November 8, 2022

I Kings 3: 9 (NIV)

“So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”

A civil and just society requires citizens and their leaders to know the limits of right and wrong.*

God appeared to Solomon in a dream and made this astonishing offer: Ask for whatever you want me to give you. Solomon made a little speech about God’s faithfulness to him and to his father David. Then he adds a confession about how inadequate he feels for the job of ruling the kingdom. So he asked for what he needed most: wisdom. God gave Solomon what he asked for and more. He went on to say (in verse 14), “And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands . . . I will give you long life.”

What a great country this would be if this was the prayer of every elected and appointed official. This election day, American citizens are faced with some tough decisions. Often, it seems that our choices are between bad and worse.  I used to joke that I wouldn’t vote for a candidate who put his picture on his campaign signs (seems vain to me), but now I say - most sincerely - that I would like the chance to vote for the candidate who makes these words of Solomon his (or her) heartfelt prayer.

There is no guarantee that we or anyone running for public office will receive riches and honor if we ask God for wisdom; nor is a long life promised to us if we obey God’s commands. This offer was specifically for Solomon. For those of us who aren’t Solomon, we have our own promise to claim: James 1: 5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” We don’t have to wait for God to appear to us in a dream; we don’t have to be contemplating a run for public office; all we have to do is ask.

God’s commands are always associated with promises.*