Skip to content Solomon's Wisdom: Love, Obedience, and Leadership Aug 29 · 13 min ...more
Solomon's Wisdom: Love, Obedience, and Leadership
August 29, 2026 · 13 min
How love for God is shown in obedience and how Solomon's humble request for wisdom pleased the Lord.
Series Stand on the Word - Audio On Demand Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
93.9K followers
Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
93.9K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Up next Autoplay More from Tony Perkins Ron Johnson, Andrew Clyde, Blaise Misztal, Michele Bachmann, Gary Hamrick Tony Perkins
11/9/2026 Reflections on How the Midterms Will Shape the Future Congressional Agenda and Foreign Policy Tony Perkins
From Tekoa to Bethel: A Shepherd’s Warning of Judgment Tony Perkins
Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment: God’s Desire to Restore Tony Perkins
David Wurmser, Ryan Bangert, Jeanne Seaver, David Closson Tony Perkins
11/6/2026 America’s Future Foreign and Domestic Policies and Responding Biblically to Cultural Challenges Tony Perkins
Joel 1:14 — Consecrate a Fast: A Pastoral Call to Repentance Tony Perkins
Randy Fine, Chris Mitchell, Amanda Dixon, Igor Bandura, Casey Harper Tony Perkins
11/5/2026 How Will Democrats Govern With Growing Anti-Semitism in Their Party? Tony Perkins
Hands on the Bow: Prophetic Authority and National Repentance Tony Perkins
Eric Burlison, John Rogers, Jack Hibbs, Suzanne Bowdey, Casey Harper Tony Perkins
Solomon's Obedience and the High Places 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. We have 1 more stop in the book of Kings with chapters 3 and 4 before we move to the book of Proverbs, 1 of my favorite books. Verse 28 of chapter0:21 3, and all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice. Alright. We're why are we0:33 back in 1st Kings? For those of you who may have joined us during the time in in, Psalms, this journey through the Bible is chronological. Alright? So we try to cover the events as they0:45 occur in scripture. 1st Kings 3 and 4 today, and then as I mentioned, Monday, we move on to Proverbs. By the way, for those of of you who live in the Seattle area, I'll be preaching Sunday morning at Westgate0:57 Chapel. And then Sunday evening, Michelle Bachman and I will be at West Gate discussing Israel and the current situation in the Middle East from a biblical perspective. So if you'd like to join us, we welcome you.1:09 Alright. Let's begin verse 2 of chapter 3. Meanwhile, the people sacrificed at the high places because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in theSolomon's Prayer for Wisdom 1:21 statutes of his father David, except except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. Solomon is described as loving the lord, and it is connected to1:33 look. What it what's it connected to? Connected to obedience to the word and the ways of god. Let's look again at what Jesus told his disciples in John chapter 14 verse 15. He said, if1:44 you love me, keep my commandments. He's not saying he will love us if we keep his commandments. He is saying our love for him is expressed in our obedience to him.1:56 Notice the caveat here in this discussion of Solomon. The exception was that except he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places, the little2:08 foxes that spoil the vines. In Deuteronomy chapter 12 verses 5 and 6, it says this, but you shall seek the place where the lord your god chooses out of all of your tribes to put his name for a dwelling2:20 place, and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hands, your vowed your your vow offerings, your free2:32 will offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There was to be 1 place that sacrifices were to be made. Why? It was to prevent the introduction of2:44 idolatry. Solomon did not offer sacrifices to other gods. He did not do that, but he did open the door to what would be the downfall of the nation 400 years later, which would2:55 include the destruction of the temple. Because idolatry came in, people began to make sacrifices on the high places. That became kind of the3:08 the black market of worship, if you will. Alright. Verse 5. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, ask, what shall I give you? And And Solomon said, you have shown great3:19 mercy to your servant David, my father, because he walked before you in truth, in righteousness, in an uprightness of heart with you. You have continued this great kindness for him, and you3:31 have given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day. Alright. Did that jump out at you when you read that? Well, I think this is very important. Look again at that description3:43 of David. He walked before you in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart. Now this is coming from the son of Bathsheba. Alright? The fact that Solomon3:55 existed and is now sitting on the throne, that was all downstream from 1 of the darkest events in David's life. David was wrong, period. But his fundamental4:07 orientation was toward God. That's why he was a man after God's own heart. When he sinned, he repented, and he returned to God. What we see here is Solomon is evidence that4:19 God's grace and loving kindness are greater than our sin. Verse 7. Now, oh lord my god, you have made your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child. I4:30 do not know how to go out or come in. Now he was not a child in age, but acknowledged his lack of experience to lead the people. Verse 8, and your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have4:42 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 great4:54 people of yours? Now look at this. This speech pleased the lord. Asking the lord for wisdom to do what is right is gonna please the lord. He he was pleased that5:06 Solomon had asked this thing. Then god said to him, because you have asked this thing and have not asked for long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have5:16 asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, which is beneficial to other people. Behold, I have done according to your word. See, I have given you a wise and understanding5:28 heart so that there has not been anyone like you before you nor shall any like you arise after you. The understanding and the wisdom that Solomon asked for5:40 and that god gave him was the ability to govern the people, to discern right from wrong, to administer justice. This is very important. This is what we should