Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise;
apply your heart to what I teach,
for it is pleasing when you keep them in
your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.
So that your trust may be in the LORD,
I teach you today, even you.
Have I not written thirty sayings for you,
sayings of counsel and knowledge,
teaching you true and reliable words,
so that you can give sound answers to him who sent you?
here is a window into a day in the court
of King Solomon based on
the above scripture. It is my
vision of how the great king's
presentation might have unfolded...
by Marion Richardson
The hustling quieted as the youths gathered in the Portico of Judgment. Their charge at being granted audience before the great King of Israel had been to come to Jerusalem and receive his words. What sort of lottery had they won that these twelve would be chosen? What life changes would they experience after this once in a lifetime meeting? Their selection had been at the hands of the gracious King himself. As his arrival drew near, the silence in the chamber hung like a low lying cloud.
As a sharp blast of trumpets shattered the silence, troops of courtiers filed into the massive courtyard. The entourage rose upon the steps, lined the sea of plush carpets stretching before them, their royal fibers unequaled on all the earth. The processional included secretaries Elihoreph and Ahijah; the recorder, Johoshaphat, son of Ahilud; Zabud, son of Nathan, a priest and trusted adviser; Ahishar, who cared for the palace; all bedecked in lavish imported mantles of silk. Their heavily inlaid headpieces glittered from the bands of precious stones, emeralds, sapphires, and garnets. Flouncing behind in the promenade were handmaidens, hair cascading in ringlets where it rested on bare shoulders, flushed from moisture of the virgin oil of olives lathered on their subtle skin. Great paddled palms moved to and fro, their rustling stirring a welcome breeze. Still immobile behind were instruments, lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps announcing the King’s arrival. On the back of the first flute player rode a miniscule monkey replete with tiny brass castanets he clanged as his tail twitched and swayed in rhythm with the revelry.
As the procession took their places among the colonnade, a plumed attendant carrying a festooned standard stepped out in accord with the shrill sound of a single silver trumpet. The cloaked form moved steadily along the cultured crystalline marble of the court. His majestic robe was a tail behind his confident stature. The King from the tribe of Judah was sovereign over the room. He strode up the half dozen steps beside the crouching stone-faced images leading to the throne. Upon reaching its ivory towering form he lowered himself onto the opulent coverings high above the room. He was as comfortable in this environment as a lion amongst his pride.
“You have been called before me this day to hear my words of admonition and knowledge,” his clear confident voice began. “Today I make them known to you, even to you, that your trust may be in the Lord, Jehovah.” His eyes scanned the uncertain faces of the youth. Whether they actually comprehended his introduction, could not be accessed. Their faces were ashen with fear, their brows damp as their humble heads bowed under the weight of the kingly air they attempted to take in. “In order that you might give a true answer to those who sent you,” his words continued, “to show you what is right and true. For this reason, I have written. Prepare to receive the thirty sayings I will now present to you.”
Shuffling occurred as the group of able young gentleman repositioned themselves to best hear and scribe the wisdom of the King. From many nations they had come to witness and receive the judgment and opinion of the great Solomon. Charged with reporting his words to those who sent them, there would be no room for error in dot or dittle. With each quill secure between their fingers, each head tilted in concentration. Each heart beat with anticipation. For the second time that morning, no sound filled the chamber.
From within the silence came the deep voice of a practiced statesman, “Do not rob the poor,” he began, his hands outstretched as if allowing the truth like oil to drip from his fingertips onto the awaiting pages. “Do not rob them because they are poor or crush those afflicted at the gate.” His right hand rose above those seated to the direction of the city gate where the elders met with the people to settle disputes.
This was not a new concept, that of caring for the poor. His father, David, had written about it in his psalms. “My whole being will exclaim, ‘Who is like you, O LORD?’ You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them."
