Wisdom From God to Administer Justice

The king [Solomon] said, “Bring me a sword.” So, they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” (1 Kings 3:15, NIV 1984).

My Musings – Doesn’t quite sound like a “wise and discerning heart,” does it? But it was both wise and discerning once you know the rest of the story. “Two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of them said, ‘During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.’ The other woman said, ‘No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.'” (1 Kings 3:16, 19-22, NIV 1984).

The two women lived together alone, and both babies were only a few days old. So, no witnesses and the babies were too young for anyone other than their mothers to be able to tell which one the living child belonged to. “The king said, one says, ‘My son is alive, and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.'” (1 Kings 3:23, NIV 1984). Quite a predicament for Solomon, so naturally just “cut the living child in two” so each could have half. Half of a dead child.

That would be anything but “wise and discerning,” if that was Solomon’s intent. Clearly, it was not. He knew in his heart that the child’s real mother would not allow her precious baby to be killed. She would rather have it raised by another than have it killed. On the other hand, he suspected that the imposter mother cared little if she could not have a live child all to herself.

And that is exactly how it played out. “The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, ‘Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!’ But the other said, ‘Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!’ Then the king gave his ruling: ‘Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.'” (1 Kings 3:26-27, NIV 1984). Solomon did not have to decide which woman was the baby’s real mother. He just had to let the staged drama play out.

“When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.” (1 Kings 3:28, NIV 1984).

My Advice – Wouldn’t it be nice to have such a “wise and discerning heart?” When it comes to spiritual matters, believers can, because “we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16, NIV 1984). On the other hand, “the man without the Spirit does not accept [spiritual matters], for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14, NIV 1984).

So, “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. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:5-8, NIV 1984) Solomon asked, and he received. How about you? Believe it.