The Wisdom of Solomon

I am sure for each and every one of us, we can think of times where we have found ourselves in a difficult situation that has caused us to cry out for wisdom for lack of knowing what else to do. We may have gone over the situation time and again in our minds, looking at the different ways we could try to fix things and make it right ... only to realise that there is nothing more we can do. We come to the realisation that this is something only G-D Himself can make right. In the times we find ourselves "caught between a rock and a hard place," there is nothing more we can do other than wait on Him as we cry out to the Rock on which we stand … "Yeshua Messiah! I acknowledge that there is nothing I can do to fix this ... please come make this right where I can't." Sometimes the more we try to fix a situation in our own strength, the more of a mess it creates. BUT ... there is nothing too hard for the G-D of Israel ... and I believe ... 
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He is the only One who can turn a mess into a Message ...
a test into a Testimony! 
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And as I thought on this, it caused me to think of the wisdom of Solomon. When we think about Solomon and all the things he could have asked for, he chose wisdom! Not only does G-D grant him what he desires, BUT … He goes on to grant him all the things he could have asked for … BECAUSE HE CHOSE WISDOM!! 1 Kings 3:10 tells us this: “The L-RD was so pleased that Solomon had asked for this. And G-D said to him, “Because you asked for this - you did not ask for long life, you did not ask for riches, you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you asked for discernment in dispensing justice - I now do as you have spoken … “ And it goes on to tell us in verse 13 “I also grant you what you did not ask for…” And in verse 14, “And I will further grant you long life, if you will walk in My ways and observe My laws and commandments, as did your father David.”  WOW!!! Notice the condition there ... IF you will walk in My ways and observe My laws and commandments ..." Are there not lessons in this for us all?!
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Now,  I don’t know how long it was after his request for wisdom, but we read soon after that Solomon was faced with what appears to be his first test. I have read and heard this story many times before, but I suddenly saw something a little different than I ever had before …

Let us look at the story together and consider the situation … these are just things that have come to me as I have read ... what about you?

Solomon was faced with two prostitutes who stood before him; they were each telling him that the baby which was alive and kicking in front of him was her own … but which one was telling the truth? He surely recognised the dilemma in front of him as there were no other witnesses to give account of what happened … can we imagine? The weight of the responsibility must be enormous I would have thought, but G-D granted to Solomon his request for wisdom. But it just made me think ... to make the wrong call could do an injustice to the rightful mother of the child, not to mention the child himself.  And to make no call - which I am not sure whether that did or did not happen in biblical times of the        judges?? - but if no call was made, it could equally cause injustice and damage to the rightful mother and child. Now let us look again …

What I found really interesting, going by what we read in the passage, Solomon did not appear to be addressing the two women directly at all. But it says in verse 24, “So the king gave the order, “Fetch me a sword.” And again, when he gave the order to “cut the live child in two, and give half to one and half to the other” who was he speaking to?

And I found myself wondering  … why do the scriptures tell us they were prostitutes? Why did that matter? And here is what I was thinking: Were they not two of similar background? As we can imagine, a prostitute would not necessarily be seen as having the greatest reputation to say the least. Solomon could have easily made a hasty judgement according to the fact they were both from a “colourful lifestyle.” He could have made a decision with a wrong heart attitude, giving it little value or thought because of who they were. But, what we actually see is a call for action that causes what was in the hearts of these two women to be revealed … it was by the response and reaction of these two prostitutes that Solomon was able to deliver the baby back to its rightful mother.

So how can we apply it to our own lives?

Here is what came to me … I don’t know what you think, but you can feel free to comment if you would like …

Yeshua is our King and He alone knows every intent within a person’s heart. He alone is judge and He alone knows the what’s, why’s and wherefores' of every situation we face. We are going to find ourselves in situations throughout life where we are not going to be certain of the right course of action to take. When the pressure is on and we want to do the right thing but we cannot seem to be certain of what that is ... perhaps there is only one right thing we can do:  We can call on our King who is the only One who can bring His sword to cut through any and every  situation in order to reveal Truth for the way forward. And I wonder … for each and every one of us …
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Where do we make judgements on others or even toward ourselves according to what we know from the past or through our own life experience? We have all done this at one time or another … I can think of a recent situation where someone was asked to appear on a famous TV evangelist show. Because of the “reputation” that went before this man, there were various judgements and concerns being raised by many who knew of him and the way he had behaved in the past. However ... this is what spoke to me most profoundly ... just as it was in the watching and seeing the response of these two prostitutes in the story of Solomon, so it was with this man ... 

It was in the watching and seeing the response and reaction of this evangelist in the here and now that revealed where his heart was at ... and it was moving to watch and see!​

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Prayer

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​"Abba, Father, may You grant us hearts that long to know wisdom for every situation and every season of our lives. That when we are not sure of what to do, when or how to do it, that You would make a way for Your wisdom to be known ... that neither the pressure of this world nor our past experience would influence us into wrong behaviour, but that Your gentle pressure from within our hearts would move us to where You are leading us to be. We pray that You would continue to reveal Yourself to us day by day as we walk with You and seek to walk in Your ways and keep all Your laws and commandments as did David. Help us as Your people to walk before You with great transparency and humility, holding steadfast to Your Truth and walking firmly on the ground You give us to possess ... but with hearts that remain open to correction where necessary. Help us Father to not be quick to make judgements on others [or ourselves] based on what we have or have not known in the past or our life experience  ... but that we would have a "good eye" for each other - with discernment - as we reach out with hearts that long to encourage each other forward to reach our full potential in G-D!" In Yeshua's precious name ... Amein and Amen ... ​