be looking for5:52 in our leaders. The primary purpose of government, we've talked about this before, and we'll talk about it again. The primary purpose of government is to ensure justice,6:04 and there is a reason. It is at the heart of god's government. Verse 14 of Psalm 89, righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Mercy and6:16 truth go before your face. Now we don't have to wait long to see the revelation of the wisdom, the manifestation of the wisdom from god. Verse 16. Now 26:28 women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. And 1 woman said, oh, my lord. This woman and I dwell in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then it happened the 3rd day after I had6:39 given birth that this woman also gave birth and we were together, no 1 was with us in the house except for the 2 of us in the house. And this woman's son died in the night because she lay on him. So she arose in the6:51 middle of the night and took my son from my side while your maidservant slept and laid him in her bosom and laid the dead child in my bosom. And when I arose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was dead. But when7:03 I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had born. Then the other woman said, no. But the living 1 is my son, and the dead 1 is your son. And the 1st woman said, no. But7:15 the dead 1 is your son, and the living 1 is my son. Thus, they spoke before the king. And the king said, the 1 says, this is my son who lives, and your son is the dead 1.7:26 And the other says, no. But your son is the dead 1, and my son is the living 1. Now just keeping track of all that can be a challenge. Now look, the 2 women who were prostitutes,7:39 no apparent husbands, and they each became pregnant, and they had babies 3 days apart. 1 of the woman accidentally rolls onto her baby during the night, causes his death. She then switches her dead son with the livingWisdom Revealed: Judgment of the Living Child 7:51 son of the other. Now notice what Matthew Henry, comments on this section. He says, how much better it was in those times with children born in fornication8:03 than commonly it is now. Harlots then love their children, nurse them, and were loathed to part with them, whereas now they are often sent to a distance, abandoned or killed.8:15 But, thus, it was foretold that in the last days, perilous times should come when people should be without natural affection, 2nd Timothy chapter 3. In other words, these8:27 2 prostitutes and their love for their children stand as an indictment against our own generation. I mean, think about this. We we have a a king here that is advocating for8:39 life. We'll talk a little bit about more about this in a moment. Now we have a government that is advocating for the killing of unborn children through abortion. Verse 24, then the king said, bring me a sword.8:51 So they brought a sword before the king, and the king said, divide the living child in 2 and give 0.5 to 1.5 to the other. Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her9:02 son and said, oh, my lord, give her the living child and by no means kill him. But the other said, let him be neither mine nor hers, but divide him. So the king answered and said, give the 1st woman a living9:14 child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother. The 1st recorded application don't miss this. Alright? The 1st recorded application of the wisdom9:26 of Solomon was given by God to do justice and govern the people, and it was not for some pressing foreign policy matter or economic concern9:38 or, you know, the unemployment rate. It was about the life of a child. I mean, think about that for a moment. And it was not the the a child of privilege,9:50 but a child of no value in the eyes of the watching world. Why would Solomon even spend time on such a matter? 2 prostitutes, right,10:02 that had babies. 1 died. 1 was alive. So what? He did not leave it to the lower magistrates because if a nation is to be great, it must10:14 1st be good. And what this reveals is that the best evidence of how the the this is seen is in how the vulnerable are treated10:26 under the law. Justice. Now we see the results of this revelation of God given wisdom. Look at verse 28. And all Israel heard of the judgment which10:38 the king had rendered, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of god was in him to administer, what, justice From what many would10:49 consider the most insignificant concern flowed the most profound results. The people feared or highly reverenced the king and did not oppose him.11:02 In the next chapter, we see the far reaching effect of this wisdom. Chapter 4 verse 24, for he had dominion over all the region on this side of the river, from the Tifsah11:14 even to Gaza, namely over all the kings on this side of the river, and he had peace on every side all around him. Think about that. Peace everywhere. And11:26 Judah and Israel dwelled safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba all the days of Solomon. Peace and prosperity because we had11:38 wisdom and justice. And then in the final verse, we read of Solomon's international standing, verse 34. And men of all nations, from all the earth from all the kings of the earth who had heard of this11:50 wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. This, all coming from a request for wisdom, revealed in the justice administered to the most vulnerable.12:02 That's what this tells us, and that's what we should be looking for. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the wisdom contained in this and for the 1 who asked for wisdom12:14 so that he might administer justice and we see it manifested on the pages of scripture. Lord, give us a heart of wisdom. Give us as people a desire to see12:26 wisdom in our leaders and justice administered to the people. May we pray for it. May we work for it. And, Lord, may we be a part ofPrayer and Closing Challenge 12:38 it. We thank you for your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And until next time, keep standing on the word.12:50 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:02 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at FRC dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Solomon's Obedience and the High Places1:10 Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom7:40 Wisdom Revealed: Judgment of the Living Child12:30 Prayer and Closing Challenge
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.