In 1st Kings chapter 3 verse
5 we read this account as the Lord appeared unto Solomon. In
Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and God said
ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shown
unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he
walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in
uprightness of heart with thee. And thou hast kept for him this
great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his
throne as it is this day. 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
greater people? And the speech pleased the Lord,
that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because
thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long
life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the
life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding
to discern judgment, behold, I have done according to thy
words. Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart,
so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee
shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that
which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour, so that there
shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments,
as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to
Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings,
and made a feast to all his servants. In Gibeon, the Lord appeared
to Solomon in a dream by night and God said, ask what I shall
give thee. Ask what I shall give thee. What
a question for Solomon to be asked. What a question for us
to be asked. If the Lord should come unto
us and say, and to each and every one, ask what I shall give thee. How would we answer? Would we
ask for riches? Or for health? Wealth? Happiness? Would we ask for long
life? For deliverance from trouble?
From our enemies? From disease? From sorrow? Indeed, that is our natural response. The Lord appeared unto Solomon
in particular here and said, ask what I shall give thee. But
there is a sense in which God speaks unto all mankind. There is a sense in the gospel
in which God says unto all of us, ask what I shall give thee. And our response is one that
reveals our nature. We don't want God. We don't want
his righteousness. We don't want his salvation.
We don't want his wisdom. We don't want his son, Jesus
Christ. Not by nature. What we want in
this world is that which pertains to this world. If God came unto
you this day and offered you anything, you would desire, as
would all of us, riches, wealth, health, long life, to be spared
from trouble, to be spared from trial, to be delivered from disease,
from sorrow, from heartache, from all our enemies. all natural
things to desire. Indeed we cannot help ourselves,
we are intoxicated, we are drunken by the world and the natural
desires that are found in this world. We are bombarded every
day by messages, by advertising, by opinion to seek after that
happiness so-called which can be found here and below. So often
the adverts bombard us with promises of happiness to be found in this
and that, buy this, own that, desire this, go here, go there,
live here, have this and you shall find happiness. And it's
like a drink that we consume by which we're drunken. We cannot
help ourselves. We desire all these things that
the world promotes to us. Some may say, well, I'm not so
concerned with material things. But their desire is for health
and long life and the freedom to do what they will below. There's
no desire for God. Eternity. Righteousness. We move according to our nature,
and our nature is fallen, is corrupt, and seeks that which
is below. Ask what I shall give thee. What's
your heart ask for? Be honest. Be honest with yourself. here in a meeting listening to
the Word of God read, you know what answer you should give.
If we went round the room and asked out loud individually,
you might say, oh no, I don't seek after riches, oh, I want
to know God, or I want to know more of the Word of God, I want
to know of Christ. You may know what answer you
should give when others are watching, but you also know the answer
that's in your heart. And your heart betrays you every
day. When you're not here, when we
don't listen to the word of God, when we're not found in the scriptures,
in our every day, we're going here, we're going there, we're
seeking this, we're seeking that. Because we're drunken, intoxicated
in the flesh, with the desires of the flesh. In Revelation we
read of Babylon and the great woman, the whore, and how she
intoxicates the world with her wine. We can't help ourselves. But here the Lord appeared unto
Solomon and he could have asked for all these things just like
you and I may ask in our heart. But he didn't. Solomon asked for an understanding
heart to judge God's people that he might discern between good
and bad. He asked for wisdom and in so doing he showed that
God had already granted him wisdom. God had already made him wise
to ask for wisdom. because in his natural state,
he'd have never asked for this. Naturally speaking, he would
have desired selfishly those things that everyone else does. He'd have answered just like
you and I would have done. But God had already began to
work in the heart of Solomon and to prepare him for the work
that was presented before him. God, in bringing him to the throne,
had taught Solomon. He taught Solomon what he was.
