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welcome to everyone if you would take your Bibles and turn to psalm 119 for our call to worship excuse me psalm 119 we'll read the section 97 verse 97 to 104 oh how I love your law it is my meditation all the day you through your Commandments make me wiser than my enemies for they are ever with me I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation I understand more than the ancients because I keep your precepts I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep your word I have not departed from your judgments for you yourself have taught me how sweet are your words to my taste sweeter than honey to my mouth through your precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way Amen well please take your Trinity Salter and turn to Psalm 47 Psalm 47 will use a familiar tune please stand with me as we sing [Music] well let us pray our God and our Father we gather together on the Sabbath day and we come to praise your great and awesome name we acknowledge that you are from everlasting to everlasting we acknowledge that you are most high most wondrous most glorious and most worthy to be praised we confess that you alone are God the true and living God even Father Son and Holy Spirit we acknowledge your handiwork in the created order we acknowledge your majesty and sovereignty sovereignty in your providence and we see your grace and your mercy revealed to us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ how we thank you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him help us to be a thankful people help us as we sing tonight to sing with hearts that are truly full of joy as we contemplate the great truths that we return unto you as well our Father help us to esteem and revere your word the way the psalmist exemplifies in psalm 119 may we see that word as that means by which you sanctify us may we see that word as the means by which we learn of our God that we grow in the Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through an understanding of the word by the Ministry and the power of the Holy Spirit help us Most High to be a faithful and a diligent people under you we confess our sins to you now Lord God for whenever we gather before a holy God we're mindful of our own unholiness we see our own sinfulness and our own our own waywardness and truly the solvent or the hymn writer was right when he said that we're prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love we have transgressed your law we have lacked conformity unto it and we plead the merit and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ how we thank you that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared how we thank you that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness how we thank you Lord God Almighty you've taken our sins and that you have cast them into the depths of the sea may these things encourage us not to go out and sin but to pursue holiness and righteousness and those things that are pleasing in your sight and to that end father we do desire the Ministry of the Holy Spirit not just as we gather here for worship tonight not just for illumination as we consider the Word of God but we may we know his presence and power in our daily lives for God we live in a world that is filled with evil that it's filled with temptation we have our own remaining corruption and I pray that you would just equip us all to walk in righteousness to walk before you our God we ask that you would look with favor on any and all who come to this church that are unsaved we know that it's not or it is impossible with men to save a soul but with you all things are possible so we would ask you to open hearts and cause sinners to see the glory of Jesus Christ as he's revealed clearly in the gospel we ask that you'd bless other churches in our community we thank you that we're not alone here we thank you that there are others that are about preaching the truth and seeking to worship God with reverence and with honor we do pray that you would prosper and bless them that you would grant grace to them Lord God and cause them to know the nearness of God as their good we pray for our sister church in Surrey we thank you that we're been blessed to see your handiwork in the establishment of another local church we pray for pastor Kirkpatrick and for the Brethren there that they would know your goodness to them that they would see sinners saved by the Ministry of the gospel and that the people of God would be more and more conformed unto the image of Jesus Christ we pray for all of the church plants associated with ARCA it was a great encouragement to hear and to see what you are doing in these various places around the world we ask God that you would continue to build your church we have the shoreward of promise from our Lord that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it and in this we are greatly encouraged we ask that you would be merciful to the governing authorities to those who have charged over us we it's a difficult task we know it's a task that that no man has he quit for by nature we pray that you would grant wisdom we pray that you would grant help and strength that you wouldn't in the first place grant grace that these men these women that are in high places of government would kiss the son would bow to the Lord Jesus and would know the joy of being found in him and God we do pray for a day in which the tines of sins that we see not only practiced but subsidized would be done away with we long for the day when there is a regard for human life for the image bearers of God and that abortion and euthanasia would not be practiced we would pray Lord God Almighty that you would move the hearts of your people to be a prayerful people to be a people of the word of God and may we indeed shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and may you give us the boldness and the courage to hold forth the word of truth we ask these things for your glory and we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you can turn in your Trinity hymnals to number 4 46 4 4 6 again we'll stand as we sing together [Music] well please turn in your Bibles to the Book of Jonah will read Jonah chapter