If You Could Ask for Just One Thing …

 

1 Kings 3:4-15 - The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.  Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.  So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,  I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.  Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.  And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”  Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

 

 

We will give a one-day shout out to Solomon, David’s son.  After all, he was the one chosen by God to build the first Temple in Jerusalem, an event of such importance that it cannot be overstated.  But for me, the most significant thing about Solomon was that he goes down in history as an icon of wisdom and discernment. 

 

“From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”                             1 Kings 4:34

 

God asks the young Solomon what he wants and he doesn’t choose wealth, women, power, or the death of his enemies.  He asks for wisdom.  Asking for wisdom is itself wisdom.  Proverbs 4:7 states:

“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”

So before God grants Solomon wisdom, Solomon displays it.  God gives him more.  Solomon uses it.  And using wisdom actually leads to more wisdom.

The reality is that God didn’t just choose Solomon to have wisdom.  God desires that we all have it and use it.  James 1:5 reminds us that, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

When was the last time you asked God for wisdom?  When was the last time you put some wisdom God gave you to good use?

 

Prayer:  Lord, give us wisdom and discernment for these uncertain days. Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for our country today that has been further divided by the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the US Supreme Court.

 

Song:  Wisdom Song - Laura Woodley Osman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMnIVe4-QUY

David & Bathsheba

  

David, Bathsheba, & Birth of Solomon – 2 Samuel 11-12

 

Yesterday, we held up David’s honorable nature displayed in his treatment of Saul.  Today we read about the dishonorable side of his nature in the events concerning Bathsheba and Uriah her husband. Adultery, murder, cover-up abound in this story.  David sleeps with Uriah’s wife, has him killed, then tries to cover it up.  He marries Bathsheba. The prophet Nathan cleverly confronts his hideous behavior and David sees his despicable behavior for what it is.  Then in chapter 12, we learn that Solomon, the future king of Israel is born to Bathsheba.  If you were to read the rest of the book of 2 Samuel, you would learn that David’s life is never the same after this whole affair.  His actions set in motion a cascade of actions that would continue to stir dissension and unrest in his house for the rest of his days.  It is really quite tragic. 

My aim in these devotions is to always try to offer a hopeful word.  And there is hope in the end of David’s story.  Despite his flawed character, God used him to establish the united Kingdom of Israel, a nation that persists to this day.  He is the author of many Psalms that continue to comfort and inspire millions. He is remembered as a “man after God’s own heart.”  Despite the dismal last chapter of his life, David shaped the hopes of a nation for a Messiah that persisted until Christ came.  Taken as a whole, David’s life is still heroic.

But today’s episode is undeniably a cautionary tale.  Following our unhealthy desires have consequences that cannot be undone.  The sin can be forgiven, but the natural consequences remain.  David came to accept that and found peace with God in the end.  His last recorded words give testimony to that in 2 Samuel 23.  But if he sees Bathsheba and walks away, his life doesn’t spiral out of control like it did.  Our choices matter, sometimes a lot.  I’m going to let that sit with us today. 

 

Prayer:  God help us keep our thoughts and actions steered toward the ways that you teach us.  Help us to sincerely repent (turn away) when we stray. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those who are dealing with the consequences of their ill-chosen actions.

 

Song:  Your Heart (David) – Chris Tomlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aWEhNqnjuY

Matthew 12:38-45 - The Sign of Jonah

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 26, 2021

The “Sign of Jonah”

Matthew 12:38-45, NLT - One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.”

But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

“The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.  The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen.

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none.  Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order.  Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

 

We rejoin the spirted conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees/religious teachers.  After being warned by Jesus that they are teetering on the edge of sin that is unforgivable, the leaders ask Jesus for a sign to prove he has authority to say such harsh things to them.  Remember, they have witnessed several “signs” already, including demon-exorcisms, countless healings, and even a resurrection or two.  So Jesus, who isn’t a show-us-a-miracle traveling road show, refuses to perform on-demand for the leaders who will no more be swayed from their murderous intent than they have been up until now.  Instead, Jesus’s critique of them continues.

“Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.”(v. 39)

Once again, Jesus stops short of actually calling the leaders evil and adulterous, but He might as well have.  But as I have encouraged us to do before, let’s not distance ourselves from the targets of Jesus’s polemic here.  We need to hear Jesus’s warnings to those who should know better, because the warnings are for us as well.  Don’t continue to demand proof as a basis for faith when all the proof necessary has already been given.  Only people who have already steeled themselves against such proof and betrayed the faith insist on signs being given.    

                Jesus is angry and one of the words he uses here helps us understand why – generation (“only and evil, adulterous generation…”).  Jesus is making a charge against specific individuals; he’s leveling an evaluation of an entire generation.  Implied here is the troubling thought that, not only have these leaders turned against the God they claim to serve, they are leading and will continue to lead others to do the same.  Jesus is not just calling out evil. He is calling out systemic evil.  When Nineveh was called out by Jonah, they repented.  When the Queen of Sheba heard about the wisdom of Solomon, she traveled across the world to hear it personally.  But now, God-in-the-flesh is standing before these leaders and they continue to demand proof and cast doubts into the hearts of their followers.  Shame, shame.

                This grave warning still calls out all who persist in setting themselves against obvious truth and leading others to do the same.  Jesus says that the only sign that will ever be given for such rebels is “the sign of Jonah.”  Jonah was willingly thrown into the sea by those in peril so that those in peril might be saved from the wrath all around them.  Long before He is crucified, Jesus alludes to his ultimate sign;  he will die at the hands of those who oppose Him, but their “victory” is actually their once-and-for-all defeat.  Truth will prevail in the end.  And the “generation” that fought against truth and brought others down with them will find themselves in a worse situation than they were in before.

                It’s extremely hard to resist the temptation to conclude that Jesus’s warning is not for us.  But every generation recorded in the Bible and all the generations since the last word of the Bible was scribbled down have struggled with embracing the obvious signs they have already been given in favor of looking for a sign that will never come.  I already have all the “proof” I will ever need that I should follow Jesus with all that I have.  You have that proof as well.  This leads to a very uncomfortable question.

 

Question:  Why do we continue to resist truth we already know deep in our hearts is right? 

 

Prayer:  Have mercy on us Lord when we refuse to receive the truth You offer – the truth that could set us free.  Help us let go of our resistance even when it is so hard to do so, lest we become part of a generation that stands on the wrong side of Your warning.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the healing of divisions within the worldwide church. 

 

Song:  Come Tear Down the Walls/I Surrender All - Revere

https://youtu.be/pJhvXhA2CxU?t=103