Oct
30
2011
Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom
“You have shown great and faithful love to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. Lord my God, You have now made Your servant king in my father David’s place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership. Your servant is among Your people You have chosen, a people too numerous to be numbered or counted. So give Your servant an obedient heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” (1 Kings 3:6-9, HCSB)
Notice several parts of this prayer:
- The prayer is rooted in Solomon’s trust in the good and faithful character of God.
- The request is rooted in Solomon’s recognition of God’s grace in establishing him as king.
- The prayer demonstrates Solomon’s humility. He describes himself as a servant, a youth, and without leadership experience.
- The request is made from a self-giving perspective, as Solomon seeks wisdom on behalf of God’s people.
- The request itself begins with the desire for obedience and only then moves to issues of discernment of good and evil.
I love the next verse too: “Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this” (v. 10).