Warmth that began in the chambers of his heart flowed forth as he spoke. So touched was he by his heavenly father, he was afflicted to the core by His maker for the underprivileged of the kingdom. He knew his Lord would judge those who oppressed them. Had not Moses written instructions to leave the gleanings of the field for the poor? His voice melted as he completed the first of his admonitions, “for the Lord will plead their cause and despoil of life those who despoil them.”
It is no wonder that of the thirty admonitions, this was the first. Just over a thousand years later, the Messiah, the Christ would ask thrice require of his disciple Peter, if you love me, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.
The early appeal of this noble king to care for the poor weighed heavily upon the young charges. Their embellished coverings, girded with richly embroidered ribbons, revealing that they were not from humble regimes, made them anxious to move on to other less convicting words. They shifted, straightening their backs, nervously looking amongst their selves for reassurance. Surely the wisdom of the exalted Solomon could bear more than the burden of the poor.
They could not grasp that upon this firm foundation would one day be built the church and it would be said that, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
“Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man.” Was the second admonition from the inspired King? He followed, “lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” These leaders in training could have expected to hear this from the King. Their preparation included reading his other writings which spoke of the “hot tempered paying with penalty”, of their “stirring up dissension”, and “committing many sins”. Conversely, Solomon had written that the “patient calms a quarrel”. There was no surprise in these wise words; just as there had been none in the first. Would anything original come from this day? Or rather, were his teachings to be a compilation of the words some had read daily in the Tanakh?
As he settled in beneath the cedar panels of Lebanon, stretching to heights equaled only in the temple, he was in the place of comfort from which he commonly spoke with authority. The king’s words came with fluidity, “Be not one of those who gives pledges, who become surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you,” echoed warnings of the king that those would suffer who strike hands in pledge and that they would lack judgment by putting up security for others. It was grandiose words which stated “if you have put up security for debt it could lead to debt or slavery for yourself.”
The next words chilled the future generation of noblemen. “Remove not the ancient landmark which our fathers have set.” From the Tanakh they had read, “Cursed is the one who moves the ancient landmark.” Some had been taught since their early years of carefree childhood that the land belongs to the Lord. Legend told of the Year of Jubilee when the land reverted back to the origin. No permanent ownerships existed in the land of milk and honey. All land would be redeemed and returned to the Lord. The landmarks were a holy standard. How predictable was it that this subject be amongst the first five presented by this king?
As the blood still tingled in their veins, the king continued. “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” Surely their palms became clammy as within they quaked at these words. Here they were, commissioned by leaders of nations to appear before the infamous King Solomon. Commissioned to write his words. Commissioned to heed the wisdom of his age. Here the king himself was admonishing them that skillful men will stand before the likes of kings. They will not stand before obscure men.
It was the most skillful who had been chosen to craft the implements of the new temple; the three-tiered bronze altar and great basin for washing, supported by twelve bronze oxen; and the pillars on which were carved cherubim, lilies, and pomegranates. King Solomon knew of whom he spoke as he referenced skillful talent.
The king peered upon them. “You, even you here today, you are chosen for such a time as this.” They were to take back to their jurisdiction knowledge unequaled by any authority thus far on earth. The wisdom imparted by the Yahweh, the Jehovah-Sabaoth, Lord of hosts of the nation of Israel was superior to any witnessed to that day. Their presence in court on this day was an honor. They would take these thirty impartations to the rulers of their subsequent tribes and nations who in turn would impart them to their subjects. As they wrote the last of the words, “will stand before kings,” each relaxed the hold on their quill hoping to strengthen the hold on their understanding.
At this point the speaker stood and began to pace, strolling between the great statues flanking his throne. His hand rested on the head the beast of stone which stood resolutely beside his station. He turned, continuing in the same rhythmic voice from which he had left off. “When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,” he recounted as his hands took in the greatness of the room from glassy floors to haughty rafters. “And put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.”