He'd shown him what was before him and he'd given him the wisdom
to ask the Lord for that wisdom by which he could both rule the
people and by which he might know and serve God. In this we
see a picture of salvation. None of us, when presented with
the gospel, desire it by nature. When we hear of Christ, there's
nothing in him that makes us desirous of him. We do not seek
him, we do not care for him. When we hear of him, we're disinterested. Even if there's a part of us
that says, well, yes, I would like to live forever, Well, yes,
I know that one day I will die. Well, yes, I know that I must
be a sinner. I'm not perfect. Even if there's
a part of us that acknowledges truth, nevertheless, we turn
aside. We're disinterested. It can wait
for another day. And truly, the natural heart
despises what we want is all we can have here below and then
life forevermore. But we don't want a God or a
Saviour that could take away our pleasure, that could stand
in the way of our own desires or our own will. There is nothing
in Christ which causes us to desire Him naturally speaking.
God must make us wise unto salvation. He must show us our need. He
must break us. He must bring us down. By nature,
we never call upon God. We never cry out for mercy. We
have no desire to be saved. By nature, we just seek our own
ends. But when God works in the heart,
when He begins to stir us within, When he begins to sound the alarm
and bring us down low, when he shows us what we are as he showed
Solomon what he was, then he gives us that wisdom that cries
out under him, Lord, save me. Lord, have mercy upon me. Lord, I'm nothing. Help me. He makes us wise unto salvation. Solomon knew in himself that
he was nothing and that he was not prepared for the role that
was set before him. Here he was, a young man brought
to the throne, brought to be king over a great nation. And he knew he had neither the
wisdom nor the understanding, the ability nor the strength
to perform that which was before him. He cries out, I am but a little
child. I know not how to go out or come
in. I am but a little child. Now Solomon at this time, He's
commonly thought to be around 20 years of age. He's not a child. But naturally speaking, he is
young. And he has not reigned like David
had. He can see the greatness of the
task before him. He can see how little he knows. But truly this phrase I am but
a little child. Reveals what he thinks of himself. The Lord had taught him that
he's nothing. He has no strength. He has no understanding. He has
no wisdom. I'm but a child. He knew his
need. He knew that God must give him
understanding, give him wisdom if he was to rule this nation
as his father did. Do you know your need? Has God
made you wise unto salvation? Has he worked in your heart to
teach you that you're nothing before him? That you're as a
child before him? Jesus said, suffer the little
children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
And in so speaking, he speaks of those who are brought down
to see that they are nothing. No matter how old they may be
physically, we must be brought down to become as a child before
God, to know that we have no wisdom. We have no understanding. We do not know right from wrong
by nature. All that we thought was our wisdom
we discover is worthless. All that we have as knowledge
we discover is useless knowledge. All that we have as good works
we discover are unrighteous before a holy God. Has God brought you
there? Because it takes a mighty work.
to bring a man there. By nature, we're so full of our
own understanding. So full of our own wisdom. We're
so sure of ourselves. We've got it all worked out.
We know. Now we may say that Solomon was
a young man at 20, but consider yourself at 20 if you've lived
that old. Look back on yourself when you
were 20. Or perhaps you're around that
age now. Does your heart say I'm but a
little child? No. At that time of life, we're
full of ourselves. We've grown up, we're no longer
a child. We're on the brink of adulthood.
We're strong, we're mighty. We look upon those who are older
than ourselves as foolish, as antiquated, as in the past. They're
not in touch. We're full of our own understanding. We think we know best. We think
we know better than our elders. We know better than those who
are younger than us. We've grown up. And we know better
than those who are older than us. We're more relevant. We're
more up to date. At 20 years of age, a man or
a woman is full of herself, full of her own wisdom. So confident,
so arrogant, so sure. Aren't you? Aren't we? So sure of ourselves,
so sure we know everything. We know how the world works.
We know what matters. We know how to be successful.
We know what matters regarding eternal things even. Oh, we may
dismiss them out of hand because we know better. We're so sure. We're so full of our own wisdom. And if you look at yourself and
you're honest with yourself, you will see how remarkable a
statement this is from Solomon at this point. having been made
king, in such a powerful position in the kingdom, for him to say,
I am but a little child. I know not how to go out or come
in. I am nothing. It takes the Lord
to bring you to that position. And if he brings you or I there,
It's a humbling place to be brought to. It's a miraculous work of
grace to take the hard heart of man and break it and soften
it. It's a miraculous work of the
Spirit of God to make us lowly in spirit, to bring us to this
point, to honestly say unto the Lord, I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I am but a little child. I do
not know how to go out or come in. I don't know what to do.
