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Doctors have multiple ways to evaluate health.

• Scale to determine weight / height.
• Stethoscope/EKG to determine heartbeat.
• Thermometer to determines temperature.
• Gauge determines blood pressure.
• Blood tests determine diseases.

Beyond our bodies, we can measure

• Financial health with bank accounts, retirement plans, insurance policies, etc.
• Knowledge with academic reviews, educational tests and experience.
• Emotional health with personality assessments and peer reviews.
• Calendars and day planners can measure our productivity and efficiency.

Likewise, mechanics now have machines to diagnose the malfunctioning of automobiles or computer technology.

Overall, our culture has multiple means to measure and evaluate health. Even our church has a membership orientation and GOSPEL Dashboard to help provide a compass toward spiritual health.[1]

Today we will evaluate the power of a prayer and the failures of not following through our devotion to the Lord.

EXAMINE A Son’s Prayer (1Ki 3)

¹ Solomon

It’s helpful to have some basic facts about Solomon.^[2]

• Name means “God’s peace.”
• He’s David’s 10^th son, and Bathsheba’s 2^nd son. Together, their 1^st son died after their adultery.
• Solomon became Israel’s 3^rd king; reigned 40 years.
• Solomon is renowned for great wisdom and wealth.
  • Wrote 3K proverbs, 1,005 songs.
  • His leadership completed multiple construction projects and cities, starting with Israel’s temple for the Lord in Jerusalem (cf 1Ki 9:15-19). He even built a fleet of ships (9:26).
• Solomon is also renowned for foolish alliances.
  • 700 wives, 300 concubines.
    And his wives turned away his heart from God (1Ki 11:1-4).   
    
    

made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. ² The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.

• Solomon attempted to be the best king he could be. Unfortunately, he started with worldly alliances before divine alignment. Solomon’s alliance with Egypt appeared clever but it was compromising. If Solomon understood the nation’s history, he would have sought the Lord before Egyptian alliances.

Likewise, we are one decision away from unraveling God’s blessings. Solomon has inherited an impressive kingdom and tremendous opportunity.

*BECAUSE his father led armies into battle to shed blood and defeat enemies. Peace, freedom, and opportunity come at a cost. But the ultimate strength of a nation is not in power but its principles. Power without principles becomes self-destructive. And principle without power is vulnerable to compromises. And we’ll see King Solomon’s power and principles conflict throughout his reign.

The ultimate strength of a nation is not in power but its principles. Power without principles becomes self-destructive. And principle without power is vulnerable to compromises.

³ Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.

Do you see the influence of worldly alliances? Solomon’s faith was present, but it was being diluted day by day. He led the nation to offer sacrifices – high places were merely idol altars and open-air sanctuaries.^[3]

This is one of the concerns with so-called “Christian Nationalism.”[4] There is nothing wrong and its quite admirable for a Christian being patriotic: waving the stars & stripes, singing the anthem, serving in military, and being a proud American to promote its values of liberty and justice for all, defending our nation from communist agendas and racial division. Yet, the challenge and concern of Christian Nationalism is its mixing and equating of loves between God and country. Like Solomon, we can make unstable alliances and have unhealthy affections that consume the other. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either you will hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ___” (Mt 6:24). Christianity and America were never meant to be interchangeable. America was established on the free exercise of religion. And Christianity is established through preaching of the gospel not by government power and policy. Nationalistic policies seek to eliminate dissent. But God’s kingdom seeks to evangelize its enemies. God’s kingdom is transnational and without borders, and crossers barriers to expand its population. The church’s aim is to make heaven crowded.

⁴ And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”

It is unclear if Solomon is offering sacrifices to God or idols. His worship is excessive with 1K sacrifices, which is likely a hint to the syncretic nature of Solomon’s worship. Yet, amid Solomon’s scattered sacrifices, God appears as if to say: “keep your eyes on me alone!”

• Ps 51:16-17 “For you are not pleased with sacrifice or burnt offerings… the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, God delights”
• Hos 6:6 “God desires steadfast love and not sacrifice; knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings”

⁶ And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. ⁷ And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.

Solomon is ~18-21 years old, and shows humility and honesty.  “I do not know how to go out or come in” is military language, meaning the king hasn’t gone out to battles or returned in victory. David was the warrior in the fields while Solomon was the palace prince.

⁸ And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. ⁹ Give your servant therefore an understanding mind [lit. “hearing heart”^[5]] to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

So, Solomon is truly acknowledging his need before God’s help to grow into the role of king in a way that honors God and His people. Indeed, humility is the key mark of a good leader.

