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.
Solomon has just come to the throne of Israel, and God offers him a blank cheque in a dream: ask whatever you want. His answer starts with a confession — he credits his crown to God's kindness, and admits he does not know how to carry it.
The throne received as a gift
Solomon speaks about God before he speaks about himself. He starts with God's kindness to his father, then God's kindness to him. One writer traces those steps through to the words of our verse:
H. L. RossierWhat the divine word finds first in this heart is gratitude for the Lord's great mercy towards David. At the same time he held David in high esteem for his walk of truth, righteousness and uprightness. That walk had proved that David feared the Lord. Next there is thankfulness for God's mercy towards himself, David's son. Lastly, there is the awareness of his youth, his ignorance, his inability. Such a state of soul promises abundant blessing. It comes down to this: fear the Lord, be conscious of His grace, value others above yourself, and count yourself as nothing.
A young king who felt his size
"A little child" is not only a figure of speech here. Solomon was young in years, and the size of the job pressed on him:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAs stated before, Solomon was a youth when he was anointed king. Eusebius says he was only 12 years old; Josephus gives his age as 15. He was probably not yet 20 when he became king. He felt two things deeply: his own littleness, and the great responsibility of governing so many people.
The same writer adds that the offer was not for Solomon only:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Ask what I shall give you." This offer was not made only to Solomon. The One who appeared to Solomon and put this gracious question to him later walked on earth dressed as a servant, yet greater than Solomon in all his glory. He said, "Ask, and it will be given to you" (Matthew 7:7).
Weakness admitted out loud
Not knowing how to "go out or come in" is Solomon's way of saying he cannot rule. He tells God so, plainly:
Leslie M. GrantHe felt as a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in (v.7). He felt unequal to the task of ruling the great nation Israel, and he confessed this before the Lord. That is a good sign.
Why God could speak that night
God came to Solomon in a dream — a moment when a person is doing nothing and controlling nothing. One writer draws a principle from that setting:
W T TurpinWhen nature is inactive, the blessed God draws near and speaks. Here we see the same thing in picture: when nature is inactive in God's people, divine thoughts take the place of all that is merely human. Solomon asked for wisdom, and it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. Surely we please Him in what we ask or do only when nature's claims are set aside.
The little-child spirit for everyone
Solomon's self-description is not just a fact about an inexperienced monarch. It describes an attitude the New Testament asks of every believer:
W. W. FeredayThen he confessed that he was not equal to the heavy responsibilities that now lay on him. The Lord's people were a great people, marked out as His chosen. To guide and direct them rightly in their unique relation to God was beyond his power. "I am but a little child: I do not know how to go out or come in." The spirit of the little child — humble, trusting, and teachable — is fitting in us all. The Lord Jesus lays this down in Matthew 18.
A beginning that had to be kept
This prayer stands in sharp contrast to Solomon's later years. His humility was real, but he did not keep it.
W. W. FeredayAs the years passed, the childlike simplicity that marked him at the start of his reign faded away. He became self-important and self-willed. Have we not seen something like it in the church of God? The prosperity so graciously granted to Solomon was too much for his slender faith.
Summary
- Small before God. Solomon opens by crediting God's mercy to David and to himself — the crown is a kindness received, not a prize won.
- Small in his own eyes. He was probably not yet twenty, and he felt both his littleness and the weight of governing God's people.
- Small enough to say so. He said his weakness out loud to God, and that was the good sign — not the embarrassment.
- Small enough to be filled. Set human ability aside, and God's thoughts take the place of merely human ones. That is what pleased the Lord.
- Stay small. The Lord Jesus asks the same childlike spirit of us all — humble, trusting, teachable. Solomon's later self-importance shows what happens when it fades.