Genesis 29:15-28 and Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128 | 1 Kings 3:5-12 and Psalm 119:129-136 | Romans 8:26-39 | Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Our OT reading for this week has me thinking about two significant biblical kings, David and Solomon. Along with those two, I am also thinking of leaders today who might aspire to forms of kingship. In a dream, God offers to give Solomon whatever he would like. Solomon is a young leader given the responsibility of leading God’s people. As he says, “I don’t know how to come in or to go out.” I suppose this is like saying, “I don’t know which way is which.” Given his inexperience and the weight of his responsibilities, Solomon asks God for wisdom or “an understanding mind” to discern between good and evil. This seems to be a remarkably selfless request. One might even say it reflects a level of wisdom. God not only promises a wise and discerning heart, but also riches and honor, things Solomon might have asked for but didn’t.
The lectionary invites us to celebrate Solomon’s request. Solomon’s request for wisdom flows nicely into the conclusion of the gospel reading where Jesus commends all scribes who have been “discipled” or taught by the kingdom of heaven. Such “scribes” have been given a store house of wisdom from which they can pull out old and new in order to live faithfully. Solomon’s request is a sort of foreshadowing of Jesus’ promise to those who become studious disciples of the kingdom.
In addition, however, looking at 1Kgs 3:5-12 on its own might invite us to think in a different, but not competing, direction. The language in which Solomon couches his request is striking. Solomon begins by recounting that God has demonstrated steadfast love to David. The English text makes it sound like God’s steadfast love is provoked or caused by David’s fidelity, righteousness, and upright heart. Both the Hebrew text and its Greek translation are less explicit about the relationship between God’s steadfast love and David’s fidelity, and this seems right. David is not upright simply because of God’s steadfast love and God’s steadfast love is not conditional on David’s upright heart. Indeed, that would undermine the notion of steadfastness. Moreover, The LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew, translates the Hebrew hesed with eleos, the common word for mercy. A moment’s reflection on David’s life makes the use of “mercy” here quite apt.
It is worth remembering that David did not set out to be king, Samuel comes to him almost as an afterthought. Clearly, David is God’s choice, but we get no sense that David expected or even wanted this. We soon learn that David is willing to do daring things on God’s behalf. He becomes a great general, establishing secure boundaries for the people of God and setting Jerusalem as a place for the Temple to be built. When in danger he is capable of great cleverness to protect himself and his people. He resists seeking vengeance on Saul and others who wrong him; he is a devoted friend to Jonathan. At the same time, he is capable of great folly. He can serve as a poster child for covetousness and the violence that follows in its wake. His family life is often a mess (see Absalom).
Just as the NT tends to speak of David’s time as a golden age, the OT gives us a finer grained, rounder picture of his rule. Nevertheless, he and the Lord continue to walk together, reflecting the reality that steadfast love, especially God’s, often requires mercy. Thus, even with that fuller picture, we can recognize what Solomon sees: God shows steadfast love to David even when that love requires enormous amounts of mercy. Solomon’s own account of David’s relationship with God leads me to wonder why Solomon did not ask for exactly what David had – only more?
It is hard to criticize Solomon’s request, however. He does receive the capacity to discern good from evil. Until witnessing events of the past couple of years, I would not have thought such discernment was in short supply among leaders. We, today, might well appreciate leaders who are capable of such discernment.
Despite being given the wisdom he seeks, Solomon still becomes embroiled in significant evil: He confuses political expediency with God’s will, a failing that often leads to idolatry and does in Solomon’s case. His taxation policies are oppressive and seed the ground for the revolt that divides his kingdom.
Solomon shows us that wisdom to discern good from evil is a valuable virtue. Without a network of other virtues, however, wisdom on its own does not get you very far. I am thinking of such virtues as courage to follow through on what one has discerned to be right; the compassion to support those affected by one’s judgments; and the humility to recognize that even with wisdom, one can make the wrong decision or pursue the wrong course of action.
Perhaps this is why Jesus urges his followers to be “discipled” by the kingdom of heaven rather than to simply become a wise and discerning scribe.