one this evening I'm sure that we're all quite familiar with the prophet Jonah essentially what we have in these four chapters in Chapter 1 his flight from God the Lord gave him a particular mission and he rejected and resisted and he left secondly his rescue by God in Chapter two thirdly his mission for God in Chapter three and then ultimately his anger with God in chapter four and the book certainly underscores the graciousness and the kindness and the mercy of our God not least of all to Jonah but certainly to Nineveh was probably written in the early part of the eighth century BC Jonah was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom but as I had mentioned or have mentioned the Prophet the the target of prophecy in this book is Nineveh so beginning in Jonah chapter one at verse one now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of amitai saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry out against it for their wickedness has come up before me but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord but the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken up then the Mariners were afraid and every man cried out to his God and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load but Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship and laying down and was fast asleep so the captain came to him and said to him what do you mean sleeper arise call on your God perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish and they said to one another come let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come on us so they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah then they said to him please tell us for whose cause is this trouble upon us what is your occupation and where do you come from what is your country and of what people are you so he said to them I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him why have you done this for the men knew that he had fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them then they said to him what shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us for the sea was growing more tempestuous and he said to them pick me up and throw me into the sea then the sea will become calm for you for I know that this great tempest is because of me nevertheless the men rode hard to return to land but they could not for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them therefore they cried out to the Lord and said we pray O Lord please do not let us perish for this man's life and do not charge us with innocent blood for you O Lord have done as it pleased you so they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered sacrifice to the Lord and took vows amen will you see here Jonah has good theology but very bad practice in verse 3 we are told that he flees to go from the presence of the Lord when he answers these Mariners in verse 9 he says I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land he is in fact the God of heaven he did in fact make the sea and the dry land this much is true his confession of faith is good but his practice is terrible this is not the fear of the Lord the fear of the Lord is not to run from the presence of God to resist his will or to reject what He commands in terms of mission this is just the opposite and we see that these particular Mariners actually see more of it's mercy and appreciate God's grace in that in their situation notice specifically they cast themselves upon the merciful sovereignty of God at the end of verse 14 for you O Lord have done as it pleased you and then they picked up Jonah threw him into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows so Jonah has good theology but terrible practice no doubt these Ninevites had terrible theology but they have good practice in terms of turning unto Yahweh in this particular way well let us pray our Father we thank you for the written word of God we thank you for the prophets and for the entirety of the Old Testament and what it instructs us concerning you the same message that we find in our New Testaments that there is but one only the true and the Living God we thank you for your grace we thank you for your mercy we thank you for your sovereignty and the fact that you are the God of heaven that you are the God who made the seas in the dry land you are the God who made man in his own image and I pray she would help us to see these truths as a reason for us to worship and to glorify you and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final him before the preaching you can turn again to your Trinity hymnal number 54 hymn number 54 will stand as we sing together [Music] well you can turn in your Bibles to first Kings chapter three first Kings chapter three we actually have two texts tonight I hope to start and we are starting a series on the book of Proverbs proverbs is filled with practical wisdom for the people of God in proverbs chapter one verse one starts off this way the Proverbs of Solomon the son of David king of Israel so I thought it would be helpful for us to get our minds wrapped around the sort of man that is going to be teaching us through the Proverbs in other words what are his credentials why is he a man skilled in wisdom and gifted and able to write a book a collection of Proverbs and to educate the people of God in both covenants the old and the new well first Kings chapter 3 tells us why and I'll begin reading in verse 1 now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married Pharaoh's daughter then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord in the wall all around Jerusalem 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 the statutes of his father David except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there for that was the great high place Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar 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 and 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 then God said to him because you have asked this thing and have not asked long life for yourself nor have asked riches for yourself nor have asked the life of your enemies but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice behold I have done according to your words see