1 Kings 3:9 “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?”
Self-reliance is one of those virtues that is espoused in our country. We praise “self-made” people. Except of course those people who use their influence to enrich themselves at the expense of others, like con men and swindlers. We do draw the line somewhere!
But self-reliance isn’t the ideal. Independence is another way to say self-reliance and independence is not the best for the individual or the society at large. Interdependence is the ideal. We lean in toward each other and provide the needed support for whomever is needing the support at the time.
Dependence lays at the other end of independence, and we don’t like people who can’t at least contribute to the whole. We usually call these people “lazy,” at least when we are by ourselves or in our minds, unless of course there is a lack of capacity the prevents their contribution. Then we can caringly and lovingly provide them the support they need.
King David has named his successor, Solomon, to take over the role of being King. Another son had tried to force the issue and had proclaimed himself king. Just in case you have the inclination, declaring yourself king isn’t such a good idea. It usually gets you shot or sent to the looney bin. So David puts Solomon clearly on the throne.
But Solomon doesn’t feel prepared to do the job. He has accepted the position, but he feels unqualified to actually carry out the functions of being King. He doesn’t feel like he has the skills and abilities to do it. He is scared he will get it wrong and the nation will suffer.
So he prays! If only we would pray more and make fewer self-serving and impulsive decisions. But he doesn’t pray for the obvious things a king might be concerned about. He isn’t interested in the normal kingly kinds of things. His need is much deeper than this.
Solomon prays for wisdom. And not just any wisdom. He prays for wisdom to tell the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. Does this sound like a quest that has appeared earlier in the Scriptures?
On the first pages of the Hebrew Scriptures there is a tree whose fruits are said to bring the knowledge of good and evil to the one who eats it. But it is a forbidden fruit. It represented the choice to trust the LORD to provide at the time of the need, or to take that choice off the table, to obtain that knowledge independent of the LORD.
Here Solomon is portrayed as becoming the one person who will do it right on behalf of the people. He is one in the long line of leaders the LORD has had in Israel’s history who began with the right heart. The LORD raises leaders up to start His ‘Garden Project’ all over again. Noah, Abraham, Joshua, David. Each began as the start of a new era with the same promise of the LORD’s presence and blessing if they would trust Him.
So now Solomon seeks the most important thing needed for any leader, the wisdom to rule justly and fairly. It isn’t just our legal system that can be twisted by the powerful and influential. All through history justice has been hard to find.
So Solomon prays for this kind of wisdom, and the text that follows gives examples of this wisdom being enacted in specific cases. This wisdom Solomon receives is extraordinary, and the people see it and are drawn closer to the LORD. And so is Solomon, at least for a time.
The Arnold Journey 