I don't know where to go. I don't know the right way. Lord,
teach me, lead me, guide me, save me. Give me understanding that I
may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge
this, thy so greater people? And the speech pleased the Lord
that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because
thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long
life, neither hast thou asked riches for thyself, nor hast
thou asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself
understanding to discern judgment, Behold, I have done according
to thy words. Lo, I have given thee a wise
heart and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee
before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. God gave him the wisdom he sought. God gave him wisdom to ask for
wisdom. And God gave him that wisdom. Now what is this wisdom that
God gave unto Solomon? Godly wisdom, yes. Wisdom to
govern and lead this great nation, this great people, yes. Wisdom
which was above the wisdom of all men. greater wisdom than
any man who had come before him and greater than any that followed,
yes. We see this wisdom displayed
unto us later in this very chapter when two women who have a child
who died in the night come unto him disputing whose child it
was. and how wisely Solomon deals
with these two and finds out the true mother. We see the fame
of Solomon's wisdom in the latter chapters in this book. How kings
and people from afar come unto him and seek to hear of his wisdom
and seek to see his riches and his kingdom. The fame of his
wisdom went throughout all the world. Yes, there was a great wisdom
given unto Solomon in a natural sense. Naturally, he was wise in the
affairs of this world, but ultimately the wisdom Solomon had and Solomon
sought was that spiritual wisdom which is of God. This wisdom
was a picture. of the one, he who is called
wisdom, Jesus Christ. The wisdom Solomon desired, being
made wise unto salvation, the wisdom Solomon desired was Christ. He sought to know God. He sought
to know his Saviour. He sought to know his Lord. Give
me Christ. Give me Him. Give me wisdom. And I will know how to come out
and go in. I will know how to judge this
thy so great a people. I will stand in the midst of
this chosen great people that cannot be numbered for multitude
and I will know how to lead them. Give me Christ and I will have
all. What shall I give thee, Solomon?
Ask what I shall give thee. Give me Christ. Yes, this was
Solomon's desire, to know God. to know his salvation, to know
his wisdom, to know his righteousness, to know his glory, to know Christ. He desired salvation. He was
wise unto salvation. Are we? Are you? You may think you have some wisdom.
You may have your goals, your desires, your ambitions. But
are you seeking to know God? Are you seeking Christ? Has God
made you wise under salvation to seek his son, to know him? Solomon's wisdom is seen in the
scriptures, in the books that God caused
him to write. In the book of Proverbs we see
Solomon by the Spirit of God set forth Christ as wisdom itself. He speaks of wisdom. A picture of Christ. And there
is no wisdom, no true wisdom outside of Christ. He is all,
he is the only wisdom. There is a wisdom of men, but
it leads to destruction. And there is that wisdom which
is found in Christ alone. Which is life, everlasting. Solomon knew it. He desired it. He valued wisdom above all else. He valued Christ above all else. He didn't ask for riches. He
didn't ask for long life. He didn't ask for victory over
his enemies. He didn't ask for the pleasures
of this world. He didn't ask for glory in this
world or adulation or fame. He asked for wisdom. He asked
for understanding. And God gave him both what he
asked for and far more besides. He never asked for riches, yet
God made him the richest of all kings. He didn't ask for long
life, and yet God promised him long life if he walked before
him as his father David had. God gave him both riches and
honor. I have given thee that which
thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall
not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. And if
thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments
as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
He asked for wisdom and God gave him so much more. God exalted
him. giving him riches, glory, honor,
blessing him greatly, sending forth his fame throughout all
the known world. Solomon never desired this. He
desired Christ and the wisdom of God in Jesus Christ. And God gave him what he desired. Solomon was willing to give up
everything else to know Christ. And in knowing him, God gave
him all things. In Philippians, we read of Paul's
desire to give up all things to know Christ. To give up his
own self-righteousness. To give up his own glory. to
give up all that he had done in religion, all of which he
counted as nothing and loss, obstacles to knowing Christ.