I have given you a wise and understanding heart so that there has not been anyone like you before you nor shall any like you arise after you and I have also given you what you have not asked both riches and honour so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings of all your days so if you walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my Commandments as your father David walked then I will lengthen your days and solve them and awoke and indeed it had been a dream and he came to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord offered up burnt offerings offered peace offerings and made a feast for all his servants now to women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him and one woman said o 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 third day after I had given birth that this woman also gave birth and we were together no one was with us in the house except the two of us in the house and this woman's son died in the night because she lay on him so she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your maidservant slap and laid him in her bosom and later dead child in my bosom and when I rose in the morning to nurse my son there he was dead but when 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 one is my son and the dead one is your son and the first woman said no but the dead one is your son and the living one is my son thus they spoke before the king and the King said the one says this is my son who lives and your son is the dead one and the other says no but your son is the dead one and my son is the living one then the King said bring me a sword so they brought a sword before the king and the King said divide the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king for she yearned with compassion for her son and she said o my lord give her the living child and by no means kill him but the other said let him be neither mine nor yours but divided him so the King answered and said give the first woman the living child and by no means kill him she is his mother 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 amen let us pray our Father we thank you for the written word we thank you for the wisdom of Solomon we thank you for the wisdom of the greater than Solomon even our Lord Jesus Christ the one in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden how we thank you that we have access to truth through the Scriptures and the spirit and how we pray that you would help us to seek these things help us in our prayers and in our petitions to ask you for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and for wisdom so that we may know how we ought to conduct ourselves before God and with relationship to our fellow men thank you for your word and thank you for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit send him now and guide us now and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well the book of Proverbs is for the most part ascribed to Solomon essentially what we have in Proverbs in chapters one to nine is a prologue of sorts and then we have the Proverbs of Solomon collected in chapter 10 verse 1 to chapter 22 verse 16 then we have the words of the wise in two sections 20 to 224 and then further sayings of the wise in 24 and then we have the Solomonic Proverbs of Solomon 'ok proverbs collected by Hezekiah smen added to that particular book in chapters 25 to 29 and then we have the words of agar in chapter 30 and the words of Lemuel in chapter 31 now having come out of a study in the book of James we ought to appreciate the value of wisdom James tells us in James 1 that we ought to seek from God for wisdom he describes to us what wisdom looks like in James chapter 3 and so what better place to go than to the book of Proverbs for a collection and embodiment of practical sage advice from a godly man and as I said we ought to survey his credentials and I think first Kings 3 furnishes that for us now first Kings 3 breaks down into two sections first we have the prayer for wisdom in verses 1 to 15 and then secondly the proof of wisdom in verses 16 to 28 let's look in the first place at the prayer for wisdom the occasion is given to us in verses 1 to 4 he marries Pharaoh's daughter now this was most likely politically motivated this was a way by which Kings would multiply sort of benefit with other Kings and in a way that they would sort of shore up alliances now I submit that this is probably already foreshadowing solomon's downfall in chapter 11 later on here in 1st Kings 3 it will refer to Solomon worshiping at the high places again though Solomon is great up until chapter 11 there are these seeds given to us along the way so that when we get to chapter 11 and the great fall or decline of Solomon it doesn't take us completely unawares he multiplied wipes which was a prohibited by Deuteronomy 17 in terms of the Kings they were not supposed to multiply wives they were not supposed to multiply weapons a wealth rather and they were not supposed to multiply weapons they were supposed to have a standing army and be able to defend but they weren't supposed to be like the Kings around them so already we see here embedded in the tax something that will arise later there's more marriage to foreign women that would ultimately lead him astray but nevertheless that's the occasion here and we see that that Solomon is a man who does worship and a man who does love God notice in verses 3 and 4 Solomon loved the Lord walking in the statutes of his father David except that he sacrificed and burned incense in or at the high places and it's intriguing because at the birth of Solomon we see that the Lord loved him in second Samuel chapter 12 you remember that Solomon was the son of King David and of Bathsheba back in chapter 2 we see that Solomon gets the throne in first Kings first Kings chapter 2 David gives him a charge in verses 1 to 4 essentially telling him to be obedient to the law of God and then the remainder of the chapter is the elimination of the Kings enemies in other words we ought to secure power by getting rid of those men that would cause a problem for the kingdom if you are troubled by that I know we dealt with it when we went through first Kings that it was in fact a