Let Us Stand

August 30

“At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?" And Solomon said: "You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing,” I Kings 3:5-10

Solomon had an outstanding beginning to his reign. God was pleased with his focus on governing His people rather than upon himself. In I Kings 3:11-13, the Holy One responded, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before, nor shall one like you arise after you. I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days.”

Bible scholars believe that Solomon was about twenty years old when this occurred. He expresses his awe at his new responsibility and says in I Kings 3:7 regarding it, "I am a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in." He is admitting before the Lord that he feels totally inadequate to the task he has been given. His unspoken acknowledgment is that he needs the help of God to function as he should as Israel’s new leader.

The significance to us of Solomon’s recognition of his helplessness in performing the task that’s been entrusted to him is that we, too, must recognize our inability to function within the sphere of our influence as believers apart from the help of God. Our Savior understood that truth so He promised to send the Holy Spirit to help us live our lives faithfully before the scoffers and doubters of the world.

In Luke 24:48-49 the Lord said to His followers, “You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high."

These words were spoken after Jesus was crucified (see Luke 23:26-43), but our Savior knew that simply having witnessed His death and resurrection would not be enough to keep them securely in the hollow of His hand through the fiery trials they would face when they earnestly began to confront the world with its sin.

We, like them, need His help to overcome the anxiety we will feel, the fear we will encounter within ourselves when we begin to face persecution for our faith in Christ, so He sent the Holy Spirit to us as well. In Acts 2:4 we are told, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.”

In Acts 2:39 the Word goes on to tell us, “The promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.” We are the spiritual children of those early believers, for they sowed the seeds that have grown up in every corner of the earth and from which fruit we have partaken.

Let us realize as Solomon did that we are children who need the continual presence and power of the Holy Spirit to be with us. Let us not become complacent as he did (see I Kings, Chapter 11) in the promises the Lord has given to us. Let us not become distracted by foreign concepts.

Rather, let us remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and be bold proclaimers of the salvation He has given throughout our lives. Whether we live long in a land of prosperity and peace or whether we suffer in a land of warfare against God’s irrefutable and eternal TRUTH, let us stand.