Posted on 02/28/2022 9:34:13 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion” (Proverbs 1:1-4).
“And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” (1 Kings 3:7-9 KJV)
“discern . . .” Tell right from wrong, see what’s up or down, know from left to right, good and bad.
“And the speech pleased the Lord.”
So, here is a man that asked for wisdom. In James 1 we read, “if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” Now that is a good prayer for you and I, and a good admonition. Solomon asked for wisdom and God gave it to him. The Bible says, He “giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.” God isn’t going to get mad at you for asking.
There are two things about asking for it, though.
1. Solomon asked for it because he realized he couldn’t handle the job with the tools that he had. And that is what we need to remember. We can’t take care of the job that God has given us to handle. Raising a family is not just a matter of reading Dr. Spock. If anyone thinks that, they are crazy. You want to do it the way mom and dad did it? You don’t know how they did it, you weren’t there half the time when they did it. A lot of times they did it on their knees in prayer, talking things over or fighting things out. You don’t know how they did it. You need your own wisdom from God to do it! Maybe you didn’t have godly parents, a lot of us didn’t.
2. And then, be willing to give God credit when He gives it to you. A lot of people don’t get what they ask for because the Bible says when they ask, they ask amiss. That they can consume it upon their own lusts (Jas 4:3). A lot of people want wisdom to make money off of it. Forget it, you’re not going to get nothing from God but a bad time and hard days ahead, with that kind of attitude. We need to ask with the right motive. James says that a “double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (1:8). What is he asking for? A man ought to have “singleness of heart,” our eye ought to be on the Lord, and that ought to be purpose behind asking.
“To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity” (Proverbs 1:3 KJV).
“Justice . . .” That is discerning right from wrong. That is what a judge does. He makes a judicial decision based on right and wrong.
“Equity . . .” That’s fairness. Equity is when two things are equal or balanced out. “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1).
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