Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: II Chronicles 1-3
II Chronicles 1:10
Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great.
God did grant Solomon wisdom, wisdom unlike the world has ever seen. Three verses earlier the Lord said to the new king, …Ask what I shall give thee. How many would have asked for money? How many for health, popularity, or earthly trophies of one sort or another? What would you ask? He could have asked for anything, but he asked for wisdom for the betterment and service of others. He wanted to be a good king, a king that would rightly judge the nation, meaning every person in the nation. Nations are not made up of land masses, they are made up of people.
Concerning wisdom Charles Spurgeon said, “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” Solomon not only had knowledge he had the wisdom to use that knowledge appropriately.
Some believe that Solomon’s receiving wisdom from God was a one-time thing. One time for one man forever. But it is not. According to James, well he wrote it better than I ever could, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. That is in the first chapter of James, verse 5. Therein is the promise. However, that is not all that James had to say about wisdom. In James 3:17 he wrote this: But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. That is the type of wisdom that king Solomon had, not the earthly wisdom that is also described in the book of James.
Solomon’s wisdom is legendary. It served him well for many years. Not only did God give this man wisdom from above, He also gave him riches, wealth and honor unlike any king before or after him (vs. 12). Solomon’s heart was tender toward God and the people whom he would serve as king. That is…
That is until his heart was turned away from God to other gods by his multitudes of wives and concubines which took place about 24 years into his reign. Interestingly, once Solomon completed the Temple (perhaps the greatest building ever built) immediately his fame grew exponentially. From that time it was only about 11 years before Solomon’s heart was turned from God. If he could not handle the pressures of fame, fortune and accomplishment, who can?
The Bible tells us who can; over there in II Peter the entire human race is given the formula to keep from falling. There, in II Peter 1 the apostle states seven great things to add to one’s basic faith: virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. His concluding statement in verse 10: …for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: (II Peter 1:5-10). Solomon did not have this promise, but you do. You can have wisdom from above for the task given you, and you can live in such a way as to never fall. Amen!
Dr. William T. Howe
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