Although they took in his thoughts and catalogued his words, their youthfulness prohibited the gentlemen from fully understanding. Knowing that a city is only exalted when the ruler is blessed by being upright in his actions had been established by his own father, David as he prayed to not be tempted by the dainties of the unrighteous and those who work iniquity. How odd it must have been to watch this king govern amidst opulent surroundings as he admonished the youth regarding the want of such things. A great wisdom was being dispensed that could only be understood from the inside looking out.
As he stroked another of the sculptured lions, the king expounded concerning wealth. “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be wise enough to desist. When your eyes light upon it, it is gone” he clapped, showing the emptiness of his palms. “For suddenly”, flittering his wiry arms like that of a bird, “it takes to itself wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” Surely the king did not condemn the kingdom of wealth which lay before him. Riches enough to fill fleets of ships had been gifted him by kings, queens, and rulers from as far off as Ethiopia.
It was the greed and hoarding that the king was repudiating and it would be the love of wealth that the one to come from his lineage of root of Jesse, who would one day address saying, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.”
One might ponder if the apostle Paul had not studied these words of Solomon in the Proverbs when he wrote to Timothy, “But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”
The king returned to his cushioned throne, his piercing eyes searching as he continued with the line of thought, “Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;” he coached in a commanding tone. “Do not desire his delicacies;” The emphasis was on “desire”. The delicacies need not be expounded upon for they lined the room from the golden chalice of wine before the king, to his bejeweled crown, his signet ring, and the crimson tapestries which draped him as he addressed them.
“For he is like one who is inwardly reckoning. ‘Eat and drink!’ he says to you; but his heart is not with you.” The king spoke from experience. He had entertained those who dissembled with their lips as they laid up deceit. He knew not to believe their fair speech. He had encountered the seven abominations of man’s heart. “You will vomit up the morsels which you have eaten,” he detailed. “And waste your pleasant words.” His words may have intended to say what later the Messiah would recount to the multitude, saying, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.”
Certainly the Christ’s words would have applied to the morsel of wisdom, “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.” For the king knew that fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge, yet the fool despises wisdom and instruction. He had spoken before of how wisdom pleads “how long ye simple ones?” as she wondered at how long the fools would hate knowledge.
Then, as if he had forgotten previously addressing such, or perhaps for emphasis, the king bent forward, his sandaled feet cushioned beneath him. He leaned, the fullness of his sleek torso stretching as he directed the words downward to his audience. “Do not remove an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless;” his voice bellowed deep and resonated through the massive chamber. “For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause against you.” His lanky forefinger pointed towards them as his words placed judgment.
The same Jehovah that imparted this truth into the heart, soul, and mind of Solomon would guide the prophet Jeremiah to write, “Thus saith Jehovah: Execute ye justice and righteousness, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.” Zechariah also would write, “And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.”
With a deep sigh, the king gathered up his velvety regalia and sunk into the depth of his place in the pearly palace. His intense eyes searched the towering cedars for strength. The ruddy hardness of his face softened as the reflection of the candelabras shone across his sun-tanned skin. That same spirit of the Lord which had blessed this king with an understanding heart stirred within his soul. There had never been, nor would there ever be, another who could discern between good and evil as could King Solomon. While he paused to refresh his heavy heart, the weight of his words lingered over the auditorium like the smoky flames on the torches. Stiff legs and arms ached to reposition themselves, yet, not one muscle moved as the room absorbed the stillness.
Then as if choreographed, all in one, the king snapped his fingers, a shapely maiden brought an ornate tray overflowing with fruit, the company adjusted their posture, and the dark eyed monkey screeched and scampered across the floor. As the king picked out a plump grape from among the bounty of figs and walnuts from Capernaum, he continued on with counsel. “Apply your mind to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge,” he began after lifting the chalice to drink. Solomon knew of his gifting of wisdom. He had petitioned the Lord of Israel to grant him an understanding to judge his people after being anointed king by the prophet Nathan. His proverbs bid the reader pay attention to the head and apply wisdom to their heart. He believed that the ears of the wise would seek knowledge.
