I Kings 4:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore
Haven’t we all know people who had great money or ability and squandered it because they did not have the wisdom to keep it? That is a common story. Maybe a young person comes into an inheritance either through their genes, finances, or opportunities, and then they make nothing of it because they don’t have the wisdom to match what they have. Solomon was a man who ruled a great people, but God gave him great wisdom. The two had to go together. In fact, a king names Hiram said that God had given great wisdom to Solomon who in turn ruled a great people. The two obviously go hand in hand.
If you look at I Kings 4-5, you find the heading of each of these chapters in the first verse. I Kings 4:1 says, “So king Solomon was king over all Israel.” This is the account of Solomon being king. It talks about his cabinet, who were over all Israel, and the way God prospered him, gave him peace, and expanded his borders. The reason for all this is in verse 29 where it says, “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much.” The next verse says that Solomon’s wisdom “excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country.” Verse 31 says, “For he was wiser than all men.” Verse 34 says, “And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon.” So, chapter 4 is about the kingdom being established by Solomon.
Where did the kingdom come from? God had Solomon inherit it from his father for His purposes, but there were some things that Solomon just inherited by right of birth. He would have gained some of David’s intellect, gifting, personality perhaps, and certainly the kingdom. These are all gifts that he had, but all that would have been vain and meaningless if it was not God who gave wisdom.
It is also worth noting that Solomon apparently had wisdom before he asked for wisdom. David had certainly prayed for wisdom for his son. You have to have wisdom in order to know that you need wisdom. A fool doesn’t know he needs wisdom, but a wise person knows he is not wise enough and therefore asks for the wisdom he does not have. That is true in Solomon’s life. He was primed by his father and then because of his circumstances, he became aware of his need for wisdom that only God could give.
The point is that your natural inheritance is incomplete without supernatural grace. I Kings 5:1 says, “And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon.” What follows in this chapter is the building of Solomon’s Temple. The temple was David’s idea and Solomon’s accomplishment by God’s grace. In verse 5 Solomon says, “I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.” Verse 12 says, “And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace.” So, prosperity and peace are things that came to Solomon not because he had inherited them, but because he asked and gotten wisdom from God.
Even the desire and vision to build the temple was one that had been passed on to him by David, but it was made possible because Solomon had wisdom from God. James 1 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” God won’t scold you for asking and it is His will that you ask.
I don’t know what your natural gifts or inheritance is today. It may be great or small, but what matters is not what you have, but what you make of what you have. The gap between what you have and what you make of it is bridged by wisdom that only God can give. Your natural inheritance is incomplete without the supernatural grace that comes from asking God for what you need.