare of the kingdom and all those other good things are added to him because the kingdom of the Good Shepherd will be a glorious kingdom, ruled by a glorious king.
And again, you and I, we are not God’s anointed messiah. You and I don’t expect God to appear to us offering to furnish us with whatever we need to rule over His people, but we do come before Solomon’s God, don’t we, when we pray – a generous, loving God. And His generous, loving king teaches us a lot about how to pray to that God. I think, in all sorts of ways, that should be a beautiful encouragement to us and especially perhaps to Christian leaders who know their weakness and know how precious God’s people are. Certainly we should pray in a way that reflects the heart of our King. Pray for the wisdom that’s humble and heeds but rejoice in this King who rules as we need. The message of this chapter isn’t first about us. It’s first about the ruler God provides and equips.
Notice there is a strong warning of conditionality in this chapter. Verse 6, God was faithful to David because, for all his sin, he was a covenant keeping king. And verse 14, God promises the same to Solomon “If you walk in My ways, then I will bless you with a long, glorious reign.” You see, the author wants us to know that the joy and peace of the kingdom depends on the obedience of our king. And supplied like this by God with the wisdom he needs, his kingdom is a kingdom of great joy. Isn’t it fascinating that the very first thing we see after Solomon meets with God is that he wants more of Him? He wakes up from his dream and immediately he shows his love and his gratitude through worship. Solomon’s worship, his offerings, bookend this little section. But this time, verse 15, he’s worshiping in a much wiser way. He goes to stand before the ark in Jerusalem, the place that God has appointed to meet in mercy with His people. And then the next thing we are told is that his people get to feast. A king who rules in wisdom and in love is a great blessing to his people.
And then comes the famous story of two prostitutes squabbling over a baby. He has time, this king, for the lowest and the least. And the proof of this wisdom that God has given Solomon is that here at last is a shepherd who knows his sheep. God has given him that hearing heart that he asked for. One of those women is moved by nothing but selfish jealousy. The other is moved by self-giving love for her child. And a self-less king can immediately tell which heart reflects his own. He knows his sheep. And so the chapter ends with that beautiful word that we long for in a ruler – justice. A king who rules in wisdom and love is a great blessing to his people. It’s almost as if in chapter 3 by looking at a little crack in the fabric of time, something that took place in the far depths of eternity, is getting projected through onto this little earthly reflection for us all to see – an agreement, a covenant in the loving counsels of the Trinity where God the Son promised to take on flesh and be our Messiah, to take on Himself all the obligations of saving and ruling those chosen people. And God the Father promised to furnish His Son with all that He needed for His Messianic office – the Spirit of wisdom to anoint and empower Him as that king.
Maybe, friends, you wish tonight, maybe you wish that God would give you this opportunity – that one request that He offered Solomon. But I wonder if you can see tonight that He has given you something much, much more. The most generous thing that God could ever give us is a king wiser than Solomon. A king supplied with all that He needs to be the ruler we have never deserved. You and I don’t need the wisdom to manage his kingdom, but we do need a king who knows how to care for his people. We need a king who became for us wisdom from God. We need a king who would lean on God completely through a lifetime of obedience. We need a king wise enough to lay down that life for sinners through the entirely selfless foolishness of the cross – the wisest thing that any king ever did for his people.
And most of us here, we’ve been around the block long enough, haven’t we, not to expect that from any human ruler. The author of this book, he wants us all in on project Solomon. We should be thrilled by this little glimpse that he gives us of a true Messiah, but next week he will very deliberately break our hearts over him. It turns out that even a genuine love for the Lord, that doesn’t automatically exclude all rival loves. It turns out that even unprecedented wisdom from God, discernment between right and wrong, that doesn’t automatically guarantee you will do the thing you know to be right or repent of the thing that you know to be wrong. Even Solomon needed a king to rule his heart with a far deeper and more loving wisdom.
But tonight, the true Prince of Peace has spread a feast for you and for me, a taste of His kingdom. Tonight, the true King of love will offer you all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in torn fresh and spilt blood. The ruler you truly need is offering you Himself. So will you let this wise and gentle Shepherd lead and feed you forever?
Let’s pray.
Gracious and glorious God, we praise You that You have equipped our King with all that He needs to be the Savior we need. We rejoice in the wise and selfless and glorious reign of King Jesus. We rejoice that He displayed truest wisdom as He surrendered His life to redeem His own. And we pray, Father, that You would grant us the wisdom that reflects His heart, wisdom that is humble and self-giving and that listens to You. For we ask it all in Jesus’ matchless name, amen.