2 Chronicles 1:7–12

Solomon's reign begins in the best possible way. He went to Gibeon to offer sacrifice, where the altar still stood with the tabernacle. There God appeared to him in the night with the amazing message, "Ask what I shall give you." It was as though He placed all His resources at the disposal of faith.

Elisha had the opportunity, given to only one other man in Scripture, of expressing what his heart valued... The other instance we have referred to was that of King Solomon (2 Chron. 1:7-12). No doubt the same Spirit that instructed Elisha had earlier formed the desires of the king. So Solomon asked for and received a special gift of wisdom and knowledge, suited to his high position as king and leader of God's people in the land of Israel. With it came riches, wealth, and honour beyond all other kings before or after him.

Note that here, as in 2 Chronicles 1:7, the Lord's appearance to Solomon has a character perhaps more direct than in the book of Kings. It is not said that God appeared to him "in a dream."

In our passage, Solomon is not "a little child" who "does not know how to go out or come in"... In Kings, Solomon is ignorant and lacks discernment "between good and evil." In Chronicles this flaw has totally disappeared. The king says that he needs wisdom to go out and come in before the people and to govern them. For this he turns to the One who has made him king and on whom he is entirely dependent. This will also be Christ's relationship as Man and King with His God. What is still more striking is that our passage leaves out the question of responsibility completely, unlike 1 Kings 3:14: "And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments... then I will lengthen your days."

What an offer! What a test to this young man! Will he ask for long life, or riches, or success over his enemies? He greatly pleased the Lord. He might have been dazzled by the glory of his position. He might have cherished great ambitions and asked accordingly. Instead his conduct is beautiful.

"Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, so great as it is?" This was excellent. He did value the people; and he valued the people not because they were his people, but because they were God's people. It makes all the difference now.

What grace this was, but it also searched his innermost soul. And this offer was not made exclusively to Solomon. He who appeared to Solomon and put this gracious question to him was on earth clothed as a servant, yet greater than Solomon in all his glory. He said, "Ask, and it will be given to you" (Matt. 7:7). And again He said: "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do" (John 14:13). It is faith's privilege to hear Him speak this way to our hearts and to make use of His great offer.

Before we leave Gibeon, let us ask our own hearts one thing. What reply would we give if God said to us, "Ask what I shall give you"? It would certainly be a testing moment. Indeed, it would be the turning point of our lives.

Just as Moses and Joshua together make up a picture of Christ at the start of the history, so do David and Solomon now, when God sets up the kingdom. So he lays all the stress upon David.

He asked that the Lord's promise to David might be established, that is, the promise of David's seed reigning over Israel (v. 9). This desire for the fulfillment of God's word shows a heart dependent on God, which was especially true in Solomon's years.

More than this, God would increase Abram's descendants "as the dust of the earth" (v. 16). God's promise was absolute: it could not fail. At this time God only speaks of "the dust of the earth," for He means only an earthly people, primarily Israel, though later (Gen. 15:5) He tells Abram his seed would be as the stars of heaven.

This was excellent. He did value the people; and he valued the people not because they were his people, but because they were God's people. It makes all the difference now.

Suppose that in the Church of God we regard any people as our people. Then we will always be jealous about them. We will always be afraid of their listening to anybody but ourselves. We will always be anxious to shape their opinions to fit our own, perhaps very narrow, minds. At any rate, no man — I care not how great — no man has all the gifts; and this is not God's order for His Church.

Solomon, knowing his responsibility, prays for wisdom to govern Israel rightly... He asked because he needed. God uses him and sets him in a position where we can, as it were, look through him as through a glass to the glories of the Messiah. Yet God also meets him as a man in his needs, and those needs grew greater because his position was so high. The lack of wisdom in an ordinary man might pass unnoticed, but folly found in a king would be like dead flies in the perfumer's ointment.

Solomon pleaded that Israel was "so great": how could he carry the responsibility of guiding such a nation? Now compare two verses in 1 Kings 4. Verse 20 says, "Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea." Verse 29 says, "God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore." Wisdom according to the need!

He promised David that he should never lack a man to sit upon his throne, but He added a condition: if David's children took heed to their ways. On the ground of responsibility all is lost. David's throne has long disappeared; his family also. Even so, David does not lack a man to sit upon his throne. Before His birth the angel said to His mother: "The Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32-33).

Solomon, knowing his responsibility, prays for wisdom to govern Israel rightly... He asked because he needed. God uses him and sets him in a position where we can look through him, as through a glass, to the glories of the Messiah. Yet He meets him as a man in his needs. Those needs grew all the greater because he was lifted so high. A lowly man's lack of wisdom might pass unnoticed. But folly found in a king would be like dead flies in the perfumer's ointment.

He did value the people; and he valued the people not because they were his people, but because they were God's people. It makes all the difference now.

He did not regard the people as his people, his to govern, his to serve God in, but God's people entrusted to him. This gives seriousness; and, further, it exercises conscience. So he asked for wisdom, for he surely needed it. Had it been his own people, he might have had wisdom enough; but, being God's people, he required wisdom from God.

Solomon stood before God with an undivided heart. He was seeking one thing only: to serve the Lord where He had placed him, as leader of the people. He asks the Lord for a heart that understands, because hearing is the door to discernment. All true service starts with hearing. Solomon did not know how to "go out or come in"; he could only learn this by listening. Anyone who does not begin by enrolling in the school of wisdom will never be a true servant.