¹⁰ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. ¹¹ And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, ¹² behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. ¹³ I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. ¹⁴ And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

God blessed Solomon’s request, because God is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think (cf. Ep 3:20). Notice, this is a principle for prayer – to align our requests to those which God promises to provide.

• James 1:5 “If any lack wisdom, ask God who gives generously to all without reproach.”
• Ps 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
• Jn 15:7 “If you abide in Jesus and His words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done”
• God always answers the prayer for forgiveness (1Jn 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness”)
• God wants all to repent (2Pe3:9)

Evidence of God delivering on Solomon’s prayers is immediate.

¹⁶ Then two women came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. ¹⁸ Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. ¹⁹ And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. ²⁰ And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. ²¹ When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” ²² But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.

^{23… 24} And the king said, “Bring me a sword…” ²⁵ And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” ²⁶ Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” ²⁷ Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” ²⁸ And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

This event is evidence not only of Solomon’s wisdom, but God’s purpose of wisdom to be applied for giving justice to those in need. Wisdom is necessary for nurturing a home, establishing a family, or leading a country.

After Solomon dies, many kings will fail to do good and defend justice. Yet, the prophets spoke of this often, and Jeremiah prophesied, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’” (Jer 23:5-6) Jesus Christ is our promised wise king where mercy and truth meet, and righteousness and peace kiss (Ps 85:10).

1Kings 4 unfolds Solomon’s leadership for the kingdom. It’s a chapter full of hard to pronounce names, which shows us at least two facts.

1. Government is expensive. When Israel wanted a king, God warned that it was foolish and costly (1Sam 8:10-18). The king would require taxes for armies, administration, and other aesthetics like property and possessions. It would become an ever-expanding burden.  
2. Governing needs strategy. Solomon’s discerns of his need for wisdom also understands his need to delegate leaders and responsibility. So, he appoints qualified individuals to give oversight to regions and tasks.
   à One of the elements of voting for a candidate is their ability to recruit qualified staff with organizational skills to lead well.

¹ King Solomon was king over all Israel, ² and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ⁴ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵ Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king’s friend; ⁶ Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. ⁷ Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. ⁸ These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹⁶ Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.

²⁰ Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. ²¹  Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

The Davidic kingdom transferred to Solomon and expanded

• North: From the Euphrates River in modern Syria
• South: to border of Egypt
• West bank: Land of Philistines,  modern Gaza. People say the Palestinians are modern Philistines but that is an attempt to rewrite history, as the Philistines were wiped out between Davidic rule and later 7^th C Babylonian empire. So, while the people/culture no longer exist, the land has been occupied by various empires: Persia, Rome, Ottoman Empire, Britian in 1918 who started a homeland for the Jews in 1923 and 1947 the UN partitioned the land between a Jewish and Arab state. In 1948, Britian withdrew, and Israel became an independent state. Yet, this has been contested by surrounding Arab nations ever since and onward today.

But this kingdom under Solomon is a preview of the kingdom to come: ²⁰ They ate and drank and were happy.

³⁴ And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Solomon’s wisdom and fame are spreading worldwide in numerous ways: building projects, organizational skill, diplomacy and alliances, economic success, national prosperity, writing proverbs, songs. But Solomon’s kingdom will be divided… only Jesus’ kingdom will last.

²² Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴ For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. ²⁵ And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶ Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. ²⁷ And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. ²⁸ Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty. ²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, ³⁰ so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ³² He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. ³³ He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.

APPLY/TAKEAWAY

It is helpful to understand that nothing that happens in life surprises God. He is on the throne and overseeing all the trials, twists, and turns of humanity. He foretold Israel’s history in
Deuteronomy 17:14-20
14“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

So, the implication is clear.

• God never wanted Israel to rely on its kingly wisdom, military strength from alliances, or even their religious ceremony.
• And if beloved David or the splendor of Solomon was insufficient with flaws and failures, then no one can measure up.  
• God wanted their heart. He wants your heart. And it’s His faithfulness that we focus our hope, not our own.
• Christ is our firm foundation. The rock on which we stand. He won’t fail us.

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[1] See  https://www.spbcmd.com/connect/story-beliefs

^[2] Some facts compiled and adapted from Joe O. Lewis, “Solomon,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1516.

^[3] Simon J. DeVries, 1 Kings, 2nd ed., vol. 12, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Inc, 2003), 50–51.

[4] Consider this perspective: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/good-bad-ugly-christian-nationalism/.

^[5] Simon J. DeVries, 1 Kings, 2nd ed., vol. 12, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Inc, 2003), 52.