1 Kings 3:1–15. Wisdom and Solomon
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Alex Shute
Introduction
Imagine God appeared to you and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.“
What would you ask for? Unlimited money? A mansion? Every new game as soon as it came out? Instant popularity? The ability to fly? The ability to grow a beard overnight? Maybe not if you’re a girl.
It's a fun question to think about, but there’s another question underneath it: how confident could you be that you’d actually get what you asked for?
For Solomon, this wasn't a hypothetical question. God really did appear to him and offer him whatever he wanted. But what should he ask for? And if we were in the same position, what should we ask for?
What is the one thing we need most from God?
It's an important question because what we think we need most from God shapes the way we pray, the choices we make and the lives we live. If we get that question right, it changes everything. If we get it wrong, it changes everything too.
Fortunately, Solomon gets it right. When God invites him to ask for anything, Solomon asks for wisdom. As we'll see, wisdom is exactly what he needs, and what we need, and God delights to give it. But Solomon's story also teaches us that there's a big difference between possessing wisdom and actually living wisely.
Wisdom and Solomon
Long before Solomon became king, God had already told Israel what kind of king they needed. Israel had been rescued from slavery in Egypt, and although God was their true King, he knew they would one day ask for a human king like the surrounding nations. So, in Deuteronomy 17, God gave instructions for how Israel's kings were to live.
One command becomes the key to understanding Solomon's story:
He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
The warning is simple. Israel's king must not allow his heart to be pulled away from the Lord by wealth, power or multiple marriages. Keep that verse in the back of your mind, because it casts a shadow over everything that follows.
David, Solomon's father, wasn't a perfect king, but he genuinely loved the Lord. He was “a man after God's own heart” (Acts 13:22). After David died, Solomon became king around 970 BC (1 Kings 2:10–12).
Then we come to 1 Kings chapter 3. The opening verse immediately creates tension:
Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem.
1 Kings 3:1
That should make us stop. Egypt was the nation from which God had rescued Israel. Rather than simply trusting the LORD, Solomon immediately begins strengthening his kingdom through a political marriage. It's only one verse, and one marriage, but already the narrator is asking us, "Will Solomon really become the king God wants him to be?"
The chapter continues by telling us that people were sacrificing at the high places because the temple had not yet been built. High places were local worship sites, often built on hills. Although some were used to worship the true God during this period, they would later become centres of idol worship throughout Israel's history. So worshipping at them is a bit suss.
The narrator then gives us another mixed signal:
Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
1 Kings 3:3
Notice the tension? Solomon loves the LORD... except. He's walking in David's footsteps... except. The warning lights are already flashing.
Then, while at Gibeon,
the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
1 Kings 3:5
Imagine hearing those words. Solomon could ask for anything. Long life. Wealth. Military success. Revenge on his enemies. Instead, Solomon asks for something much better.
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?’
1 Kings 3:9
Solomon knows he can't lead God's people on his own. He needs wisdom.
God is delighted with his request.
10 The LORD was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, ‘Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honour—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.’
1 Kings 3:10–14
Notice that God gives Solomon far more than he asked for. He asks for wisdom, but God also promises extraordinary wealth and honour. Yet there is one little word that becomes enormously important for the rest of Solomon's life: if. If Solomon continues walking in obedience, God will continue blessing him.
Over the next few chapters, God keeps his promise in spectacular fashion.
As for wisdom, almost immediately, Solomon is faced with a delicate and emotionally charged court case involving two women who both claim the same baby belongs to them (1 Kings 3:16–28). Through remarkable wisdom, Solomon uncovers the truth, and all Israel stands in awe because they recognise that God has given him wisdom to administer justice. And his wisdom continues to grow. God gives him “very great insight” (1 Kings 4:29), and his reputation spreads throughout the surrounding nations. People travel from all over the world simply to hear him teach (1 Kings 4:30–34).
Eventually, even the Queen of Sheba makes the long journey from the south, probably modern-day Ethiopia, because she has heard so much about Solomon's wisdom. She asks him difficult questions, watches him govern his kingdom, and leaves amazed, declaring that not even half of his wisdom had been reported to her (1 Kings 10:1–10).
God also fulfils his promise of wealth. Every year Solomon receives around twenty-five tonnes of gold (1 Kings 10:14). Across a forty-year reign, that's roughly one thousand tonnes of gold. At today's prices, that's somewhere around A$190 billion worth of gold before you even count the horses, chariots, spices, trade and taxes. The author is making one thing abundantly clear:
God has completely kept his promise. Then everything changes. Chapter 11 opens with words that should sound painfully familiar:
1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
1 Kings 11:1–4
Do you see what's happened? The very warning from Deuteronomy 17 has come true.