No doubt he remembered what Scripture said of David: "All Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them" (1 Sam. 18:16). This was a good testimony before others. Solomon was concerned about this, as we too ought to be. Yet he evidently did not see where David's good testimony came from. It grew out of a much deeper exercise of heart than concern about his testimony. Nor should we think first about how we affect others. Should we not first consider how we should please the Lord?

Wisdom is what enables a person who has knowledge to use it in a way that is truly useful. It also keeps him from using it for what would be useless or harmful.

But Solomon is also responsible for the right use of the wisdom God gave him... He asked for wisdom and knowledge so that he might judge and rule God's people rightly. God approves of his request... But was this wealth of knowledge needed for the government of Israel according to the law? Was it a necessary part of that wisdom for which he prayed? Did he not waste that power, that wisdom with which he was so richly endowed?

The young king prays for wisdom and knowledge so that he may care for the flock committed to him. It was a most remarkable prayer for someone in his position. The Lord shows His pleasure in it by giving him far more than all he asked or thought.

We may have this wisdom if we ask for it. Let us ask, and ask without wavering... as this is not natural to any of us, we must ask for it; we shall not get it if we do not ask; we must have dealings with God.

Solomon entered into this in his measure. He did not regard the people as his people, his to govern, his to serve God in, but God's people entrusted to him. This gives seriousness, and further, it exercises conscience. So he asked for wisdom, for he surely needed it. Had it been his own people, he might have had wisdom enough; but being God's people, he needed wisdom from God. And so this is what he asked — not wealth or length of years.

It was a great moment in the history of the young king Solomon. The Lord appeared to him in a dream by night and said, "Ask what I shall give you" (1 Kings 3:5). The response to this was very beautiful. He might have been intoxicated by pride in his position. He might have asked for success in war. He might have asked for the enlargement of his kingdom. He might have asked for riches or long life. He asked for none of these things.

Solomon did not request wisdom out of vanity or for personal advantage. He realized what a tremendous responsibility the Lord had entrusted to him, young and inexperienced as he was. He wanted wisdom so as to be able to rule God's great people well. May we too seek wisdom from above! We need it to do well in our daily tasks, in family needs, and in the responsibilities God entrusts to us among His people. God will be delighted to honour such requests. James 1:5-6 assures us that God is pleased to grant wisdom to all who ask it of Him in faith, nothing doubting.

How plainly this teaches us that God looks at the heart. He examines the motive that lies behind the asking. This is very searching, and it explains a lot of unanswered prayer. We may ask for thoroughly right things and be denied, because we ask from thoroughly wrong motives.

He might have asked for long life or riches, or the life of his enemies. Instead he asked for an understanding heart, so that he might rule the people of God well. Our blessed Lord once said: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Jehovah dealt with Solomon on this principle.

The Lord graciously answered Solomon's request for wisdom and knowledge. In all history there has not been another like him in intellectual wisdom and knowledge. He also told him He would give him riches and honour. But Solomon would have been wiser to ask for much more than this. For instance, Deuteronomy 17:14-20 shows that it would be a special temptation for a king to multiply wives and horses, and to pile up riches. If he had known Scripture well, he might have known this. And if he had prayed to be kept from these evils, his history might have been much different.

He did not regard the people as his people, his to govern, his to serve God in, but God's people entrusted to him. That gives a sense of seriousness, and it also stirs the conscience. So he asked for wisdom, for surely he needed it. If they had been his own people, he might have had wisdom enough. But they were God's people, so he needed wisdom from God. That is what he asked for — not wealth, and not a long life.

He might have asked for long life, or riches, or the life of his enemies. Instead he asked for an understanding heart, so that he could rule God's people well. Our blessed Lord once said: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." On this principle Jehovah dealt with Solomon.

We are to make the things of God our grand object, and He assures us that He will take care of all our needs. But note this: we are not to seek "the kingdom of God" so that "all these things" will come to us. That would be a fatal mistake. If I serve the Lord in order to secure my daily needs, I will soon come to ruin.

God appeared to him in the night with the wonderful message, "Ask what I shall give you." It was as though He placed all His resources at the disposal of faith. The young king prays for wisdom and knowledge in order that he may care for the flock committed to him. It was a most remarkable prayer for a man in his position. The Lord showed His pleasure in it by giving him far more than he asked or thought.

Solomon himself had reached the highest place of honour and power a man can hold outside heaven itself. God had promised him wisdom and knowledge, and riches, wealth and honour beyond every king before him and every king after him. Every earlier "witness" had led on to Solomon in all his power and glory, and there was prosperity and peace in the land of Immanuel.

When we speak of Solomon's wisdom, we must remember that it was not mere genius, as people call it, nor the fruit of long study and careful attention. God gave him wisdom and knowledge, and riches, wealth and honour as well — more than any king before him had, and more than any king after him would have (2 Chron. 1:12). This was the man appointed to show us truly what the life of a fallen creature on earth is, and can only be.

The greatness, the majesty, the power and the wealth of his reign were only a faint image. They picture what the world will see during the Millennium, under the reign of the true King of Glory.

Solomon did not ask for wisdom out of vanity or for personal advantage. He was young and inexperienced, and he knew what a huge responsibility the Lord had trusted him with. May we too seek wisdom from above! We need it for our daily tasks, our family needs, and the responsibilities God entrusts to us among His people. James 1:5-6 assures us that God delights to give wisdom to everyone who asks Him in faith, with no doubting.