righteous practice of Solomon to do that very thing but he was a lover of Yahweh and Yahweh loved em now note the prayer of Solomon in verses 5 to 9 and the occasion for this is God's grace notice in verse 5 at Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and God said ask what shall I give you our Lord God is benevolent our Lord God is generous our Lord God is good our Lord God is gracious I fear at times we the people of God have a view of God as if he's in ebenezer scrooge as if he's some sort of a miser as if he only sort of doles out little portions of goodness to his people when the opposite is precisely the case in fact look back for a moment at 2nd Samuel chapter 11 second Samuel chapter 11 just above a bitter reminder about David's Solomon's father David in chapter 11 David commits the sins of adultery and murder and in Chapter 12 the Prophet Nathan rebukes him and the Prophet tells him a particular story that incenses the king he gets upset and then Nathan says thou art the man and then God threw Nathan says this 12:7 Nathan said to David you are the man thus says the Lord God of Israel i anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you from the hand of Saul I gave you your master's house and your masters wives into your keeping and gave you the house of Israel and Judah and if that had been too little I also would have given you much more you see that is our God not the sort of thing where we go to him say I want summerhouses I want new boats I want all kinds of cars but God is beneficent there is abundance with God thou art coming to a king large petitions with the brain we sing that from our hymn book we come to a God who doesn't just dole out things in a miserly sort of way but he comes to Solomon here in 1st Kings 3:5 and he says what shall I give you now note Solomon's prayer he understands something of his God David had certainly taught him well and we would expect as much from a man like David who was a god fear no verse said Solomon said you have shown great mercy to your servant David my father because he walked before you in truth and 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 he acknowledges God's faithfulness God's mercy God's kindness to David he acknowledges the Covenant made by God with David in terms of a son to sit upon the throne he as well acknowledges or recognizes the faithfulness of God as it had been expressed to David as it had been expressed to Israel as a whole and think this is a very helpful model for us in terms of prayer as we come to God and we rehearse his faithfulness what does this do it ascribes praise to God for said faithfulness but it encourages us to pray in light of his faithfulness in other words as we rehearse who God is then our petitions naturally follow when we understand what God is about we ought to then go boldly to the throne of grace in other words who God is demands a prayerful people a people that are bold at the throne of grace Davis says Solomon's prayer then is a proclamation of the faithfulness of God his prayer begins with praise of Yahweh's dependability that is proper in itself God should be so praised but it is also useful for the pray earth for as we praise in prayer we are encouraged in petition I love that as we praise in prayer we are encouraged in petition for we realize as we rehearse Yahweh's record that we are coming to a faithful God praise then becomes the basis of confidence he goes on to say it is this remembering that nurtures both gratitude and confidence so we rehearse the faithfulness of God and in that we show our gratitude for that faithfulness but it also provokes that confidence in God as we consider what he's done in the past we see that he is able and capable and faithful to hear our prayers and to answer on our behalf now note the acknowledgement of his need in verses 7 & 8 he says now O Lord my God you have made your servant King instead of my father David but I am a little child now I don't believe that he's a young man at this particular juncture I mean it might be a young man but he's not a little child sort of a man this isn't a reference to his age rather it is a reference to his experience imagine assuming the throne of is real after David that's a tough act to follow by anyone I mean David was a man after God's own heart David ruled a consolidated Kingdom David was the one responsible for establishing Jerusalem as both political and religious capital in Israel I mean David was indeed the man David administered the kingdom with great justice and with equity and righteousness now David wasn't perfect as we've just alluded to in second Samuel 11 and 12 but you can see why Solomon would admit this I am a child a little child when it comes to experience necessary for running the kingdom of God John Gill said it is best therefore to interpret this of the sense he had of the weakness of his understanding and of his incapacity for government as the next Clause explains it I know not how to go out or come in in the administration of government to execute his office as king in an allusion to Shepherds as Kings are sometimes called going in and out before their sheep so may I just suggest by way of a practical observation one of the things that credentials Solomon as a teacher for us with reference to wisdom was his recognition that he lacked wisdom I don't want a man who's super proud a man who's super full of himself in a man who is dazzled by his learning to be the educator but rather Solomon saw his inadequacy Solomon saw his emptiness Solomon saw that he was not up to the job at that particular time so Solomon does what a truly wise man does he asks he asks God for wisdom this is good now notice the focus of his petition is also noteworthy he doesn't want wisdom so he can be the wisest King among the kings in the ancient Near East he doesn't want wisdom so that he can be the most prosperous he doesn't want wisdom so the Queen of Sheba will come and Marvel and bring him gifts rather he wants wisdom so that he can prop administer the kingdom of God towards his request for wisdom is others oriented it's not terminating on himself it's not all about me notice in verses 7 & 8 now o Lord my God you have made your servant King instead of my