“Do not withhold discipline from a child,” he advised, fanning the cup bearer away. “If you beat him with a rod, he will not die.” The rod being suggested was discipline. Though gentle, he believed that there was hope in a chastise and that the Lord his God would reprove those in turn that He loved. “My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad,” he said with a twinkle. His mouth formed into a crescent as his rolling beard curled around it. “My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.” With that retort, his whole face glistened and for the first time since he had begun speaking, his white teeth shone from under the man’s manicured mustache. The joy he spoke of which came when a son is good testimony to his father spilled forth in melodious waves not unlike ocean foam. The wisdom Solomon sought in his youth still brought him pleasure in maturity.
His golden glee faded to solemn grey as he checked his scroll. “Let not your heart envy sinners,” he recited from his own neatly penned words. “But continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.” Perhaps he was recalling the words of his father, “Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in Jehovah, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.” Did David’s admonition bring on the lack luster lament or was Solomon’s sorrowful heart assessing some evils of his own that now haunted him? “Surely there is future,” his voice trailed slightly as he mused, “and your hope will not be cut off,” came an assurance that seemed as steadfast and assuring to him as it was to the ears of those in attendance.
“Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way. Be not among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.” The charismatic commentator would visit this life lesson later with intensity. For now, he must have felt that the words were enough to stand on their own before these souls with their youthful minds and exuberant expectations.
“Hearken to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” He could have added: “Get wisdom, get understanding; Forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth; Forsake her not, and she will preserve thee; Love her, and she will keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; yea, with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote thee; she will bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her. She will give to thy head a chaplet of grace; A crown of beauty will she deliver to thee,” but did not. He simply continued on concerning the nature of righteousness in the family.
“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad, let her who bore you rejoice.” His countenance strengthened. The parchment rested on his lap as he bellowed. “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. For a harlot is a deep pit; an adventuress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the faithless among men.”
He rose and descended two steps, cupping his finely manicured hands to his ears as if to bring deeper understanding to the words. He touched his eyes that they might understand that the words would not soon depart if they could see them through his own seasoned sight. He touched his heart where he believed the words should be stored amid the greatest of diligence. At the third step, he scooted the sole of his sandal along the glassy stone, gesturing to make level the path of their feet that their ways should be established.
He set his feet fast at the fourth step, raising the scroll like a sword. In a booming voice he orated, “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause?” he questioned. Then his piercing gaze fell upon each of their wide-eyed faces. “Who has redness of eye?” He demanded as their now crimson cheeks collectively revealed repentance as they anticipated the direction of his thoughts.
“Those who tarry long over wine, those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.” By now the king had transcended the balance of the steps and those scribing shifted to make a narrow path for his robed grandeur. Was he chiding them to rescue them from passions he too wrestled with, or had he witnessed their jolly at the grand jovial feast last eve? Whichever, or if it was both, there was no doubt that the king felt intensely about this subject.
As the rolling layers of his royal robe swept the floor, his exotic fragrance lingered and danced in their nostrils. His thunderous tirade pierced the perfumed portico, “At last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder,” he spit out with disdain. “Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on top of a mast. ‘They struck me.’ You will say, ‘but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.”
Captured in a statuesque stare, in a fearful freeze and breathless, the onlookers watched as the king marched up the stairs whisked a chalice to his lips and resolutely took a lingering sip of wine, replacing the cup on its tray.
“Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of mischief,” he continued as the confused youth exchanged timid glances, not quite grasping the connection between the soliloquy on drunkenness and the eloquent display of discipline regarding its consumption.
“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.” The king had resumed his refinement at the throne, content with the point he had delivered. It had in action been a skillful witness to self-control. “By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”
Who would better know of riches than King Solomon? He housed fourteen hundred chariots. His stables held twelve thousand horses. He had revenues from merchants and tradesmen from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land. He imported from Egypt and exported to all the kings of the Hittites and Arameans. As a result of his wisdom, he made silver as common as stones and cedar as plentiful as were the sycamore-figs in the foothills of Judah.
