I Kings 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Have you ever been in over your head? Have you ever had more to do than you can do, need to know more than you actually know, and your challenges overwhelm you? Have you ever been beyond your paygrade and felt like you are in over your head?
Not long ago we had a bunch of summer staff here at the Bill Rice Ranch involved in what we call Training Week. It is actually almost two weeks of training to prepare for summer camp. We have college students and some high school students, and there is a lot to know, to learn, and to do. I remember being summer staff years ago feeling overwhelmed, ignorant, and in over my head. How happy I was on that week to take them to I Kings 3 where the Bible gives us the story of Solomon who at that time was an untested young king.
In verse 9 Solomon makes a request of God. He says, “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” Solomon was young and he had this enormous responsibility. He said to God, “I am like a child and your people are a great people.” There was a mismatch here: Solomon’s ability and God’s people, Solomon’s obligations and responsibility versus his knowledge. Solomon said, “God, I need wisdom.”
Solomon’s story teaches us that anyone in over his head can have God’s wisdom. First, you can have God’s wisdom if you know you need it. This is exactly where Solomon was. In verse 7 he says, “Thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child.” This was in contrast to God’s great people. Solomon already had some wisdom because you have to have wisdom to know that you need wisdom. People who don’t think they need wisdom need it more than anyone else. Those who actually seek God’s face for the wisdom they need already have enough wisdom to know that they need wisdom.
Solomon was a man who was primed for this priority. David had oftentimes said that he was seeking God’s mind on matters. There were many questions about which he inquired of the Lord. He was a man who said that he wanted a son with wisdom. He said this both to God and implied the importance of wisdom to Solomon as well. So Solomon was a man who was primed to know his need and to know the source of wisdom. Anyone in over his head can have God’s wisdom if he knows he needs it.
Second, anyone in over his head can have God’s wisdom if he will ask God for it. That is exactly what Solomon did. Wise is as wise does. It is not just what you know, it is the ability to have savvy for life, to skillfully use the knowledge you have. I would rather have great wisdom on little knowledge than great knowledge but not know how to use it. God wants you to have both. He wants you to know the truth and then have the discernment to distinguish between one thing and another. That is what Solomon was asking for, the ability to discern between good and bad in order to judge God’s people.
Verse 24 gives an immediate answer from God. There were two women who both claimed to have the same child. So, Solomon said, “Bring me a sword and I will just divide the child and each of you can have half.” The authentic mother, the one who was not lying, cried, “No, No!! Let the other woman have the child.” She had compassion to spare the child’s life. Solomon declared, “This is the true mother.” That seems so simple when reading the story that you think, “I could have done that!” Like any expert, he made it look easy when it was really very difficult.
In verse 24 he says, “Bring me a sword.” He was pretending to threaten to divide the child. The fact is that he was divining, correctly discerning right from wrong in this sticky situation. Maybe you don’t have to judge as Solomon did, but maybe you just need wisdom to distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong, better and best. Anyone who is in over his head can have God’s wisdom right now if you know you need it and if you will ask God for it.