The greatest act of wisdom is to first ask God for His wisdom with a heart that humbly seeks God’s help and direction.  A wise leader who asks God for wisdom knows they need wisdom beyond their own human thinking and perspective. Leaders who know God and see God at work in His glorious ways depend on God’s wisdom to lead them in all the details of life.  The more wisdom God gives develops a hunger and thirst for even more of God and His wisdom.  Leaders who love God enough to first ask God what He thinks is right and good before doing anything of significance are blessed because deep in their souls, they know they need God most of all.   

The second greatest act of wisdom is to know that all the glory, honor, and praise goes to God for it is HIS wisdom that gives us success do.  Our wisdom relies on listening, trusting, and obeying what God tells us to do. 

Embrace God’s wisdom as you would a loving Friend.  Seek wisdom as a precious jewel to be desired and acquired!  Wisdom, (skills for living life well), is a daily discipline of self-reflection with the help of God’s Holy Spirit as our chief advisor.  This discipline involves learning from all our experiences of failures and successes.  Wisdom is seeking guidance from trusted sources who love God and want God’s best for all who believe and trust Him. Wisdom thrives in those who yield to God with humbled, teachable spirits, who practice humility, with efforts to apply wisdom in daily life.  God’s wisdom is crucial for living life in His ways for His purpose.  Ultimately, wisdom is a daily journey, not a destination, and requires ongoing effort and a willingness to grow.

God gave Solomon a great gift of His wisdom because he asked for wisdom beyond anything else. Solomon’s wisdom from God became known around the world.  How will Solomon use this gift of miraculous insight and understanding give with God’s wisdom?  Who will get the praise for Solomon’s wisdom?  Will Solomon cling to the gift of God’s wisdom in his personal life with humility or will pride from the praise of others lead him astray?  Before we judge we must ask ourselves, do we ask for God’s wisdom then trust and obey what He says in our lives?  These are questions to ponder, pray over, and consider as we continue our study of Solomon—known first for his wisdom beyond any man on earth in his time.    

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6                  

1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Officials and Governors

So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. ² And these were his chief officials:

Azariah son of Zadok—the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha—secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud—recorder; ⁴ Benaiah son of Jehoiada—commander in chief; Zadok and Abiathar—priests; ⁵ Azariah son of Nathan—in charge of the district governors; Zabud son of Nathan—a priest and adviser to the king; ⁶ Ahishar—palace administrator; Adoniram son of Abda—in charge of forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve district governors over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. ⁸ These are their names:

Ben-Hur—in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-Deker—in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh and Elon Bethhanan; ¹⁰ Ben-Hesed—in Arubboth (Sokoh and all the land of Hepher were his); ¹¹ Ben-Abinadab—in Naphoth Dor (he was married to Taphath daughter of Solomon); ¹² Baana son of Ahilud—in Taanach and Megiddo, and in all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah across to Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-Geber—in Ramoth Gilead (the settlements of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead were his, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan and its sixty large walled cities with bronze gate bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab son of Iddo—in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz—in Naphtali (he had married Basemath daughter of Solomon); ¹⁶ Baana son of Hushai—in Asher and in Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat son of Paruah—in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei son of Ela—in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber son of Uri—in Gilead (the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and the country of Og king of Bashan). He was the only governor over the district.

Solomon’s Daily Provisions

²⁰ The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. ²¹ And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

²² Solomon’s daily provisions were thirty cors of the finest flour and sixty cors of meal, ²³ ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl. ²⁴ For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides. ²⁵ During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.

²⁶ Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses.

²⁷ The district governors, each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king’s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. ²⁸ They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

Solomon’s Wisdom

²⁹ God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. ³² He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. ³³ He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. ³⁴ From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Solomon carefully lived by God’s rules, and God gave him success. Solomon asked God for wisdom, and with it, God gave him economic prosperity and fame.

God expects all people to use their gifts to do his will. When they do, everyone else benefits.

If you were given Solomon’s opportunity to ask for anything, what would you choose? Would your requests benefit others if God granted them?

Principles of Wise Leaders

Wise leader divide the work.  David was a gifted administrator as we learned from our study of his life in 2 Samuel, and his son inherited some of that ability. Even though Solomon was given wisdom from God along with the authority to be king after David; he wouldn’t be able to handle the affairs of the kingdom alone.

A wise leader chooses capable associates and empowers them to use their own gifts and thereby serve the Lord and the people.  All people benefit from a wise leader!  Remember Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, who told Moses it was not good for him to do the work alone? Great advice for all who seek to lead with wisdom.

Wise leaders seek God’s will and purpose for them continually.  They remember God’s promises are everlasting.  The enlarged Kingdom that Solomon now rules began with God’s promise to Abraham, “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates…’”, Genesis 15:18. God’s promise was repeated to Moses in Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 1:7, 8; and to Joshua, Joshua 1:4). Solomon leads a Kingdom built by God’s work in and through his ancestor’s obedience to God.

Wise leaders know their limitations as humans and depend exclusively on God.  God was, is and always will be God.  We are not God. This realization alone humbles us.  We need Jesus’ redemption with God’s Holy Spirit power to build our faith as we committedly believe, follow, trust, and obey Him.  Those who know God know His love. (1 John 4) It is the Love of God that lights the path to Him and guides us to humbly walk with God. To God be the glory, honor, and praise forever and ever, Amen!

Solomon proudly sought more than he needed which was unwise.  Yes, peace and prosperity reigned while Solomon was king, but no matter how successful everything appeared to citizens and visitors, all was not well in the kingdom. During the period between his ascension to the throne and his dedication of the temple, Solomon appears to have walked with the Lord and sought to please Him. But Solomon didn’t have the steadfast devotion to God that had characterized his father, David, “a man after the heart of God”.  Solomon’s acquisition of hundreds of pagan wives were planting seeds in his heart that would bear bitter fruit.

Stay tuned!  There is much more to learn and grow from in God’s story through King Solomon.

Lord,

I cry out for your wisdom, insight and understanding in all the details of my life this morning.  I know you will provide wisdom for us because of your promise to us to ask, seek and knock and the door will be open to us. Thank you for this gift provided by your sacrifice to redeem us of sins that reconciled us to walk boldly into your throne room to ask. Daily you provide Gift upon gift, giving us all we need on earth to live for and with you!  I’m yours. I’m listening.  I trust you will all my life for you are Life to me! Lead me.

In Jesus Name, Amen