Solomon really was wise. God genuinely answered his prayer. He could solve impossible problems. He could govern a nation. Kings and queens crossed continents just to hear him speak.
But possessing wisdom is not the same as living wisely. Solomon knew that everything he had came from the LORD. He knew that the LORD was God. But he chose something else. His heart was drawn away from the LORD.
That leaves us asking a huge question. If even Solomon failed, what hope is there for anyone else?
2. Wisdom and Jesus
Thankfully, the Bible's story doesn't end with Solomon. About a thousand years later, Jesus pointed back to Solomon and made an astonishing claim:
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.
Matthew 12:42
Jesus isn't saying that Solomon wasn't wise. He was. God gave him extraordinary wisdom. Even the Queen of the South (the Queen of Sheba) came to check out his wisdom. But Jesus says someone even greater has now arrived: himself.
Why is Jesus greater than Solomon? Because Jesus doesn't simply possess God's wisdom. He is God's wisdom in human flesh.
Check out what Paul writes:
You are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us Wisdom from God.
1 Corinthians 1:30
Jesus is Wisdom. Unlike Solomon, Jesus never misused God's gifts. He never allowed his heart to drift. He never chose comfort over obedience or compromise over faithfulness.
When Jesus faced temptation in the wilderness, he trusted his Father completely. When he faced rejection from his own people, he continued speaking the truth. And when he faced the agony of the cross, he chose obedience.
Where Solomon failed, Jesus succeeded. Where Solomon's heart wandered, Jesus remained faithful. Where Solomon's wisdom eventually gave way to foolishness, Jesus perfectly lived out the wisdom of God every moment of his life.
That’s really good news for us, because our greatest need isn't simply to admire a wise king, or even to become wise people. We need a King who can rescue foolish people like Solomon. And like us.
Often, like Solomon, we have wisdom. We know the right thing to do but choose something else. We don't just need more information. We need Wisdom with a capital W to rescue us from our own foolishness. And that's where Jesus enters the scene.
So, what's the one thing we need most from God? We need Wisdom with a capital W.
3. Wisdom and Us
So, what's the one thing we need most from God? We need Wisdom with a capital W. We need Jesus. And when we come to God and ask for Wisdom, he gives us Jesus.
But, just as God did with Solomon, he gives us even more. Check out what James writes:
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:5
God doesn't stop at giving us Jesus. Just as he gave Solomon more than he asked for, God gives us more too. He gives us wisdom for the ordinary decisions of life. And he promises to give it. It’s not just he might give us wisdom. Wisdom will be given to you. Ask, and you’ll receive.
And how does God answer our prayer for wisdom? He doesn't usually send a secret message in your breakfast cereal or a booming voice from the sky, though he could. He gives us wisdom through what he teaches in the Bible. And he gives us wisdom through other people who also read the Bible.
But Solomon's story also warns us that it's possible to have wisdom and still live foolishly. Solomon knew the right thing to do, but he chose to disobey God. So we mustn't be satisfied with simply knowing more Bible facts. We need to hear God's wisdom, trust it and obey it.
So what's the one thing we need most from God? We need Jesus, God's Wisdom. And because we belong to him, we can confidently ask our generous Father for the wisdom we need to follow him every day. And he’ll definitely give that to us too.
Discussion Questions
Pray and Get Going
Q1. If God said to you, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you,” what would you ask for?
Previously in 1 Kings, David has died and Solomon has become king around 970 BC, after a messy struggle with his brother Adonijah, who tried to take the throne for himself. Solomon has begun to establish his kingdom, but now the big question is: what kind of king will he be?
Look at 1 Kings 3:1–15
Q2. What do we learn about King Solomon in the opening four verses?
Q3. What does God offer King Solomon? How does Solomon respond?
Q4. Why do you think the LORD is so pleased with King Solomon’s response?
Q5. How wise does King Solomon become?
(see 1 Kings 4:29–34 with 1 Kings 11:1–6)
Q6. How does King Solomon’s wisdom compare with King Jesus’ wisdom?
(see Matthew 12:42; 1 Corinthians 1:30)
Look at James 1:5
Q7. How do we become wise followers of King Jesus?
