1 Kings 3:25

They had brought the babies with them, but there were no witnesses. We would think that someone else must have seen which child was born first. However, Solomon did not need other witnesses. He called for a sword, and commanded that the living child should be cut in half, with each mother having a half. Of course this would not be a satisfactory arrangement, but Solomon knew who he was dealing with.

Was there one soul who saw into his heart when he asked for a sword and said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other"? The false mother was as willing as the true one was not, but who could have expected it except the king? What sounded cruel turned out to be wise and kind.

People always let the character of the speaker sway their judgment. It is not so with God. What matters to Him is the heart, not the outward character. Solomon's judgment rests on the affections the heart shows. Statements and denials were of equal value in this case, and judgment could not rest on them. What could settle the judgment was the heart showing itself... For where true ties of love exist, we try to protect at any cost what is dear to us, even at the risk of losing it for ourselves. That is the character of love. Love is not selfish: it sacrifices itself for the object it loves.

"Bring a sword and divide the living child," said the king, and for that moment the child was under the sentence of death. The sword hung over it, ready to strike. How could it escape that sentence? True love found the way of salvation for it, but it was the way of sacrifice; that was the only way... She was ready to sacrifice herself for the life and the good of her child.

The sentence of death had been passed on us and the enemy of God claimed us as his; not that he cared for us at all. "Let it be neither mine nor yours, but divide it," said the woman whose child it was not — let it die. Satan would have rejoiced greatly if we had been buried for ever in the depths of hell, for then God and Christ would have lost us for ever. But the Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep.

A divided child is a dead child, a divided heart is a dead heart; and so far it is offensive to the Lord. Is it not this that He means when He says, "Would that you were either cold or hot"? True love can bear no rival; it must have its object; nothing can make up for it. We may give our time, money, talents — it will all be utterly despised. Love cries out for response, for the wholehearted and undivided response of the heart of the one loved.

The suggestion to divide the baby with the sword was new and bold, and likely nothing like it had happened before in the world's history. But it drew out the feelings of the true mother so clearly that there was no doubt whose the child was... Yet the incident reminds us that Solomon's glorious reign did not reach perfection.