I Kings 3:7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
For many people, and most adults, it is very difficult to ask for help. Certainly in the culture prevalent in my country, America, it is easy for us to be “self-made” people, to think that it is a shame to need anyone or anything else. We are independent. We are pioneers, entrepreneurs. There is nothing wrong with taking initiative, in fact, we have talked recently about the importance of doing that, but there is also a time when we need to ask for help.
First Kings 3 tells us that Solomon became established as a king and that he loved the Lord. Was he perfect? No, but he loved the Lord. There came a time when God told Solomon, “Ask me what you will and I will give it to you.” I don’t know what you would ask, but Solomon said, “O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.”
Here is a man who was king over a united kingdom. Here is a man who was of royal lineage and was the son of David. (It is amazing how many kids become arrogant because of what their parents have done when that is a very foolish thing to do.) But Solomon was a man who said, “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?”
What follows was more wealth than any king ever had and more wisdom for governing than any monarch had ever had because God gave it to Solomon. Why did Solomon get this wisdom? It was because he was self-aware and humble enough to know that he needed it. There was a sense of responsibility and self-awareness and the good sense to ask for wisdom. Ironically, it takes wisdom to know that you need to ask for wisdom.