Trinity 18
Dear friends in Christ. Today’s Gospel ends with Jesus pointing the Pharisees to the OT Scriptures and in doing that, Jesus shows that the OT is all about Him; that it all points forward to Him. First Jesus asks them: What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He? And, of course, that is a “no-brainer” because everybody knew that the Messiah is the Descendant of David, the Son of David. Just a short time before [Matthew 20.29-34], two blind men had cried out to Jesus, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David. Then, shortly after that, the crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday [Mt. 21.1-9]: Hosanna to the Son of David! The Messiah was known by the common people as well as the religious leaders as “the Son of David.”
So, of course, as Jesus asked the Pharisees: What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He? He knew that they would correctly answer, David’s. Jesus then goes to the Psalm that David wrote: He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'? "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"
In this psalm, David is blessed to write a conversation between God the Father and the Son. Notice how David does it. He calls the Father, the LORD; and He calls the Son, my Lord. What does this mean? –Simply this: as all people commonly recognized, the Messiah is David’s son, his Descendant, the Son of David; but He is also David’s God, my Lord. The LORD [that is, the Father] said to my Lord [that is, the Son who in time took on human flesh and blood becoming a physical Descendant of David]. By going back to the psalm, Jesus shows that the long promised Savior is both true God and true man. And therefore these religious leaders should not be surprised that Jesus is the Savior—true God and true man—just as foretold.
Our text today is about Solomon, David’s immediate son who became king right after David’s death. In many ways, Solomon pointed forward to Jesus. Solomon’s name means “peace”. But Jesus, as the prophet foretold [Isaiah 9.6], is the Prince of Peace. Just as at the time of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel reached its greatest extent in land, influence and power; reached the height of its splendor; so it served as a picture of the even greater kingdom of Jesus, the Messiah. His would be a worldwide kingdom and an everlasting kingdom. Of course, Solomon’s wisdom was renowned. That too served as a picture of the even greater wisdom of the Messiah; for His was a divine wisdom and a wisdom that brought about our salvation. Of Solomon and his wisdom, Jesus says of Himself [Mt. 12.42]: The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
Our text this morning is Solomon’s prayer for wisdom as he ascends the throne of his father David. Soon after Solomon began his reign, he arranged a great sacrificial feast in Gibeon, near Jerusalem, to ask God to bless his rule. That night the Lord appeared to Solomon and told him to make a request: "Ask! What shall I give you?" Solomon confessed his inability to be king, thought he was inadequate for the role. He asked God for an obedient heart, wisdom and understanding so that he might rule God’s people with justice. Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours? As we examine our text we will see that like Solomon, we, too have need to pray for spiritual wisdom; and as we do so, we can be confident that the Lord will answer our prayer, blessing us richly.
1. God had called and appointed Solomon to be king in place of his father David. Being thrust into office as king, Solomon felt completely inadequate for the task/ office that God had given to him. In the longer version of this prayer that the Holy Spirit had another prophet write, Solomon says [1 Ki 3.7]: Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in, that is, Solomon here confesses he doesn’t know what to do as king and how he should act. But the Lord had appointed/ called Solomon for this task/ office. Solomon here very much feels his need and does what is the only thing he, as a OT Christian, can do—ask for God’s grace and wisdom to do the task the Lord has called him to do.
What a glorious prayer this prayer for spiritual wisdom is. At its very foundation is humility: Lord, I cannot do this. I need Your help, guidance and wisdom. Solomon certainly knew, growing up, that he was in consideration, at least, for the throne. Shortly before his death, David had proclaimed that Solomon would be his successor. It was not a surprise. Yet Solomon did not act arrogantly and think he had all the answers, that he knew what he would do. He did not look on his reign and the people and the land as his, but as the Lord’s which He then entrusted to Solomon. Solomon confesses this as he prays: Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David and: You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place.
Solomon recognizes himself not so much as king but as the Lord’s servant; and as the Lord’s servant, he wants to do the Lord’s will and carry out His will. Solomon recognizes that it was a great grace of God that He made him king; God had shown great mercy to Solomon’s father, David, who owed everything to God’s grace, blessing and bounty. Solomon recognizes that if any good is to come from his reign, it will all be the result of the Lord’s mercy and blessing to him. It is precisely this humility that leads Solomon to go to the Lord seeking His wisdom. In humility—he doesn’t think he’s a know-it-all—Solomon sees his need of the Lord’s blessing and wisdom; and in humility Solomon boldly asks the Lord to grant him wisdom.
