2 Chronicles 1:1-61And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly. 2Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers. 3So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness. 4But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. 5Moreover the brazen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it. 6And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it. (2 Chronicles 1:1‑6); 1 Kings 3:3-283And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. 4And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. 5In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6And Solomon said, Thou hast showed 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. 7And 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. 8And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9Give 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? 10And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11And 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; 12Behold, 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. 13And I have also 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. 14And 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. 15And 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. 16Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment. (1 Kings 3:3‑28)
The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to
ALMOST the first thing that Solomon did, when he was made king, was to offer sacrifices to God. Was not that right?
He did not offer these sacrifices on Mount Zion, where the ark was, but he went to the place where the old tabernacle was, that Moses had made, and where the great brass altar was, and there he offered a great many sacrifices to God. Why did he offer these sacrifices? To show that he loved God and wished to serve him.
The night after Solomon had offered the sacrifices, God spoke to Solomon while he was asleep; and said, 'Ask what I shall give thee.' You see God allowed Solomon to choose what he would like God to give him. What would you have asked for?
Now though Solomon had only just been made king, he saw what a hard thing it was to be a good king: for Solomon would judge the people. People who quarreled with each other would come to Solomon; and it is very hard, when people quarrel, to find out who is in fault, and who ought to be punished.
Solomon wished very much to judge the people well: and so he asked God to make him very wise.
Solomon said to God that night, 'Thou hast made me king over a great many people, and I am very young; and I do not know what I ought to do. O make me very wise, that I may judge the people well.'
Did Solomon make a wise choice? O yes, it was right in Solomon to wish to judge the people well. God was very much pleased with Solomon, and said, 'You did not ask Me to make you very rich, or make you live a long while, or make you conquer your enemies; but you asked for wisdom: therefore I will make you wiser than any man that ever lived: and I will make you very rich too; so that no other king shall be as rich or as great as you: and if you love Me, and serve Me as David did, I will make you live a long while.'
Then Solomon woke. How pleased he must have been to think of the promises that God had made him! He went back to Jerusalem, and offered up more sacrifices near the ark on Mount Zion.
Now I will tell you of something that happened, which showed that God had made Solomon as wise as He said He would.
One day there came two women to Solomon. They had quarreled with each other. Solomon was the judge, and the women stood before him.
One of these women held a dead baby in her arms, and the other held a living baby in her arms. Both the babies were very little creatures, only a few days old, so that the living baby was not old enough to sit up and to look about, or to smile.
The woman who held the dead baby seemed very unhappy, and she said to the king, 'This dead baby is not my own baby, the other baby is mine. I lived in the same house with that woman, and no one lived in the house beside we two; and one night that woman lay upon her baby in bed, and killed it, and so she got up, and put her dead baby into my bed while I was asleep, and took my living baby into hers: and when I woke in the morning I was going to feed my baby, but I found only this dead baby; but when I had looked at it, I saw it was not my own baby.'
Then the other woman said, 'You do not speak truth: the living baby is mine, and the dead one is yours.' Then the other woman said again, `No, the living baby is mine, and the dead one is yours.'
Which of these women spoke the truth? and which of them told lies? How could Solomon find out? How could he tell which ought to have the living baby?
But God made Solomon very wise, and he thought of a way to find out who spoke the truth.
Solomon called out, 'Bring me a sword.' And the servants brought a sword to the king. Then Solomon said, 'Cut the living baby in two, and give half to one woman, and half to the other; because both the women say the child is theirs, so let them each have half.'
Then one of the women cried out, 'O do not cut the child in half! but let that woman have it; only do not kill it.'
But the other woman said, 'O let the child be cut in half, and let us each have half.'
Now which do you think was the mother of the living baby? Oh! I see that you know. Was it not the one who said, `Do not let it be killed'?
How do you know that she was the mother? Because she loved the baby so much. Mothers would rather that any one should have their babies, than that the babies should be killed.
Solomon knew which was the mother, and he said to his servant, 'Give her the living child, and do not kill it: she is the mother of it.'
Why had Solomon desired the man at first to cut the baby in half? Had he intended to kill it? O no! He only wanted to see what the women would say, that he might find out which was the mother. Was not that a wise plan of Solomon's? God had really made him as wise as He had promised He would.
All the Israelites heard of what the king had said to the women, and they were surprised at his wisdom, and they were afraid of him, for they saw God had put wisdom into his heart.
Should you like to be wise, my dear children? You come to school to learn to be wise, that you may know what is right and what is wrong; but you will never be as wise as Solomon, for God has said that no one shall be as wise as he was.
But there is one thing still better than Solomon's kind of wisdom, and you may have it if you ask God for it. What is that? The Holy Spirit. If the Spirit is in your heart, you will know God, and you will love Him. God has promised to give Him to you, if you believe in the Lord Jesus. He has said, 'Ask, and ye shall have.' I am glad when you are wise enough to answer questions right, or to behave well: but I wish most that you should love God in your heart, and try to please Him. That is a better kind of wisdom than Solomon's.
Now if the Lord should say to me,
'What gift shall I bestow on thee?'
Should I, like Solomon, reply,
'Oh, give me wisdom from on high?'
Yet wisdom is the only thing
That real happiness can bring;
And restless must my heart remain
Until this wisdom I obtain.
It would not make me truly wise
To know the stars that fill the skies,
Or all the fishes in the seas,
Or beasts and birds, or flowers and trees.
Wisdom to love the thing that's right
O this would give my heart delight.
This wisdom, Lord, O grant to me,
That I may ever live with Thee.
Questions on Lesson 19
What did God say to Solomon when He first spoke to him?
What did Solomon choose?
Why did Solomon wish for wisdom?
Was God pleased with Solomon's choice?
What did God promise him besides wisdom?
What kind of wisdom is better than Solomon's?
How can you get that best wisdom?
How did Solomon find out which was the mother of the living baby?
What did the mother of the living baby say, when Solomon desired that it should be cut in half?
How did saying that show that she was its mother?
Did Solomon intend that the baby should be cut in half?
Why then did he desire the man to cut it in half?