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[0:00] Lord, you have the words of eternal life. How can we live apart from every word that comes from the mouth of God?

[0:11] ! So will you again fulfill that promise that those who meditate in the law of the Lord! will be like trees planted by streams of water, that their leaf does not wither and they bear fruit in due season.

[0:28] And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Please, let's look together then at 1 Kings chapter 3.

[0:45] And I ask this question. And I'm going to ask a number of questions and they all have the same answer, but don't call out, even if you do get very enthusiastic. Just so, how do kings rule?

[0:59] How do kings rule? Proverbs 8.15 has the answer. How does the farmer grow his crops?

[1:15] He knows when to plow the ground, when to put in the seed. He knows what to expect. Isaiah 28.23-29.

[1:27] There's a one word answer to that. How does the craftsperson make beautiful art? The answer to that is in 1 Kings 7.14.

[1:39] Filled with something to make beautiful pieces of technology, beautiful pieces of craftsmanship.

[1:54] The book of Proverbs. How are people to live? How are we to live in this world that has good in it, but has evil in it?

[2:10] What is the way that anybody can live in this world? It's a one word answer to that. Who is the woman who says, she walks around and she says, this is me, I give you all this, gain wisdom, oh, forget I said that, gain understanding from me, and who is this woman?

[2:40] How are we to live in the here and now, but with confidence concerning the eternal world to come?

[2:51] That's a very, very big question. How can we face this world with all its decisions and challenges and stresses and unknowns, and keep our eyes on the world to come?

[3:06] I think there's a one word answer to that. How did God make the world? And how does he run it now?

[3:17] One word answer. It's the same word for all of these. And what is displayed most fully at the cross of Christ and through the preaching of it?

[3:33] Any ideas what the word is? Wisdom. Let's see. One more question. What was King Solomon famous for? And the answer is wisdom. Wisdom says, by me kings rule, Proverbs 8.15.

[3:48] The wise farmer plants his crops in such and such a way. The different servants are filled with wisdom to make beautiful things. Proverbs 3.15 says, what did I say?

[4:03] 3.19. Anybody look that up? By wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations. By understanding he set the heavens in place. And what is portrayed in the cross of Christ is the wisdom of God.

[4:19] And the world thinks that's foolishness. But God's wisdom is most clearly seen when this man dies on the cross.

[4:31] I think what amazing wisdom that is. And what is Solomon famous for? Well, he's famous for wisdom. And that's what we're going to look at this morning. How Solomon gained wisdom.

[4:44] So let's look. Now what I'm going to do is, no, I'm not going to do this yesterday. In a minute we'll go through the text. But I, so we'll go through the text bit by bit and just see what it says.

[4:54] Still on the introduction, what is wisdom? What is wisdom? Well, the more I thought about it, the more I thought, there isn't actually a definition.

[5:06] We're given lots of examples of how wisdom works and what it does and who does it. But it never seems to be boiled down into a neat definition. And maybe that's because wisdom is bigger than we can understand.

[5:19] Maybe it's because the wisdom that comes from God is actually so big that nobody's wise enough to say what it is.

[5:31] It is, for example, it certainly is this. It's an insight into the way the universe works. That's the universe of things and the universe of people. It's an understanding, an insight into how things work.

[5:45] An insight into how God works, actually. That's wisdom. I think it's James Packer who said this, I couldn't find the reference. Power to form the best plans and to make them happen in the best way.

[6:00] That's not bad as a definition of wisdom, but it doesn't cover everything. But the idea that you can see in front of you, now what would be the best thing to aim for in my life or in this situation?

[6:13] Many things you could aim for. What would be the best one? And then how do you get from where I am now to where that should be? That needs wisdom. That's how wisdom operates. And I put et cetera.

[6:24] I can't remember why I put et cetera, except there's much more to it than I've put on the screen. And I think maybe wisdom is too wise for us to pin down. The Bible just shows us wisdom at work without ever saying this is it in 10 neat words.

[6:41] Anyway, let's look at the text. Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and married his daughter.

[6:52] He brought her to the city of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places because a temple had not yet been built for the name of the Lord.

[7:10] Solomon would be the one who would build that temple in due course. Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burnt incense on the high places.

[7:28] That's the introduction. So we have King Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter. It's just described to us there. One of the things about wisdom, I think, is that you can't know everything.