Dear Christian, may Solomon’s prayer also be our prayer; may Solomon’s prayer be a reminder to us to pray the Lord continually for His wisdom, that He would give us spiritual wisdom to carry out faithfully and well the tasks that He has called us to do. The vital thing to remember is that the Lord has called us to various tasks, to various offices. Some He has called as father or mother; some as worker or student; some as office worker or farmer; some into government or teaching; some into retirement or, perhaps for a time, unemployment; etc. Into whatever many offices the Lord has called you to serve Him—He has called you to them no less than He did Solomon as king. Your office as husband or wife, worker or child, is no less vital than Solomon’s office as king. And because it is no less vital, it is just as vital to go to the Lord asking Him His wisdom and guidance to carry out the work He has called us to do. Into whatever office the Lord has placed us, there is a great dignity and we do well to remember that.
It’s not an “I’m just a…!” No! The Lord has called you to that office/ vocation. And as we realize that the Lord has placed/ called us there, wouldn’t we want to rightly and faithfully carry out our duties? Here’s no place to rely on self or to think that whatever I do is good enough. Instead, in great humility we recognize our need for the Lord’s wisdom and His strength and blessing to carry out the dignity of the various offices to which the Lord called us. Let us never view our specific callings from the Lord as ordinary. Instead, in and through them may we serve our Lord and others; and may we by that reverence our Lord.
Remember what Solomon prayed: Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours? Into whatever offices the Lord has placed us, we need to recognize that we are surrounded by deceptions—the devil and the world working with our own sinful nature to adopt the ways and thinking of the sinful world around us. We need the wisdom to see through that and to judge all things, to form our consciences by the word of the Lord and so carry out the work of our callings faithfully, not falling prey to the devil’s lies and empty delusions of the unbelieving world that would keep us from the work the Lord has called us to do in the home, church, workplace and society.
How we need this spiritual wisdom for which Solomon prayed also in the office the Lord has called each of His Christians—that of royal priest [1 Peter 2. 8-9]! Especially here we need to beware of relying on our own strength or wisdom. As we recognize our weakness in the things of God, of our own inability to remain in the faith, as we fight against our own sin-clouded thinking, we go to the Lord and ask for His wisdom and strength.
2. And in grace upon grace the Lord answers us! Our text: On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, "Ask! What shall I give you?" God not only says that to Solomon, but also God graciously invites each of His dear Christians: Ask! What shall I give you? If there is any doubt in our mind that God wants to give us divine wisdom and strength for what He has called us to do/ where He has placed us, let that doubt disappear with our text: Ask! What shall I give you? Or as Jesus explicitly says [John 16.23], Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. The almighty God, as He did to Solomon, throws open the treasuries of heaven!
Here we have the glorious example of Solomon. He realistically looked at what was before him, where the Lord had called and placed him; he saw his weakness and inability. But he didn’t stop there—that would have led to despair. Instead, he turned to the Lord’s gracious promise and invitation: "Ask! What shall I give you? In true humility he asked God: “Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?"
Solomon’s prayer here is the model prayer for each of us, for he is asking for a heart that listens to the Lord—for the Lord is wisdom. Only a heart that listens to the Lord supplies the basis for making correct decisions; only there is a heart that wants to follow the Lord’s will. That’s precisely what the Christian prays for—we want to do the Lord’s will. No, we will never this side of eternity perfectly do our Lord’s will—we still have our old sinful nature with us but our continual prayer is like we prayed in this morning’s collect: O Lord, without You we are not able to please You. Mercifully grant that Your Holy Spirit may direct and rule our hearts in all things. Here is true Christian humility. We recognize the great offices that the Lord has called us into—our vocation; and that He has called us to be His dear Christians. Here is what it means to be a Christian—we endeavor to grow in grace, in knowledge of the Lord, to believe, live, serve and trust. On our own we can’t do that, but led and strengthened by the Holy Spirit directing and ruling our hearts we begin to make a start. Like it was with Solomon, so it is for us—the starting point is humility. Only by recognizing who/ what we are in and of ourselves and that the Lord has called us into various vocations to serve Him and others, and that He has invited us, Ask! What shall I give you?, we then are bold to pray for spiritual wisdom as Solomon did. In grace, the Lord hears our prayer, and what blessing results—both for us and for those the Lord places around us! Strengthened by His holy word and sacrament we then, with the Spirit directing and ruling our hearts, carry out the Lord’s will in our lives to His glory and honor and for the good of all. INJ