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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
1 Kings 3
As I was reading through this very familiar story of Solomon’s display of wisdom with the two women and the baby, I realized something about wisdom. It may be an obvious point. But things always look obvious when the light turns on, so I guess I was just in the dark until now. In any case, what I saw was that a big part of wisdom is understanding human nature. That psychology is exactly what Solomon used to discern and carry out justice in this case.
That being said, I know that it isn’t the study of psychology that gives us wisdom. All wisdom comes from God. The Bible tells us multiple times that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So it starts with seeking to know God. Without that, all psychology can give us is knowledge. To properly understand that knowledge so that it manifests itself in wisdom, however, we need God. That is why the Bible teaches us about both human nature and the character of God. There is true wisdom there for those who seek it.
1 Kings 4
Continuing with the theme of wisdom, I found 1 Kings 4:33 quite interesting. It says, “[Solomon] 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.” What this tells me is that Solomon’s wisdom didn’t just encompass knowledge of God and of human nature. It also involved a knowledge and understanding of all of God’s creation. And what that tells me is that God reveals truths about both Himself and us in His creation. It all works together to help us know God more. “For His invisible attributes…have been clearly perceived…in the things that have been made.” (From Rom. 1:20).