He gave them all up that he might know Christ. What a picture in
Solomon's heart and desire here there is of Christ himself. For
Christ in saving his people, For Christ in bringing salvation
unto Solomon, unto Paul, unto David, unto every sinner whom
he has made wise unto salvation. Christ in saving his people gave
up all in order that he might save them. He became nothing. He laid aside all his glory. He laid aside everything. He became shameful. He became
guilty. He was cast out. He was trampled
underfoot. He was rejected by all men. He became nothing in order that
he might deliver his people from their sins. He became nothing. And in laying
down his life for that people, in giving up all his glory, in
taking upon himself their shame, their guilt, their sin and their
judgment, in being despised of all men, derided, rejected, beaten,
bruised, cast out, in losing all things for their sakes, God
highly exalted him. and gave him a name which is
above all names. God lifted him up to the greatest
of heights. He gave up all like Solomon did
and God honoured him and lifted up his son and brought all men
to bow the knee before him. As we read in Philippians chapter
2 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same
love, being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done
through strife or vain glory. Bring lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man
on his own things. but every man also on the things
of others let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus let this wisdom let this understanding let this mind be
in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of
God fought in robbery to be equal with God but made himself of
no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. He became obedient unto death,
he gave up all. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and I've given him a name which is above every name
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in
heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. Wherefore my beloved as ye have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both
to will and to do of his good pleasure. Yes, Christ gave up
all, but God highly exalted him. He gave him a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow,
you and I included, of things in heaven and things in earth
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This is the one whom Solomon
knew. in giving up all, in seeking
Christ alone, God highly exalted Solomon. And his fame went around
all the world. And many came to see him and
to hear of his wisdom. But he was just a figure, just
a picture of the one who is wisdom. Jesus Christ, whom God hath highly
exalted, because he came into this world. He was obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. He took Solomon's foolishness. He took Solomon's sin. He took
Solomon's rebellion. He took Solomon's filthiness.
He took Solomon's self-righteousness. He took Solomon's foolishness
in religion, his waywardness in religion, and he bore it,
and he was judged for it, he was slain for it, he died for
it, that Solomon in him might live. At the beginning of 1 Kings
chapter 3, We read something of Solomon's lack of wisdom,
something of Solomon's natural reason. He went and made affinity
with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter as
a bride. He brought her to Jerusalem.
And although he loved the Lord, and although he walked in the
statutes of David his father, He sacrificed and burnt incense
in high places as the idolaters of the kingdoms
round and about did. Although he should have known
better, he didn't sacrifice where he should. He didn't sacrifice
before the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. He went to high
places. But God made him wise unto salvation. And God gave him wisdom. And
when God answered his prayer and gave him this wisdom, we
read at the end, in verse 15, that Solomon awoke. And behold,
it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and
stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt
offerings and offered peace offerings and made a feast to all his servants. God gave him the wisdom to approach
him in the right way and the right place. He gave him Christ. And he said, salvation is in
my son by grace alone. Gone was Solomon's seeking heaven
by going up to a high place, by climbing up in his own strength,
through his own religious works. Gone was the wisdom of man. And in came Christ and his salvation
alone. Solomon gave up all and trusted
by faith in Christ. This was the wisdom that Solomon
knew. This was the wisdom that Paul
knew, of which we read in Philippians. This was the wisdom that all
God's children have known. This is their wisdom. to know
Christ and Christ alone. He is the gift of God. Ask what I shall give thee, Christ. Paul writes in Galatians, if
I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. Will I go back to offering my
own righteousness in sacrifices upon high places? Or will I come
to God in Jerusalem, in the Ark of the Covenant, at His altar? Will I come to Christ alone? If I build again the things which
I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead
to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Who loved me and gave himself
for me. Solomon, ask what I shall give
thee. Give me Christ, who loved me. and gave himself for me. O sinner, when God comes unto
you, when he preaches his gospel unto you and says unto you, ask
what I shall give thee, what is your answer? What is your
request? What shall I give thee? O my God, Make us as little children. Show us what we are. And cause
us to cry out unto him, give me Christ or else I die. Give me Christ or else I die. May he be my life. May I know
the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Amen.