[7:44] And it's wise to say, well, there's some things I can't know. It's wise to say, there's some things I can't understand. And these verses actually have some of that ambiguity about them.

[8:02] Do you think it's a good thing that King Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter? No. It's presented here without comment.

[8:15] And you could say, in the ancient world, a glorious king marries a glorious bride. And you could say that there's something international about the kingdom.

[8:29] And you could say that it guarantees some sort of peace. The text doesn't say yes or no. Was it wise?

[8:41] Do you think A, yes? B, no? Or C, none of the above? If you care to look to 1 Kings 11 verses 1 and 2, when we get a little bit later in Solomon's life, we're told that this actually was his downfall.

[9:00] King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women beside Pharaoh's daughter. Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, which at least improved his geography.

[9:13] They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, you must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your heart after other gods. Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

[9:26] He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.

[9:41] Well, that's how it turned out. So the question really is, having many wives was his problem. If he hadn't even had one, then of course he would have not had many.

[9:57] So does the problem start here, or is this good? I don't know. A or B or C, not really quite sure about that. He finished his three building projects. He didn't bring her, he brought her to the city of David until he finished his building projects.

[10:14] Building his palace, and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. That's the order in which it's stated.

[10:30] Palace, temple, wall. Do you think that's good? Do you think that was a wise thing for him to do? Do you? I suppose what I think is, oh, he built the palace first, did he?

[10:42] I think, oh. Okay. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. Would he have been, should he have done the temple?

[10:53] Well, I don't know. Was it wise, or unwise, or none of the above? It's just stated that this is what he did. But it is stated positively that Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the statutes of his father David.

[11:11] Well, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. So again, a little bit of ambiguity there. There's an exception. He loved the Lord. But, having said that, in verse four, God meets him in one of these high places.

[11:29] So I just take this as a little example of the fact that although we're going to be talking about wisdom, that does not mean that you can take every single thing and say, that's good, that's bad.

[11:41] That's good, that's bad. That's good, that's bad. Sometimes there are things that are so intertwined and that, well, God alone knows, but I don't think we have the wisdom to say.

[11:55] And the text doesn't say it, just it says what it says. Let's go to verse four.

[12:06] The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices for it was the most important high place and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. That seems to be a lot of burnt offerings, doesn't it?

[12:18] And this did not displease God because God meets Solomon in this place. So on this side, we'll just run through, in quite a large view, the sequence of events because they have a certain pattern to them.

[12:36] At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream. So I've got the sacrifices up on the screen and then we have Solomon asleep and a dream. And God says, ask, now that word's important, it crops up, ask for whatever you want me to give you.

[12:55] And now Solomon gives a longer answer. Solomon answers, you have shown great, this is this Hebrew word hesed, which means steadfast love, you were there for me, you stuck with me, you have shown great steadfast love, great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart.

[13:26] You have continued this great hesed kindness to him and given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. So first thing he says is God is faithful.

[13:36] And that's true, isn't it? God has been remarkably faithful and he gave a promise and he's been as good as his word. It's always worth noting that's how God is and it's always worth noting the specific examples where that happens.

[13:51] We're so quick to forget, aren't we? But Solomon says the right thing. He says, you were faithful and I honour that and I thank you for it.

[14:02] And he says, now oh Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. And this is what he says in the NIV, I'm only a little child, I do not know how to carry out my duties.

[14:19] In Hebrew, or a little bit more clunky, he would say, I'm just a lad, I'm just a nipper, I'm just a little boy and I don't know how to go out and I don't know how to come in.

[14:30] And it's a lovely, humble expression, isn't it? To be honest, I don't know how to go out properly, I don't know how to come in properly.

[14:42] A little bit like most of us would say, if I went to a posh place, I wouldn't know what knife and fork to use. I just wouldn't know, I wouldn't know how to eat some of the things that, how do you eat that?

[14:54] And he's saying, you know, I'm ignorant. Lots of things, important things I don't know. I am only a little child, I don't know how to carry out my duties.

[15:05] Your servant here is among the people you have chosen. And he talks about the people. You've chosen them. A great people, too numerous to count or number.

[15:18] And do you notice a connection to the book of Revelation there? That in the book of Revelation, he's shown a group of people, too many to number. I hadn't realized that this was the connection.

