2 Chronicles 1: 7-13
As far as kings go in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible,
King David is known as one of the greats, if not the greatest or at least the
one that’s gotten the most press time since 970 BCE. He’s got quite an impressive Curriculum Vitae: he conquered
the City of Jerusalem from the Philistines, he brought the ark of the covenant
also to Jerusalem thus consolidating worship, he set up a striking dynasty
again through covenant, he whipped enemies, you know those pesky Amalekites,
Moabites, Ammonites and so on and so forth. Most probably his most noted accomplishment was that he
untied the Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel. Not an easy task but something that the people cried out
for. And, in his spare time he composed and wrote a few Psalms. It’s pretty remarkable what one person
can do in their lifetime.
And yet David had equally as many flaws. I think he acted on impulse most of the
time. He was filled with pride,
which caused all sorts of difficulties for him. He was always on the brink of despair causing tremendous
anxiety, not to mention the very vengeful acts he performed and his incredible
lust and love of women. In fact
that is how our main King for consideration today King Solomon was
conceived.
Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba. The apple does not fall far from the
tree. Solomon too was flawed even
though he also had an outstanding CV. He built the very first Temple on Mount Moriah thus bringing
together Jerusalem as the religious and political capital of the united kingdom. He built many other buildings too and
installed advanced water systems throughout. But unfortunately, he was a murderer, a lust filled man with
over 700 wives and he loved worldly riches. He could probably be compared to Donald Trump, sans murder, when
it comes to brokering deals and amassing wealth. Of course, in the end he falls away from Yahweh (God)
because he meets the Queen of Sheba and she brings all of her foreign gods with
her.
And yet, God loved both David and Solomon and was willing to
give each one anything that they asked for.
God
appeared to Solomon that night in a dream and said, “Solomon, ask for anything
you want, and I will give it to you.”
Solomon
answered:
Lord
God, you were always loyal to my father David, and now you have made me king of
Israel. I am supposed to rule these people, but there are as many of them as
there are specks of dust on the ground. So keep the promise you made to my
father and make me wise. Give me the knowledge I’ll need to be the king of this
great nation of yours.
God
replied:
Solomon,
you could have asked me to make you rich or famous or to let you live a long
time. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you
asked for wisdom and knowledge to rule my people. So I will make you wise and
intelligent. But I will also make you richer and more famous than any king
before or after you.
Solomon
then left Gibeon and returned to Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel.
Solomon didn’t ask for money, or to be famous, or to have
power, or to be the most educated man in the Ancient Near East. No. He asked God for wisdom. He asked God to give him wisdom so that he would be able to
handle whatever task being ‘the King’ could possibly need. And that, is remarkable because he
really did make some wise decisions that were recorded in the Bible.
Oh that we all had the wisdom of Solomon to make the best
choices possible for our lives at all times. Oh that we could foresee into the future our current day
actions so that our lives and those around us would be lifted up to our highest
and greatest potential. Oh, if
only we knew when to speak and when to keep silent there would be a whole lot
loss broken hearts and hatred in this world, if we only knew. But alas, we, like Solomon and his
father king before him, are flawed.
But that doesn’t mean, by any brushstroke of our wildest and
most imaginative dreams, that we should not try. God has given us incredible minds to
think with, to explore, to solve problems, to wonder, to compute with, to make
value and jugement statements with, all with the intention of making this world
and your surroundings a better place.
So it behooves us to give it ‘the old college try’ that is, our very
best most fervent effort. And that
brings me to you graduates today.
We love you, and although reluctantly, it’s time to let you
go to further your education. And
this you will certainly do, some of it will even come from books! But all of the education that you will
garner will not be useful unless you use it wisely. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “It is the province of
knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen”, or, more
plainly adapted ‘they’ say by Jimi Hendrix, ‘Knowledge speaks, but wisdom
listens’. Who knew?
You see you need education and knowledge to get along in
this world and to accomplish the wonderful things and attain the ideals that
you hold today. Hopefully, some day
then you’ll be able to impart that knowledge to others. But more importantly you need the
wisdom to know when to speak and when to be silent, when to act and when to
listen because there is a whole lot that can be gained by listening. In the listening comes discernment and discernment
sets your course for action.
Barbara Brown Taylor says in her book, ‘An Altar in the
World’, “Wisdom is not gained by knowing what is right. Wisdom is gained by practicing what is
right, and noticing what happens when that practice succeeds and when it fails.” That is wise discernment, it’s
knowledge, reflection and doing with all intentionality so that understanding will
come.
They say wisdom comes with age but it doesn’t have to
because wisdom also comes by inviting God into the process, and onto your path
of life. That’s what Solomon
did. He invited God to be a very
active part and partner in his life and that’s what we must do as well.
God won’t ‘make’ everything go right, but if God is present
in your mind wise decisions and actions should follow. With God in your heart you have
everything you need as you start this new chapter in your life.
Amen.
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