A Discerning Heart – Sermon 16 August, 2015

A Discerning Heart
1 Kings 3:1-15
In our passage we see King David had died and Solomon had been chosen by God to rule over Israel. He took the throne, but he was unsure of himself. God came to Solomon in a dream and asked him a question that many of us would love for God to ask. God told him that He was entrusting him with leading the people and guiding them in His ways. God said to Solomon: “Ask for whatever you want me to give you”.
– Imagine yourself in this situation when God says I will give you whatever you ask. We would probably say money, success, fame, assurance, happiness, health, no pain at all in life, etc. But all these things are selfish in nature. They are all for our own benefit. Some could be for others, but basically they are for us and only us.
But what did Solomon asked for? He asked for wisdom and a discerning heart; not wealth, happiness, success, fame, etc. God was pleased with him and granted his desire. The choice that Solomon made pleased God! And we see that God granted him a wise and discerning heart to rule as no one before him or no one after him would rule. Even today Solomon’s Wisdom is well known and people use the phrase “The wisdom of Solomon” when they speak about true wisdom.
Notice that before putting forward his request, Solomon knew himself well and where he stands.
Solomon responded to God referring to himself as servant. He knew that he was appointed to lead the people and to become their king, but at the same time he knew that God was the Almighty and Sovereign and he was just his servant.
This should be the mind set of every leader and great champion of faith. That was also the mindset of our Lord and Saviour. Though He was God and had all the power, He humbled Himself and took the image of a servant. He came to serve, not to be served.
– We are the servants of our Lord and through Him we can do all things
Solomon also considered himself to be a little child. He felt he was young and immature to rule. He knew his limitations, even though he had the power in his hands to rule the people. He was strong and powerful, and yet he was humble enough to accept his limitations.
– We should be humble and ready to accept our weaknesses, knowing that our weaknesses can be perfect with Christ’s strength.
Solomon asked for a discerning heart to be able to govern the people and to distinguish between right and wrong. In other words Solomon was seeking to have an understanding mind and heart.
– We should ask God for an understanding heart and a mind which will help us to discern the right path to follow and the right things to do.
The prayer of Solomon is unique and has two key points that we should consider and apply to our lives to help us to make wise decisions in our walk here in this world!
1. Solomon loved God
First we find that Solomon loved the Lord. We need to understand that a key element to pleasing God and gaining wisdom in life is: Loving the Lord.
In verse 6 we can see that Solomon showed great respect and admiration for his godly heritage. Solomon knew he was living his life through this godly heritage. A heritage that started by his grandfather Jesse and his father David and one day Solomon would pass this godly heritage onto his son Rehoboam, which he did. We read about him doing this in the book of Proverbs.
Solomon showed true humility in his prayer to God. He was overwhelmed when God approached him; he knew the task of being King was more than he could bear on his own and he needed God to lead, guide and direct his steps.
2. Solomon asked for understanding/wisdom
He asked for a discerning heart. In this verse we find God summarising Solomon’s prayer where he asks God for discernment in judging the nation he is about to begin ruling over.
God is impressed that Solomon would choose to first seek to help others and wanted the ability to rule with a fair and just hand. There was no self-serving in the prayer of Solomon. This true humility also pleased God.
We find that Solomon’s prayer so touched God that He granted him his request, and Solomon was granted wisdom and the Bible shares that there has never been a man so wise… before or since!
And God did not stop there. He granted the wisdom that Solomon had asked for, but God in His infinite grace and mercy granted Solomon the things he did not ask for things like wealth, power, prestige and honour, that in the entire world there was no one so looked to as Solomon and all his riches!
Today God is still the same. He has not changed! The Bible tells us that the eyes of the Lord are running through all the earth to show His strength through those whose hearts are perfect towards Him.
We know what God tells in James: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”. (1:5) Solomon had faults. We know what he did later in his life, but still God gave him what he asked for.
God is saying: Ask for My wisdom! Ask for it and I will give it to you! We see in the final verses of our passage that God granted the wisdom Solomon asked for and in the very next section of the chapter Solomon was challenged to make one of the wisest judgments ever.
The prayer that Solomon prayed is such a simple prayer. We need to learn to pray as Solomon prayed: “Lord, give me understanding and discernment to judge correctly and justly”.
We are placed here on this earth to live our lives for God, but so many of us reject His counsel and His guidance. We have to make choices in this life and we make so many wrong and bad choices, after all we are all humans, but we can change with God’s help and guidance, we can make the right choices in life.
When we pray a prayer seeking His guidance and counsel, and when we pray it with a humble and sincere heart, God is going to be pleased and will grant that request and we are going to be a great asset to the kingdom of God for His glory!
The wisdom that is from God is more valuable than the most precious substances on earth (Prov. 16:16). The life of Solomon is both of great accomplishment and great tragedy. Solomon’s life began with great purpose, but it was led astray and ultimately destroyed.
All the time God speaks to all of us through simple and small everyday things we experience. We just have to have a heart that is seeking and trying to understand. We need to have a discerning heart.
Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians writes: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (5:15-16).
We should be wise and make the right choices. We need to have discerning hearts.

Krikor Youmshajekian