Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the story picked up in our Old Testament reading this morning, Solomon has just ascended to the throne left vacant by the death of his father, the great David. Just before his death, David instructs him to rule with wisdom and to honor the Lord in all that he does. Solomon consolidates his power and then comes to Gibeon. Here, early in his reign, he talks with God.

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." And Solomon said, "...Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?"

As you know from having just heard the complete passage, Solomon takes the time to honor his father's faithfulness before moving on to make his request.

Solomon knows how to talk with God. He acknowledges the great deeds that have been made possible alone through God's power. He acknowledges his own powerlessness and dependence upon God. And then he makes the request that demonstrates that he already has substantially the gift for which he asks-the wisdom and understanding that might permit him to govern well.

It is especially interesting to me that he phrases his request in a manner that calls to mind the Genesis story. He asks that he might be "able to discern between good and evil." The fruit in the garden that was supposed to give us this ability had an incomplete effect. Solomon's request amounts to the same admission.

It's also interesting that God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden for having sought this gift of discerning between good and evil. But when Solomon asks for it, God is pleased. Here's what the text tells us:

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you." (vv. 10-12)

It seems that Solomon is unique among all of humanity. He was given what is normally God's exclusive privilege. In making this request and having it honored, Solomon becomes unique also among kings.

In Solomon's day, kingship meant absolute power, wealth, and usually oppression and cruelty (c.f., the warnings in 1 Sam 8:11-18). Even David had abused his kingly power for selfish ends (2 Sam. 11). What is made powerfully apparent in this story of a prayer within a dream is that Solomon chose a different style of kingship. He rejected the pursuit of power and chose instead to govern with the spirit of a servant ("your servant" occurs three times in these verses). David became the model for Israel's ideal king, and later for the Messiah. Yet when Isaiah later spoke of the righteous King who would come, he used images here associated with Solomon (Is. 11:1-5).

This story remembers Solomon as a humble man who realized that he was not adequate for the task of leadership. He did not desire power and control, but the ability to care for God's people wisely. So he prayed for discernment, in Hebrew "a listening heart."

Solomon showed his humility and a strong sense of community by counting himself as one of the people (v. 8). The story also reflects a deep sense of God's grace at work in the community (v. 6). The people were God's people and Solomon was God's leader. Yet the authority was not Solomon's, but God's

In fact, these verses are as much a judgment on power as they are the story of a prayer of an Israelite king. How often do we yearn more for power than for wisdom? How often do we observe those who hold political and corporate power grasping for more, rather than striving to see what they do as a vocation and as a way of serving God? What might our federal government, our state legislatures, our corporations and businesses, our churches-even our families-be like if both leaders and people would choose "a listening heart" and wisdom instead of control, intimidation, and riches?

God responded to Solomon's expression of humility by giving him the wisdom necessary to govern the people. In this context, it merits noting that in biblical tradition, wisdom and discernment were always gifts from God, not human achievements. Scripture consistently views any human ability or accomplishment, in relation to God. No aspect of human existence falls outside God's domain. In biblical thinking, there is no such thing as a "self-made" man or woman. Our culture's allusions to such myths are empty chasings after pride and self-conceit.

The story tells us that Solomon understood this well. And isn't it amazing that God gave Solomon even what he had not asked. The next verse adds: "I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you." (v. 14) It is wrong to ignore the fact that Scripture often equates blessing with material belongings. And yet, in our success-driven culture, we shouldn't make too much of it either. The point is that everything comes from God. Any security, any benefit, any happiness, life itself, is a gift from God.

In this brief nocturnal conversation with God, we learn that God calls us, first and foremost, to faithfulness. It is not to succeed, to be prosperous, or to be wealthy, that God has made us. Scripture calls us to choose responsibly before God. God calls us to live a lifestyle of integrity and commitment to God. God calls us to serve our God, first and only.

This is why "the Lord was pleased" with Solomon's choice (v. 10). He demonstrated a proper ordering of priorities. Success, wealth, or prosperity may come. But it can never be the goal; it must always be secondary. Wealth is not part of God's promises or a divine right we can demand. It is always an unexpected gift from God.

Nearly a third of the Sermon on the Mount addresses the issue of proper priorities. Jesus cautioned about too much concern with seeking wealth, security, and power. His call was clear: "Seek first God's Kingdom and God's righteousness." Then he added: "And all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:33) This is not, of course, a promise that everyone will be wealthy or automatically happy if the choose wisdom over power, God over mammon. It is merely a statement, rooted deeply in biblical faith, that all is well with those who put God first (Dennis Bratcher, A Lost Future, 2002)

This morning, Solomon shows us wisely the way to talk with God. Prayer, engaged in wisely, keeps us mindful of what God has done. Prayer, presented properly, is an occasion to shape our hearts responsibly and to remind us of whom we serve. And prayer, offered faithfully, is opportunity to demonstrate the grace of gifts far beyond our words.  —  Amen.