Margie and I are new seminary students. As a requirement of the International Missions Board we are both enrolled in a graduate program that (after much work) will grant us a Masters of Theological Studies. For those of you that know me, you know that I’m not really a school kinda guy. It’s just not a passion of mine. Yes, I struggled through undergraduate school and was somehow able to cram 4 years of college into 9 (you laugh here). So naturally, as I got the news that another degree was in my immediate forecast, I greeted it with less than a stellar reaction. (picture me here, arms half raised releasing a very under-emphatic, yeah) But here I am, and I will attack it with vigor from the Lord. But enthusiasm is one thing, passing tests is another.
We’ve already had several quizzes and one research paper due and man have the memories come flooding back. After 20 years of freedom, the shackles of university study have come like a load of bricks stacked on my shoulders. So far one of the oddest moments has been getting back into the test taking mode. You know what I’m talking about. When it comes time to take that test, you read the question and then you go upstairs. You hope that the required info is in your head somewhere, but you must retrieve it. You hope that the one detail you are being asked for about the Diocletian persecution is stuck somewhere up there in that grey matter, but will it come out and play when you need it? When it pops out easily, I rejoice, but sometimes the information you need just won’t come.
You see, you can study facts. You can study christian church history from 300 AD to the reformation. You can study Hermeneutics and Systematic Theology. You can read the book, study the facts, learn them, memorize them, and prove on tests that you have mastered the information. But what about demonstrating this identical process with another type of knowledge. What about wisdom? Have you ever found yourself in a situation that required a deep level of understanding that you couldn’t find in a book? Where do you get this type of knowledge? The wisdom to know the difference between good and bad in a complex dilemma? The deep understanding of this world and the people in it that allow you to wade its waters and find a solution that is laced with wisdom? If I’m honest, many, many, (many many) times I have looked upstairs in the gray matter for a wise answer and it just wasn’t there. Just like a test you haven’t studied for, you search your mind for the answer, but it’s just not there. So our question is, if you can study and learn general knowledge, where do you go to learn true and absolute wisdom?
Today is a beautiful chapter. A chapter that deals exclusively with the new king of Israel, Solomon. Most people know Solomon as the wisest man that ever lived. Most people know Solomon as a tremendously rich man. And some know Solomon as a man that had over 1,000 wives. (insert joke here that if he was so wise why did he have so many wives) But how and why did Solomon have such great understanding? What books did he study, what teachers did he follow, and what mental exercises did he employ to gain such wisdom and understanding? For that, let’s go to God’s Word.
“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” Solomon replied, “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. Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” 1 Kings 3:5,7,9
There are many amazing parts in this passage. First is how God poses the question. What shall I give you? It was a very open-ended question that God offered. What do you think you will need to do well Solomon? I wonder if we took this question to the streets today, Family Feud style, what the top 8 answers would be? Money, power, influence, mansions, fame, control, Ferraris, and authority? You see, our world values things much differently than God does. But we’re told in 1 Kings 3:3 that “Solomon loved the Lord.” And folks, when you love the Lord, you will love the things He loves. And Solomon’s answer does indeed please the Lord. (1 Kings 3:10)
The second thing that should amaze us is Solomon’s humility. Before he spoke with the Lord, he was already very wealthy. He had, on many occasions, offered 1,000 animals as a sacrifice to the Lord. (1 Kings 3:4) Only a tremendously wealthy individual could ever afford to burn 1,000 unblemished animals at a time. Solomon’s great wealth could have easily corrupted his request. Before he spoke with the Lord, Solomon already had great power. The throne was his, David was dead, and all of his competition had been eliminated. He is king and king alone. His unlimited power could have corrupted his request. Fame, control, authority? Solomon had them all at the time that God posed His question. And beyond all that, Solomon still spoke to the Lord about how inadequate he was. I am like a little child that does not even know how to find my way. He says, Lord, you are asking me to lead your people but even though I have wealth, power, influence, and authority, this is not enough. I need more. I need something that can only come from you, Lord. This drips of irony. For you see, Solomon used great wisdom in realizing how desperately he needed more Godly wisdom. “The smart man realizes how little he knows.” Folks, the hearts of this world could use a double portion of this message today.
The third thing that is astonishing is specifically what Solomon asks for. He does not just say make me wise. He doesn’t just say give me wisdom to make more money. He asks for an understanding heart. Way to go Solomon, slam dunk. Our hearts today should be crying out this same prayer. To have a heart that is filled with the understanding of the Lord. To have a heart that mirrors the compassion, love and mercy of Jesus Christ. To have a heart that is filled to overflowing with the grace, wisdom, and patience of Christ. To have a heart that can fully understand the love of God so that we can proclaim it to the world.
Today as the trials of this world test and confound you, you will automatically go upstairs to find the answer. You will find that as you do, the wisdom of the Lord cannot be found in your mind. You will have to go to your heart to find the wisdom of the Lord. And it can only be put there by God Himself. The understanding of the Lord is a gift. A gift for those hearts that cry out for it so that they can complete the task at hand in way that will please God. If you are seeking the wisdom and understanding of the Lord, it is open to you just as it was to Solomon. Seek the wisdom of the Lord and He is gracious to supply all that you need. Then all you need to do is simply apply it in the very way He instructs. Now if God could only give me all the answers to my next church history test.
Be blessed my brothers and sisters, God is good.
“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. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” James 1:5-8
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