The story of Solomon begins well before the chapter we hear today. It begins with the part we heard a couple of weeks ago, when David saw Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop, and he sent for her. He ignored the fact that she was married to another man and he took her for his own. And from this sin, others followed, like dominoes tumbling down. David atoned for it all, but the words of the prophet Nathan rang true: the sword was a constant presence in David’s household from then on.
The story of Solomon moves on to include deadly fights over the matter of succession. King David had many sons by numerous wives and, unsurprisingly, they were not all in agreement that Solomon should be crowned king of Israel.
Even before David died, there were negotiations in the works. Solomon’s mother Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan approached the king on his deathbed because another of David’s sons had seized power already, apparently hoping to make it look like a forgone conclusion before anyone noticed what he had done.
So David intervened to make it clear that Solomon was his chosen successor on the throne. But his worries were not yet over. He summoned Solomon to his bedside and shared his concerns and his final words of advice, sounding a lot like Don Corleone in The Godfather. “These are the ones you need to look out for; but you should deal loyally with these others.”
“Act according to your own wisdom,” he says to Solomon. “You are a wise man,” he says at another point. But his message is clear: Do as I would do. Do as I tell you to do.
And after David dies, Solomon again finds himself challenged by those who oppose him. And even though he tries not to, he eventually succumbs to the violent ways his father had recommended.
When God came to King Solomon and said, “Ask what I should give you,” Solomon seemed to know already what he needed: Wisdom. Perhaps he knew that with enough wisdom he would have found a way other than violence.
Solomon asked the Lord for the gift of wisdom.
I don’t know how many of us would have asked for wisdom were we in Solomon’s place, because in any given day there are so many other things we are want. We want more time, more energy, more health. We want more peace in our lives, more love in our families, more laughter in our days. We want to wipe away our pain, our worries, our debt. And, yes, much of the time our desires center on material things: a new car, new furniture, a vacation. Personally, I want a lot of things, I will tell anyone who asks. I am full of wishes and wants.
And even if we realize that most of these things we wish for would not be the thing to ask God for, should the Lord come to us and say, “Ask what I should give you,” I still wonder if our inclination would be to ask for wisdom. Because we might wonder: Would wisdom make me any happier? And, wouldn’t wisdom be, perhaps, somewhere down the list below other things like love? Like peace?
However you might answer these questions, it’s important to recognize the long thread of wisdom shining through the scriptures. You could argue it begins in the third chapter of Genesis, where Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was forbidden, for they could see that it would make them wise. Was it a sin for them to want wisdom? No. Their sin, perhaps, was to take it, rather than to ask for it.
There is much written about wisdom in the book of Proverbs, where the very first verse tells us that the book’s purpose is to impart wisdom. Proverbs 8 even says that wisdom was God’s first act of creation. The epistles of the New Testament also have plenty to say about wisdom.
If we still feel unclear about the value of wisdom, we might look closely at this story of King Solomon where wisdom is the centerpiece, and we might wonder what wisdom means in this context.
When we do, what we see is thankfulness. Immediately after his vision, Solomon goes to the ark of the covenant and makes sacrifices of thanksgiving to God. Do you think that thankfulness is wise? Does thankfulness come from wisdom?
We also see a concern for justice. Solomon built the halls of justice in Israel, with a priority for administering laws for the welfare of all the people. Do you think justice for all is a wise thing?
Solomon did so much that was good for Israel, but that is not the whole story of Solomon. As the years go by, for reasons I do not know, Solomon shifts his priorities. The legacy he leaves includes very severe and harsh policies that impoverished and enslaved the people. Cruelty that does not seem to show any trace of wisdom.
The author of the book of Kings seems to know why it turned out this way and tells us in Chapter 11. Solomon lost his way when he lost the ways of the Lord. He built altars to idols, he divided his heart, and he was no longer walking in God’s ways.
Perhaps the most truthful thing to say about wisdom then is that true wisdom is following in God’s ways. And the gift of wisdom grants us the ability to discern good from evil, to discern the true God from false idols, to recognize love and practice love.
Aren’t these things that you would want? If God said to you, “Ask what I should give you,” would you ask for this?
The letter to Ephesians tells us, “Be careful how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, for the days are evil.”
Make the most of the time by staying connected with one another, caring for neighbors near and far – we hold one another up, sharing our strength when we do so.
Make the most of the time by fixing your eyes on Christ, seeking to carry him in your heart and show that beautiful heart to all the world.
Make the most of the time by staying awake and alert to the needs of the world and the ways of God and holding before you the vision of God’s better world.
There is plenty of foolishness in the world – in the church, too. Foolishness is easy but does no one any good.
And then there is wisdom.
If God says to you, “Ask what I should give you,” choose wisdom.