[15:30] But this is what he says here. Are people too numerous to count or number? Says a lot of them. And I don't, and there are great people. And I don't know how to look after them.

[15:44] So he says, give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people. And we'll come back to that bit in a moment. Give me a discerning heart. And the Lord, it was good in the eyes of the Lord, verse 10.

[15:58] The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. And he says, since you have asked for this, and not asked for long life, or asked for wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies, but asked for discernment in administering justice.

[16:15] There are a number of asks. I might have overdone it there. But certainly the asking is emphasized. I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

[16:32] Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for, and so on. And then it says in verse 15, he, I'll give you some things you've not asked for, and then in verse 15, it reverses the pattern and says, it was a dream, and he returned to Jerusalem, and offered burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings.

[16:52] So we have more offerings. And sometimes you get these patterns in the Bible. There's a technical word for it, but it starts with something, finishes with something, has the same thing at the beginning there, you see.

[17:06] And what those patterns does, it directs you to what happens right in the middle. And what happens in the middle is this bit. This request, this key request of Solomon, give me a wise heart.

[17:22] So that's the overall pattern of it. I'd like us to look, if we may, at that request in a little bit more detail. The gift of a wise heart.

[17:33] If you, well, let's stop, let's wind back. Notice it was about asking. It was Solomon saying, I don't know how to do what I need to be doing.

[17:47] I'm asking you. Asking is a good thing to do to God. We're often told to ask. And in the book of, in the letter of James, he says, well, part of your problem is you don't ask.

[18:04] You get hung up, you get stressed out, you get competitive, you get anxious, because you don't ask. And, at least, this section is about asking.

[18:17] It's a good thing to ask God, isn't it? And then he says, make sure you ask the right way. Don't ask just for yourself, in a selfish way, but ask for, in the right way.

[18:29] God loves to hear a prayer of asking. So, let's look at these, at the words, because there's some words, I think, are worth noticing. There's a word for hearing.

[18:41] There's a word for perceiving. And there's a word for governing. Or there's actually a couple of words for governing. And the word for governing, is, shafat means to govern.

[18:54] And mishpat, you can see they're related with the sh, and the f, and the t. shafat means righteousness, or order, or things being in a good state.

[19:09] And shafat is the process of making them like that. Usually translated to govern, or to judge. So, these words are intertwined, in a rather lovely tapestry, in this section.

[19:23] So, if I could, use those words, to look into verse 9. And what does he say? He says, give your servant, a, hearing heart, give your servant, a hearing heart, to shafat your people, to govern your people.

[19:45] and to perceive, and to perceive, between good and evil, for who is able to shafat, to govern this great people of yours.

[20:02] It's a wonderful request, isn't it? A hearing heart, to perceive, between good and evil, for who is able to bring order, without that.

[20:18] And then, when God answers him, in verse 11, he uses the same word, but in a different order. Since you have asked for this, and not for long life, or wealth for yourself, you've not asked for the death of your enemies, but for, let me just see, perception, in, hearing, justice.

[20:41] Funny translation that, isn't it? That's what it says. You have asked, for perception, in hearing, justice, verse 12, I will do what you have asked, I will give you a wise, and, perceiving heart.

[20:57] So, you see, he asked for a hearing heart, so you could perceive, and God says, I understand that, I'll give you a perceiving heart, so that you can govern. I think they're all, all tied up together. The tapestry, of the character, of wisdom.

[21:11] And, I just find that, rather fascinating, what he's, asking for. He said, I want to be able to, hear things, rightly.

[21:23] And I want to be able, to perceive things, rightly. I want to be able, to see a situation, for what it really is. And when people, say things to me, I want to hear, what they're really saying.

[21:36] And, and that way, to bring, order. A little bit more, on that, later.

[21:52] But, let's, let's follow the text, on. And he says, and God says, okay, that's, you asked, for wisdom, and you didn't ask, for other things.

[22:05] Let me tell you, that what, I will give you wisdom, so that you will be, unequaled in your wisdom. Verse 12, I'll give you a wise, and discerning heart. There will, never have been, anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

[22:17] Moreover, I will give, no, not that bit, end of that verse. In your lifetime, you will have, no equal, among kings. You will be, the absolute pinnacle, of wisdom.

[22:30] Nobody, will be like you. And yet, there was a teacher, many, many years later, who walked the streets, of Jerusalem, who walked by the seaside, in Galilee.

