[scripter]

Fear of failure, a desire for some measure of fame, a desire to serve others, they could have ALL been present in him then and provided motivation to ask for what he did.

That doesn't follow from God's actions. We know what the text says, what Solomon requested and what God granted. We see God responding to Solomon's request in 1 Kings 3:11b. God said Solomon requested "discernment in administering justice." That's what God said of his request.

We also have a list of items from God that Solomon could have asked for but didn't, further demonstrating his selfless request. God said "I will give you what you have not asked for-both riches and honor-so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings."

God said Solomon didn't ask for riches, honor, long life, wealth or the death of his enemies. It's almost like God knew you and I were going to have this discussion. Here is God laying it all out for us. The more we look at this the more selfless his request appears.

We can't with certainty say it was a totaly unselfish request.

With eisegesis you can say anything you want. The record demonstrates a selfless request. Even God said so.

[Grig]

"That doesn't follow from God's actions"

How so.

"We know what the text says, what Solomon requested and what God granted. We see God responding to Solomon's request in 1 Kings 3:11b. God said Solomon requested "discernment in administering justice." That's what God said of his request. We also have a list of items from God that Solomon could have asked for but didn't...God said "I will give you what you have not asked for-both riches and honor-so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings." "

None of that is in dispute.

What I'm saying is that whether his request was ONLY motivated by selfless motives or not, is not specificly addressed in the text. Also, nothing in the context denies that person can ask for the wisdom needed to fulfill any righteous desires, even if not totaly unselfish (ie: wisdom in career choices). Either one of those two things alone is enough for me to object to someone pointing to those verses and saying that it proves that you can ONLY ask for wisdom for unselfish purposes.

"The record demonstrates a selfless request"

What is your definition of what selfless request is?

It seems likely that the nature (and probably the cause) of our disagreement here is the same as with James 1:5, so lets work that one out first if we can then come back to this after. OK?