Scripture Daily

Context No. 1499 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

2 Chronicles 1:7-12: in context

7That night, God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for what you want me to give you.” 8Solomon said to God, “You have shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9Now, LORD God, let your promise to David my father be established; for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of yours?” 11God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor yet have you asked for long life; but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king, 12therefore wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you, and none after you will have.”

God appears to the young king Solomon in the night and makes an open offer: ask what you want me to give you. Solomon could have asked for anything, and he asks for one thing. He recalls God's kindness to his father David and the vastness of the people he must now govern, and prays: give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of yours? God is pleased. Because you asked this, he says, and not for riches or honor or long life or the death of your enemies, but for wisdom to govern my people, wisdom is granted to you, and riches and honor besides.

What pleased God was what Solomon did not ask for. Given a blank check from God, the young king asked not for wealth, not for long life, not for victory over his enemies, not for personal glory, but for wisdom to govern God's people well. His request was, at bottom, unselfish; he asked not for something to enrich or exalt himself but for what he needed to serve the people entrusted to him. And God, delighted by the request, granted it, and added the very things Solomon had not asked for, riches and honor besides. There is instruction in this about what we ask God for, and about what pleases him. Solomon's prayer reveals a heart set on his responsibility rather than his own advantage; asked what he wanted, he thought first of the people he was called to serve and what he needed to serve them well. That is a rare and pleasing thing. Most of us, offered anything, would ask for what would benefit ourselves, comfort, security, success, long life. Solomon asked for what would equip him to serve, and God honored it. And there is the further pattern Jesus would name: seek first the kingdom and its righteousness, and the other things are added. Solomon sought first the wisdom to serve God's people, and the riches and honor he had not sought were given as well. What we ask God for reveals our hearts; and the request set on serving rather than on self-advancement is the one that pleases him.

If God offered me anything, what would I ask for, and would my request, like Solomon's, be set on serving well the people and responsibilities entrusted to me, or on my own comfort, security, and advancement?

Sources