Solomon was a very wise king, and he also knew he needed God’s wisdom. Mark Roberts from Fuller Seminary has been writing about Solomon, and I liked what he had to say about Solomon’s request. In I Kings 3, the Lord asks Solomon in a dream, “Ask! What shall I give you?” Solomon is humble and says he is only a child and asks for a discerning heart to distinguish right from wrong. Discerning here comes from the Hebrew term “lev shomea”, which means a hearing heart. That is, a receptive heart so that he can discern and be attentive to God’s guidance. He is aware that he does not have all that it takes to rule justly, but that he needs to listen to God’s voice if he is to rule well.
When we want to do our own thing and go our own way, it is pretty hard to hear the Lord’s voice. Often it takes a challenging situation when we are perplexed and don’t know what to do; then we are more prone to be good listeners. But we need a discerning heart all the time. Sometimes, one small decision opens up the door to something that we have never even dreamed of. Roberts says a discerning heart also includes our mind and our emotions, and shapes our thinking, willing, and feeling. It may also involve active listening, asking questions of others. He suggests repeating in your own words what you feel someone is saying to you. That in itself may clear up things you thought were coming at you from the other person. Let us not miss the ways God would speak to us, whether it be through scripture or through words of others God may use in our lives.
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