It would be his hope that as maturity came upon these hearers; they would understand that the house he spoke of could be family, tribe, or kingdom. The precious and pleasant riches that would fill the rooms need not be material in nature. He had learned from Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God of King David, his father that all riches come from above. As the prophet Isaiah said, “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.”
“A wise man is mightier than a strong man, and a man of knowledge than he who has strength; for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.” The king must have had respect for his advisors as he had written
“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure,” on other occasions. He also held the opinion that a fool’s eyes wander the earth, so it was expected when with purpose he continued, “Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth.”
Nor had his writings been too kind to those who make it their business to cause trouble. The Lord, Jehovah, does not want His people to grow weary under their opposition, yet, He will not tolerate their kind.
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans that “since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse…Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.”
And so, too, King Solomon, in his wisdom spoke retribution of that kind of man. “He who plans to do evil will be called a mischief-maker. The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to men. If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” At that, the backs of several on the floor straightened. They did not want the noble king Solomon to think of them as slothful. The highest quality of student from surrounding kinships was here represented. There was to be no weakness perceived in their troop.
Regarding the foot soldier, the king’s message stayed on theme as he followed with, “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” In his realm, these were his duties. The weak and needy were under his charge. Only an inadequate ruler would allow them to be oppressed. “If you say, Behold, we did not know this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not requite man according to his work?”
One would guess that these questions might have plagued the beloved king over his reign. The king is commissioned to know what happens under his jurisdiction. The Lord in heaven, the one who weighs the intents of the heart, the one watching over each man’s soul will know how they treated the downtrodden. He alone will receive their accounting.
Perceiving that the youths were becoming restless from the threat of judgment regarding use of power, he relaxed his stance. Under the layers of his finely fashioned garment, Solomon crossed his ankles and drew a deep, calming breath. “My son,” he sang out with a compassionate tone, “eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.” His words flowed forth like those of a father fellowshipping over fruit, the nectar lovingly laced with words from above. “Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.”
Oh, but the sugar had not yet satisfied their tongues when the bitter came oozing in contrast. “Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do not violence to his home; for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.”
“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.”
“Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked; for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.”
For those who had been numbering the document, they anticipated the last and final of the thirty sayings. Would it come with fan fare? Neither his manner nor mood changed as this session neared end. Residing on his throne, steady in passion, steady in countenance, steady in tone, it was just another day in the court of Solomon.
His days grew into years as he lived out the words of Moses, concerning the decrees and laws of Jehovah, “Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” Perhaps Solomon would have embraced the words of James when he said, “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.”
So, enveloped by the majesty of his spectacular ivory throne, overlaid in gold and encamped by a throng of statuesque lions, the king whose audience was sought from the entire world round, as promised, delivered forth the thirtieth of his admonitions.
“My son, fear the Lord and the king.” He paused after both “Lord” and “king”. “And do not disobey either of them; for disaster from them will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?”
Knowing the heart of the Lord sanctioned Solomon to admonish this of these citizens to a throne. And it was of that just cause and authority that Christ spoke when He said, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes--from their own sons or from others?" "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt. But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."
So, also, knowing the heart and will of the Lord led Paul to write in Romans, “ Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”
Knowing the heart of God gave the Apostle Peter the knowledge to write, “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”
As the assembly was over, the young men mingled, collecting their cloaks, and departing from the presence of the King. They did not speak. Instead, they walked with purpose and direction. Where their paths went from there we are not privileged to know. We can only imagine that their days forth with were enriched by the wisdom imparted this day. Accepted as righteous were the words of this man. His reputation as an orator, a statesman, had brought them before him. They had received what he presented. Tucked deep within their tunics were the parchments abounding with the words he had delivered.
May each of us take from King Solomon a better understanding of the treasures found in that thing called “wisdom”. May we too seek it as a gift delivered from the creator of the universe, whom the young child Solomon appeared before and prayed, “Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
…“ 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.”
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