1 Kings 3:5 - Forerunner Commentary

1 Kings 3:5

3 And Solomon ^aloved the Lord, ^bwalking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

4 Now ^athe king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, ^bfor that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

5 ^aAt Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon ^bin a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

6 ^aAnd Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he ^bwalked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You ^chave given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a ^alittle child; I do not know how ^bto go out or come in.

8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You ^ahave chosen, a great people, too ^bnumerous to be numbered or counted.

9 ^aTherefore give to Your servant an¹ understanding heart ^bto judge Your people, that I may ^cdiscern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

11 Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have ^anot asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice,

12 ^abehold, I have done according to your words; ^bsee, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.

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I Kings 3:5-10

You understand, then, that God promised him what he had asked for, and things that he had not asked for—because God was so pleased with what had been asked.

Did anybody ever have such a good start as Solomon did? Perhaps the outstanding thing was the attitude he was in when he asked. Commentators feel that he was somewhere around twenty years old when this occurred. Others say that he might have been thirty. But the majority seems to think that he was closer to twenty.

Maybe it doesn't matter how old he was, but at least it shows in this context here what he felt about himself in relation to what had become his responsibility. He said, "I am a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in." In other words, "I don't know how to conduct the affairs of office. I feel that I am not adequate to do the job that has been given to me."

So he began with such promise, and maybe most of all was that wonderful attitude. It was childlike. He was humble. He was willing to listen. He was willing to be admonished and commanded by God. And that's why God responded in the way that He did.

Excerpted from The Fourth Commandment (Part 5)

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