[22:46] And he said, about himself, this is what he said, Matthew 12, 42. He says, he said to the, the Jewish people, amongst whom he was walking, the queen of the south, the queen of Sheba, will rise up, at the judgment, with you lot, with this generation, and condemn it.

[23:14] For she came, from the ends of the earth, to listen to Solomon's wisdom. But, someone greater, greater, than Solomon, is here.

[23:27] Yeah, and that was Jesus. And for all, the great wisdom, of Solomon, Jesus calmly says, well, you know, I don't have a palace, I don't have an Egyptian wife, I don't have a big retinue, I don't have thousands, of servants, but I'll tell you, I am, I am, greater, than Solomon.

[23:54] Greater. Well, you might ask, in what way, would you say, the wisdom of Jesus, was greater, than Solomon? I leave that as a question, for you to ponder, have a think about that, in what way, would you say, the wisdom of Jesus, was greater?

[24:08] And going back, to the text, in 1 Kings, God says, you asked for that, you didn't ask, for riches, and glory, and success, and other things, but you know, I'm so pleased, with the way you've asked, and what you've asked for, that I will give you, the other things as well.

[24:37] And Jesus said, something like that, didn't he? He said, seek first, the kingdom of God, and all the other things, in the context, probably other things you need, will be given you as well.

[24:52] It's a very important lesson, for our focus, because we can worry, about all sorts of things, and forget about God. But he says, now that's not wisdom. Wisdom is, to seek first, that God should have, his right place, and he'll add, the other things, that we need.

[25:13] It's a very, wholesome lesson, that isn't it? Because, as I say, we tend to say, well I'll get that bit right, get that bit right, get that bit right, then I'll give God, you know, then I'll have a bit of time, for God.

[25:25] And he says, no that's completely, the wrong way around. First put God, in number one position, and everything else, falls into place, around him. Seek God's things first, and everything else second.

[25:41] So, here are some observations, about this wisdom, from what we've seen so far. Number one, the heart, is the place, of wisdom.

[25:56] Give me, a hearing heart, a perceiving heart, a wise heart. We tend, to pick up, our society's, idea that the heart, is a place of emotion, and the head, is the place of understanding.

[26:12] The Bible doesn't say that. The Bible says, the heart, is the place of, all of those things, of motivation, plans, and here, particularly, wisdom. I mention that, because, if we think, the way, the world thinks, at some point, it will trip us up.

[26:31] I know, we're made of, complex things, where, emotions, and will, and, thoughts, and plans, and everything, but, it's putting in a plea, for talking about that, the way the Bible talks, and the Bible says, the heart, is the place, where you have wisdom.

[26:50] And it doesn't separate, heart knowledge, and head knowledge, which Christians, are inclined to do, as if, that's the way, the Bible talks, the Bible doesn't talk like that, and, we might get ourselves, into trouble, if we talk like that, because we're not thinking, the way God thinks.

[27:06] Number, observation number two, isn't it interesting, that Solomon asked, for more of what he already had, because he'd already, done wise things, and David had already, spoken to him, and said, you know what to do, in your wisdom, do you remember that?

[27:20] So, I find this rather interesting, he's there, God comes to him, says what do you need? He says, I need wisdom. Well Solomon, you've already got wisdom. I said, but I need more. My wisdom, has enabled me to see, how much I lack.

[27:34] Jesus said something, about that too. He says, whoever has, will be given more, and he will have an abundance. There's a sense, in which if God's given you, a little bit of something, he says, ah, yes, yes, I need more of that.

[27:50] Perhaps he's given you, ah, a taste for knowing, about him, ah, and you say, I want more of that. Perhaps he's given you, a concern, for his kingdom, and you say, I've got some of that, I want more of that.

[28:05] Perhaps he's given you, a sense of your sin, but you need more of that. I can see, what I need more of, Lord. Ah, and this whole idea, that, ah, we're given, in some cases, a sort of, multiplication thing, we're given a little bit, and God says, well, you're going to ask for some more of that, because that's what I want you to do.

[28:28] And if you've begun to understand, the things of Jesus Christ, but you think, I haven't got enough of this, then ask, do ask, because God, loves to give more, of what he's already given you a bit of.

