(REFLECTIONS ON 1 Kings 3:1-28)

3 “Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.”

Solomon loved the Lord, yet that did not mean his actions were without fault. Yes, he loved the Lord and walked in the statutes of his father David, but he still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places because the temple of the Lord had not yet been completed.

Work still needed to be done. This reminds us that even in our love for the Lord, we are often slow to build up the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is our bodies, because we are distracted by many other things.

We have lives to live and a world before us, but our love for the Lord should lead us to labor with diligence and fervency to establish a place of worship in our hearts, so that we may worship in Spirit and truth.

Yet because Solomon loved the Lord, when God asked him in a dream,

“Ask what you wish Me to give you,”

Solomon prayed for wisdom, saying,

7 “Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in… 9 So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil…”

This was pleasing in the sight of the Lord. So when Solomon awoke with a wise and discerning heart, Scripture tells us,

15 “Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream; and he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.”

Wisdom led Solomon to offer burnt offerings not in the high places, but before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Let us then pray for wisdom as Solomon did. Wisdom will help us worship in Spirit and truth. Wisdom will help us know how to love the Lord, rather than loving Him according to our own understanding.

Pray for wisdom, and may the Lord be pleased with our prayer. May His wisdom help us walk in the path of growth toward the cross of Christ, so that we may know how to “go out and come in”, meaning that our lives and faith may mature and be used for God’s purposes and will.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: 1 Kings 3