father David but I'm 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 accounted 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 you see Solomon wants this wisdom so that he can properly engage in the task ahead of him he has all the proper motivation when he comes to the throne of grace to fetch out wisdom from on high now notice specifically how God responds the Lord God is pleased with this verse 10 the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing you want to please God tomorrow morning in your prayer ask for wisdom I don't know if it's your experience but as I get older I find myself asking for wisdom a lot more than I did when I was younger I don't know if that is your experience it might be your experience if it's not your experience considering I think when we're young we don't really see the need we have for wisdom we think we're all right we think we're pretty sharp we think that we're pretty good and we think that everything's under control but as you get older you start to realize how little you actually know and how much wisdom you actually do not possess and so James becomes real practical in your own heart and in your own life and at the throne of grace if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach the Lord God is good and he grants these things it is therefore and I say this reverently the taking we go to God with this petition and we see that this is the kind of petition that actually pleases God the Lord is pleased with this that Solomon didn't ask for more money for more wives for more weapons for more palaces for more boundary in terms of the the kingdom that he rules over know he wants wisdom so that he may properly administrate the kingdom of God Almighty and then notice as well verse 11 it's a long sentence then God said to him because you have asked this thing and if not asked long life for yourself nor have asked riches for yourself nor have asked the life of your enemies but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice behold I have done according to your words see I have given you a wise and understanding heart so that there has not been anyone like you before you nor shall any like you arise after you in other words so on and you ask for wisdom I've given you wisdom Solomon you want to know how to both go in and come out how to rule over my people Israel I have given that to you but then notice as well in verses 13 and 14 and I have also given you what you have not asked both riches and honor so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days so if you walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my Commandments as your father David walk then I will lengthen your days now certainly you should appreciate Matthew 6 in this connection you know Matthew 6 our Lord Jesus is cautioning the people of God against carnal anxiety there's a four-fold do not worry that Jesus speaks to with reference to the people of God and one of his illustrations is the lilies of the field they neither toil nor spin and yet they're more glorious than even Solomon himself so Solomon is in the mind of Christ there in Matthew chapter 6 and what's the overarching principle there in Matthew chapter 6 seek first the kingdom of God then these things will be given unto you in other words you make your life about a priority and your priority ought to be the kingdom of God and when you are prioritizing the kingdom of God you don't have to worry about what you're gonna eat you don't have to worry about what you're gonna wear you certainly don't have to worry about tomorrow because if your priority structure is straight the Lord God is going to look after the rest the same sort of thing is functioning here Solomon wants wisdom in order to administer the the kingdom of God Solomon wants wisdom in order to do for the glory of God and on that note the Lord God says I'm also going to give you all these other things I am gonna benefit you I am gonna prosper you I am gonna give these things unto you so you see the parallel between Matthew 6 and 1st Kings chapter 3 now notice there's a sacrifice offered up by Solomon in verse 15 to sort of ratify the situation and then we move on secondly to the proof of wisdom the proof of wisdom verse 16 starts with now and now connects us very intimately with what has preceded oh it's Solomon asked for wisdom God said he gave him wisdom now this particular situation comes let's see if Solomon has wisdom in order to be able to deal with this particular situation so you see the connection between the two sections of the of the chapter there is a prayer for wisdom and now there is a proof of wisdom here are his credentials being shown to us in terms of a real-life case concerning the death of Assad we see the death of a son in verses 16 to 22 the judgment of Solomon in verses 23 to 27 and then the chapter ends with the response of Israel in verse 28 but notice in verse 16 now two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him we ought to appreciate that wisdom takes into account all people wisdom does not say I'm going to administer justice to this band of very wealthy people I am going to look after my donor base I am going to take care of those people that are in the you know 1% I'm gonna look at after just those people that can affect me on my throne these are two harlots these are the lowest of society and Solomon's wisdom applies to them Van Kamran makes this observation he says the pursuit of justice right justice and equity is an expression of royal wisdom it is also ecumenical an ecumenical there means general or universal in the sense that the King cannot be obligated to one part of the country or to one class of people over against another the story of the two prostitutes demonstrates that Solomon was truly concerned with wise judgment for all people you see that happens in a body politic doesn't it those persons that are marginalized are those persons that everybody looks down upon don't always get a fair shake they don't always get the sort of justice that other people have poor people more often than not cannot afford good legal representation and as a result they are often not dealt with well in the court system not in Solomon's Israel even if you were a