March 9: Pray For Wisdom

1 Kings 3-4; 2 Chronicles 1:2-13

Feb 26, 2003

The Scripture says, "Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places" (1 Kings 3:3). This exception to Solomon's total obedience to God casts an ominous shadow over the new king's promising beginning. His frequenting of high places, along with his politically expedient marriage to a foreign woman (1 Kings 3:1), provides us with a portent of things to come (1 Kings 11:1-13). Like Solomon's, many promising beginnings have been ruined by men's exceptions to total obedience to God. What are your exceptions to total obedience? Where are the high places in your life?

Don Walton is founder of Time for Truth Ministries and a full-time evangelist and conference speaker.

The Apostle Paul taught the Corinthian Christians that the Old Testament offers object lessons for our instruction (1 Cor. 10:6, 11). In other words, the Old Testament is a physical illustration of the New Testament's spiritual truths. The study of the Old Testament, therefore, is crucial to our understanding of the New Testament. Any Christian who ignores his study of the Old Testament is as foolish as a dressmaker who pays no attention to her patterns.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus taught, "But seek first [God's] kingdom and [God's] righteousness, and all these things will be [added] to you as well." Nowhere is this New Testament teaching of Christ better illustrated in Scripture than in the Old Testament story of Solomon's request for wisdom.

At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said to him, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." Imagine, God offering to grant you a wish. You can have anything you want. What would you wish for? Solomon wished for a discerning heart so that he could rightly govern God's people and distinguish between right and wrong. Solomon could have wished for wealth, honor or long life, but instead, he wished for wisdom.

Solomon put God first; asking for that which would enable him to serve God best. As a result, God gave the new king unrivaled riches and honor in addition to unparalleled wisdom. God even threw long life in to boot. Not only did Solomon receive what he asked for, but all these additional blessings as a bonus from the hand of divine benevolence.

Perhaps, James had this Old Testament story in mind when he wrote, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5). True wisdom comes from God. It does not come from the ivory towers of academia or the Himalayan monasteries of Buddhist monks. It comes in answer to prayer. God graciously gives it to humble petitioners whose chief desire is to seek and to serve Christ.

Solomon's God-given wisdom became world-renowned. The Bible says, "Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom" (1 Kings 4:34). Solomon's spreading fame coupled with his wise verdicts convinced all Israel "that [their king] had wisdom from God to administer justice" (1 Kings 3:28).

Stephen, the first Christian martyr, had discernible wisdom (Acts 6:9-10). It was his obvious possession of it, as well as the Spirit's unmistakable presence in his life, that led the church to set him aside as one of the first deacons (Acts 6:1-7). Notice, it is not just kings like Solomon who need wisdom from above; it is also deacons like Stephen. Whether we sit on a throne or in a pew, we all need God's wisdom to guide us in our service of Christ. Thus, in spite of our faults, let's confidently pray for wisdom, knowing that God graciously gives it in generous proportions to all who seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.

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