[28:42] Do you see that? I'm going to say that again, because it's so important. You have a little bit of understanding of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you've been coming to the church, and you think, I like what these people have.

[28:52] I can sense something of it, but I haven't got it for myself. I'm not there yet. Ask for more, until you know, that you have got, what Christians ought to have.

[29:05] Keep asking, in that sense. Whoever has, will be given more. And I also noticed something about the character of his wisdom.

[29:16] He asked for perception of good and evil. And you might think, well, there's another place in the Bible where it talks about knowing good and evil. That's in the Garden of Eden.

[29:28] There was that fruit that gave you the knowledge of good and evil. And in the Garden of Eden, he was not permitted to have that. Do you remember? Of that fruit you won't eat.

[29:40] So that's quite interesting. And I think there's quite a profound difference on these two situations that seem rather similar. Because Adam is snatching at the knowledge of good and evil.

[29:53] It's not the perception of good and evil, but the knowledge of good and evil. It's a bit of a stronger idea. And he's saying, I want to have that in my grasp. And I don't want to ask for it.

[30:05] I don't want to depend on anybody for it. I want to have that for myself. I want to be in charge of my life. I want to say what I do, what I don't do, what I think is good, what I think is not good.

[30:17] I'll make up my own mind on that, God. Thank you very much. And he grasps and snatches at that. But how different Solomon, do you see? Because he's not snatching and saying, I'm going to have that.

[30:30] He's saying, please God, can I have that from you? It's a humble request. I need that, but I don't need to snatch it.

[30:43] I need it as you see fit to give it. And there's a humility about that. And there is a dependence on God, which is exactly what real wisdom is.

[30:55] James says, deeds, talks about deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. Do you see the difference between those? Adam was trying to have a very self-wisdom, what we would say, an autonomous wisdom, something that he could control.

[31:16] And what Solomon's saying is, I'm asking for something that comes from you that you feed to me as you control it. Wisdom has the character of perceptive listening.

[31:33] That's one of the things that wisdom does. Not all that wisdom does. I'm just thinking of those craftsmen who had wisdom to make wonderful things out of jewelry and metal.

[31:46] I don't think their wisdom consisted in listening so much. You know, piece of metal. Right, what would you like me to make you into? Sorry, could you say that a bit louder?

[31:58] I don't think that his wisdom works like that. But Solomon is asking for this aspect of wisdom, and perceptive listening. What a great thing to have.

[32:11] And this heavenly wisdom works. Christians might get bamboozled into thinking, well, if you're a Christian, your standards are so different, and your ethics is so different, that you can't actually do anything of use in this world, because this world is so sinful, and Christianity doesn't really work.

[32:38] It works in church, but it doesn't work anywhere else. But you see, this is quite different, because Solomon's wisdom works on earth. When Adonijah went to Bathsheba last time, and said, I just have one small request.

[32:55] Do you remember that bit? One small request. One small request. Solomon's perceptive listening, was able to hear what he was really saying.

[33:07] And what he was really saying was, I'm going to find a sneaky way, to get rid of you and become king. Now, I don't know whether I would have heard him to say that. I would have thought, well, one small request, what harm can that do?

[33:21] But he'd been given a perceptive heart, or had the wisdom of a perceptive heart. I can hear what this guy's really saying. Do you see what I mean? One small request, and the wonderful example, that we're now going to look at, in verses 16 and onwards, because that's exactly what this is.

[33:41] This is a classic case, of Solomon's wisdom, being put to use. And it begins with a situation, where there is a lack of mishpat, a lack of order.

[33:56] And it ends up, in verse 28, when all Israel heard the verdict, that the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw, he had wisdom from God, to administer justice.

[34:08] And the word is mishpat. He had, I'm spoiling my surprise. Here's a picture of what happens there now. We've got two women, two prostitutes come to the king, and stand before him.

[34:19] One of them says, my lord, this woman and I, live in the same house. I had a baby, while she was there with me. The third day, after my baby was born, she had a baby. We were alone, there was nowhere else in the house, but the two of us.

[34:31] So we didn't have any customers. They left us alone, at that point. And there's nobody, to substantiate, what happened. During the night, during the night, this woman's son, this woman's son, died, because she lay on him.

[34:44] Now how do you know that? Because you were asleep, weren't you? But this is her reconstruction of it. So what she did, she got up in the middle of the night, and took my son from my side, while I was asleep.

