Good Decisions (and Bad)

1 Kings 3:1-15

¹ Solomon 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.

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

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.”

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.

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 to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

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.”

¹⁵ And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon has taken care of the last few details that hung over him from David's reign. It is time to launch out and establish what his reign as King of Israel is going to look like. So far, he has been decisive and ruled well. Now, he sets the tone for what is to come. As one of his first moves, he marries a princess from Egypt. This is a shocking decision. Egypt and Israel had been ancient enemies (because of that little 400 years of slavery issue) ever since Moses freed the Children of Israel from their bondage. Now, Solomon actually chooses a bride from Egypt. While this probably isn't a deal breaker in terms of Solomon's faith, it doesn't do him any good because he allows his wife (and the many to follow) to practice her own religion right in the midst of Israel. This decision is going to haunt his entire reign. But, on the other side of the decision making coin, Solomon, when given the opportunity to ask God for absolutely anything, asks for the gift of wisdom. This is a great choice and God is pleased. While granting Solomon this gift, God also promises him that he will have prosperity and power to go along with the wisdom. A good decision and a bad one. On a side note, Solomon also makes the decision to move his worship life back to where the Ark of the Covenant is parked. This is also a good choice.

Each of us can look back over our lives and point to those decisions we've made that perhaps were not as good as they might have been. We can also see where we have made choices that served us well throughout our lives. What we notice about Solomon choice of brides is that it was a political not spiritual decision. Perhaps if Solomon has sought the face of God for a little guidance, he could have been prevented from going in a direction that would ultimately bring him great sorrow and drag him away from God. Here is where we can make some application from Solomon's life into our own. It isn't hard to ask God for help with decisions. What is difficult is trusting Him enough to follow His lead. Are we asking Him to lead us so that we can consider His direction, or are we asking Him to lead us so that we can actually go where he calls? The text doesn't tell us if Solomon sought God's direction for a bride, so I think we can assume he didn't. And the outcome of that decision didn't serve Solomon or Israel well. That points to this particular decision as being one Solomon didn't consult God about at all.

We will all make mistakes from time to time. But given a few moment of consultation with the God who loves us can never be a bad idea. He wants what is best for us and will always take us where He wants us to go. We just need to ask.