Meditate

3. Solomon Asks for Wisdom

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

 3

Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt; he took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.²The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.

³ Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places.⁴The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.⁵At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.”⁶And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.⁷And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.⁸And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.⁹Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”

¹⁰ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.¹¹God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,¹²I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.¹³I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you.¹⁴If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”

¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream. He came to Jerusalem where he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He offered up burnt offerings and offerings of well-being, and provided a feast for all his servants.

Solomon’s Wisdom in Judgment

¹⁶ Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.¹⁷The one woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house.¹⁸Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house.¹⁹Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.²⁰She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast.²¹When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne.”²²But the other woman said, “No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.” So they argued before the king.

²³ Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; while the other says, ‘Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’ ”²⁴So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king.²⁵The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.”²⁶But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.”²⁷Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.”²⁸All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.

3. Rules for Holy Living

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).⁶On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.⁷These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.

109. Psalm 109

Psalm 109

Prayer for Vindication and Vengeance

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

1

Do not be silent, O God of my praise.

2

For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,

speaking against me with lying tongues.

3

They beset me with words of hate,

and attack me without cause.

4

In return for my love they accuse me,

even while I make prayer for them.

5

So they reward me evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

6

They say, “Appoint a wicked man against him;

let an accuser stand on his right.

7

When he is tried, let him be found guilty;

let his prayer be counted as sin.

8

May his days be few;

may another seize his position.

9

May his children be orphans,

and his wife a widow.

10

May his children wander about and beg;

may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit.

11

May the creditor seize all that he has;

may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.

12

May there be no one to do him a kindness,

nor anyone to pity his orphaned children.

13

May his posterity be cut off;

may his name be blotted out in the second generation.

14

May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the Lord,

and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15

Let them be before the Lord continually,

and may his memory be cut off from the earth.