[34:57] She put him by her breast, and put her dead son by my breast, and the next morning, I woke up to feed my son, and poor, it's a dead baby. And I looked at him closely, I perceived him.

[35:10] This is the same perception word, you see. And I said, that's not my baby. And the other woman said, absolutely rubbish. The living one is my son, the dead one's yours.

[35:23] But the first one, he said, no, the dead one's yours, the living one is mine. No, it isn't. No, it is. No, hold on, hold on. They started arguing before the king. So there's the king, there's the baby, she says it belongs to me, she says it belongs to me.

[35:37] And he says, oh well, this is a very, we can sort this out, in a moment. And he says, this is just classic wisdom, isn't it?

[35:50] Verse 24. So the king says, easy to sort this out, bring a sword, and they bring a sword, and he says, cut the living child in two.

[36:04] So, cut the living child in two. That makes it more comical, than it must have been, but. And then you get two reactions, from these women.

[36:19] The woman whose son was alive, it says her womb grew hot. She was filled with compassion, for her son. And she says, no, no, no, don't kill him, give the baby to her, give the baby to her.

[36:35] Whereas the other one says, no, half each is fine with me. The other one says, neither you or I shall have him, cut him in two. So interesting, isn't it?

[36:46] And then Solomon says, right, well, there you have it, you see. From the reactions, this woman, the one who was prepared, to give up her son, rather than have him killed, she's the real mother.

[37:01] Give the child to her. Do not kill him, she is his mother. And everybody goes, wow, isn't that brilliant? You know, imagine yourself, faced with that, you would have said, oh, well, I think we'll need for a psychological report, on these two women, and need their past histories, and, we'll, we'll, we'll, get other people to, to, to talk about them, it takes six months, and it would go to appeal, and then, you know, how, how, how it would be.

[37:30] That's exactly how it would be, wouldn't it? But Solomon just cuts through all that, slice the child in two, ah, she's the one. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

[37:41] And, there is the, the example, of Solomon's wonderful wisdom. So, don't cut anybody in two, give the child, to that woman. And, this is what it says at the end.

[37:52] When all Israel heard, I'll give you the, the, the clunky translation. When all Israel heard, that's the hearing word, the mishpat, that the king had shaphatted, so the order that he, with which he'd governed, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God, to do mishpat.

[38:14] And here he is, he's bringing order into the world, through the wisdom that God has given him. Well, that's the story, and I, I'm going to, just conclude with some afterthoughts.

[38:26] Here's one. If wisdom is so important, have we asked God, for wisdom for our lives? That's not actually such, a trivial question.

[38:38] God gives wisdom generously, and we could well say, I'm just a child. To be honest, you know, you might be, whatever age you are, it's not a statement of chronology, it's a statement of humility.

[38:54] I'm just a child. Will you give me your wisdom, for me to live by? And there's a humility, and a submissiveness in that, isn't it?

[39:05] It's saying, I'm asking, not so that I can take your wisdom, and say, well I'll do that bit, but I won't do that bit, because I think this bit's right, and this bit's wrong. That would be us judging God.

[39:18] What this is saying is, let me have your wisdom, so that I can submit, to what you say, is the right way to live. Have you ever done that? Have you taken that thought seriously?

[39:32] Show me, oh Lord, how I am to live, in every part of my life, with my money, with my time, with my health, with my relationships, with my talents, with my lips, in my sexual life.

[39:53] Give me your wisdom, let me live under your wisdom. It's a big thing, but a right thing to ask. And here's another afterthought, have we marveled, at the wisdom of Solomon?

[40:06] Because I think it is, it is a marvelous thing, and how much more then, at the wisdom of Jesus? Because he's greater than Solomon. Solomon's wisdom, spared the son, from being cut in half, and restored him, to his mother.

[40:22] God's wisdom, did not spare, his own son, from the cross. But in his wisdom, he restored, many sons to glory.

[40:35] Interesting comparison. one son was spared. God's son was not spared.

[40:46] One son was restored. Because of the cross, many sons, many children, are brought to glory. And we'll end, as we began, thinking about, Christ crucified.

[41:05] Which, to so many people, seems foolishness. But to those, whom God has called, Christ, the power of God.

[41:15]  and the wisest thing, that has ever been seen, in this world, or ever shall be. God's sin.!