1 Kings 3:3-16; 4:21-34
You may sometime be asked the question, “Who was the wisest king?” The answer is Solomon, for God gave him special wisdom and said, “He was wiser than all men.” He was a younger son of king David, but was the one God said should rule after David.
So before his father died, Solomon was set upon his father’s mule, the trumpets were blown, and the people said, “God save king Solomon.” He was young at that time, but he was not proud because he had been chosen king. He said he was as “a little child who knew not how to go out or come in,” for he did not feel wise enough to rule over the strong nation of Israel.
He went to give sacrifices to God, for he wanted to honor Him, and that night God spoke to him in a dream and asked him,
“What shall I give thee?”
What do you think Solomon asked God to give him? great riches? or great honor? or long life? No, Solomon did not ask for any of those, but he asked God to make him wise so he would know how to rule God’s people. And God gave him the wisdom, and that is how he became the wisest of men. His was a good choice and pleased God, and He said he should also have riches and honor.
So Solomon knew how to judge matters rightly, and his care was for all the people. He set men to manage all things. All was so well done that everyone had a good home, and food for all. And all dwelt in safety, for there were no wars during his life, and they were not servants to others; instead other nations brought taxes and presents to Israel. So there was peace while Solomon was king, as God had said. The name Solomon means, “Peace”.
King Solomon had the great temple built in Jerusalem; he had many great houses made; his throne was of ivory overlaid with gold; he had great stables built for his many horses; and he had gardens, vineyards, and forests planted. He had many ships and merchants to bring material from other lands, until his riches were greater than any other king; we shall hear more of this later.
Besides Solomon’s wisdom for the nation, he had much knowledge of things of the earth and wrote of them. There have been many men who knew much of the habits of animals, birds, or fish, but Solomon knew about and wrote of them all, and of all kinds of trees and plants. These words have not been kept, but if they had, would surely have been worth our reading.
But we have his wise sayings, called Proverbs, in our Bibles, and also some of his songs. These writings show us what wisdom Solomon had, (although his buildings were destroyed long ago), and we shall hope to talk of those writings some time, for they are of interest to boys and girls as well as grown people.
Perhaps some boy would like to read of how many horses and chariots this king had (1 Kings 4:26 and 10:26). Notice what this wise man said is the beginning of knowledge:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7.
ML 01/01/1939