harlot you had access to the wisest man on the face of the earth at that particular time and that wise man would administrate justice for you there would be equity for you there would be righteousness for you so we come to listen to Solomon today because the man speaks to every single one of us he doesn't marginalize people he doesn't leave people behind but rather he cares he's concerned with doing the will of God as God's vice-regent over Israel now note the particular situation in verses 17 to 22 these two harlots share a home they share a house harlot number one for lack of a better identifier I guess we'll call her the plaintiff in verse 17 one 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 third day after I had given birth that this woman also gave birth and we were together no one was with us in the house except the two of us in the house she says that over and over again almost alerting us to the reality of Deuteronomy 19:15 you need two or three witnesses to properly adjudicate a case there aren't two or three witnesses here what Solomon going to do I think we're a little shorted or gypped because we know how this all turns out but if we had never heard the story and we took it piece by piece by piece step by step by step scene by scene we'd ask the question how is he going to deal with this there is no witness there is no third party there's not a third pilot sharing this particular house there is a plaintiff and there is a defendant there is only one way that is good that a man is going to be able to get to the bottom of this and it is through Wiis dump and so let's see how Solomon responds notice the death of the son in verse 19 this woman's son died in the night because she lay on him now there's really no way the plaintiff couldn't don't expect exactly what had happened I mean she was asleep right when you're asleep you don't know that your fellow harlot it's rolling over on her child and he is dying you just don't know that when you're asleep but it's a fair conjecture based on what follows it's a fair sort of assessment of the situation as far as this plaintiff is able to put it all together so the son dies in verse 19 and then the woman the play of the defendant as we see at least the allegation is that she deceived the first woman verse 20 so she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your maidservants lap and laid him in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom and when I rose in the morning to nurse my son there he was dead but when I had examined in the examined him in the morning indeed he was not my son whom I had borne you see this is a genuine conundrum and again I think the temptation is when we deal with harlots for instance well you know they don't love their kids of course they love their kids of course they adore their children what woman doesn't love her baby I mean I know there's some monsters there are some exceptions to the rule I get that but the general rule is women who have babies love that even if they're harlots they still love them this is a very severe case it is a very extenuating circumstance it is a very difficult matter and you can see why the plaintiff has come to Solomon and I mean going back for just a moment that they had access to Solomon is an incredible thing it is absolutely incredible that these two harlots had a hearing with the king of Israel wisdom is accessible as well we can praise God for that now note the second woman verse 22 this is the defendant the other woman said no but the living one is my son and the dead one is your son and the first woman said no but the dead one is your son and the living one is my son thus they spoke before the king you see how difficult this would be I just think about it brethren you fall got kids or those of you who do have kids you weren't in the room and all of a sudden you hear you know frenzy and you go in there and they start you know occupying the office of lawyer and presenting their case and they're quite talented I mean a five or six or seven year old we had one of them I thought was certain to be destined to the you know attorneys to the legal profession I mean is able to mount his case and aren't you know we've actually all five of them were pretty good I think it's just innate you know it's tough you hear one side you hear another side this side sounds good this science audience says what am I gonna do how do i navigate how do I answer sufficiently and accordingly how shall I respond now in a most wonderful expression of wisdom Solomon reviews the case in verse 23 the one says this is my son who lives and your son is the dead one and the other says no but your son is the dead one and my son is the living one and now Solomon requests a sword and this is great isn't it we've just we've become a bit hardened and desensitized to just how wondrous this one this a wondrous this was this moves the nation in verse 28 to esteem this man for his wisdom don't let the Bible not be thrilling to you in other words don't lose the thrill of holy scripture I don't care if you've heard this story a hundred times it ought to still amaze you it ought to still cause you to be astounded at the wisdom of Solomon so he asks for a sword according to verse 24 so they brought a sword before the king and the King said divide the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other now I don't think it should even arise in our mind would Solomon have actually done this no Solomon would not have actually done this we know how the story turns out someone's not gonna cut a you know a baby in half and then and you know two sections he is his vetting he is he is examining he is appealing to the woman or to the women he wants to see who the true mother is and this is the test as we see God blesses this maneuver on the part of Judge Solomon so he asks for the sword he says divide the living child and to give after one and after the other then the woman whose son was learning spoke to the king for she yearned with compassion for her son and she said o my lord give her the living child and by no means kill him this is the compassion of a mother she doesn't want to just win this Court case she wants to preserve the life of her baby even if that means the baby's gonna live with her roommate instead of her she doesn't want to see any harm come to this little one and Solomon knows this remember he's wise he understands a mother's attachment and affection and compassion for her child she he knows that no woman in her right mind is going to say go ahead and divide the child but that's precisely what the other woman does notice the end of verse 26 the other said let him be neither mine nor your's but divide him well there it is you obviously art the mom no mother would say that unless it was 21st century North America well all over the earth when she wanders into an abortion clinic but no mother has this in her to say yes divide the living child in half and divide him between the two of us this was Solomon's wisdom to bring out or bring to the surface who the true mother was and who the fake was verse 27 so the King answered and said give the first woman the living child and by no means kill him she is his mother so that's the verdict rendered by Solomon now note the response of Israel in verse 28 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 you see how the two halves of this particular chapter functions so complementarily they have a proof of a prayer for wisdom and then this proof of wisdom verse 28 of chapter 3 affirms that when Solomon had asked God in the previous part of the chapter and God visits him with this wisdom that it did in fact happen as it was reported Paul house says with reference to verse 28 this comment reinforces the statement in chapter 2 verse 46 that the kingdom is now firmly established in Solomon's hands most importantly this respect stems from the knowledge that wisdom like Solomon's can come only from God Israel now understands as does the reader that the wisdom of God is in his heart to do justice it's a beautiful expression of the wisdom of Solomon a wisdom that is given by the grace of god they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice well by way of a few thoughts before we close in the first place we ought not to leave this chapter without observing that pattern for prayer and not to implement it in our own lives there is that incentive to prayer the generosity of God why does Solomon go to God the way that he goes because he knows that God is generous because he knows that God is good because God has said to him what shall I give you God has said that to us throughout scripture as well God bids us to pray and one of the arguments or incentives that he provides is his generosity it is His goodness it is his kindness that tchau that statement in James 1 if any of you lack wisdom let and ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach the generosity of God in terms of his liberality ought to promote prayerfulness on the part of God's people the foundation of prayer is the faithfulness of God I think one of the most foolish statements that is ever ever or arguments ever leveled against those people you know associated with Reformed faith or Calvinistic theology is you know if God is sovereign why would you even pray it's because God is sovereign that we pray it's because of sovereignty that we pray this idea that if he's sovereign then why bother with Prairie's already got it all taken care of doesn't Jesus say he already knows what you need before you ask therefore in this manner pray listen to Christ shut down the objector with reference to if God is sovereign then why pray Jesus says that God knows what you have need of before you even ask therefore in this manner pray it is the sovereignty of God Almighty that provides the foundation for the prayers of the faithful if God was not sovereign he wouldn't be God why pray to somebody who's not God something definitional to God is sovereignty it is who he is it is his being it is his essence it is you know God is his attributes if we don't have a sovereign God we don't have a God thirdly in terms of this pattern for prayer expressed to us by Solomon the concern in prayer it was the people of God now it's not wrong to fetch out things that you need Lord God help me on this day to be faithful to you to obey you and and please provide for you know me my daily bread and the forgiveness of sins and and and protection from the evil one but brethren if you notice that even Laurens prayer it's an us prayer give us this day our daily bread it's not just give me give me you know we're not dealing you know typically in the Bible with just this super you know isolationist super individualistic attitude we the people of God pray to the god of the people and we fetch out blessings not only for ourselves but for others and Solomon evidence is a concern for others in his prayer and this is something that ought to mark the people of God and then finally with reference to the pattern of Prayer the goal of prayer is God's pleasure notice specifically verse 10 the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing isn't that a great testimony or a commentary I mean have you ever considered whether or not your prayer on a given day pleased the Lord well I submit that if you use the model prayer the Lord's Prayer that's certainly getting close to what or that certainly you know at least expressed to us by Jesus what does please the Lord praying the Psalms pleases the Lord going through that inspired you know hymn book that God gave to the pilgrims in Zion that pleases the Lord brethren and ought to be our goal in prayer simply to get some sort of a therapeutic relief for ourselves but to bring glory to God secondly we ought to appreciate in a Solomon the traits of a worthy leader he seeks wisdom from God as well he seeks that wisdom in order to benefit others and he utilizes wisdom not political expediency to govern and to administer you see it's wisdom that wins the day for Solomon it's wisdom that ought to win the day for any leader today it ought not to be political expediency it ought not to be will this increase my votes well it ought not to be will this make this little group happy we don't pander to people we don't kowtow to people we do what's right we exercise wisdom that's the kind of stuff that we ought to appreciate thirdly we ought to appreciate not only the wisdom of Solomon here but elsewhere in first Kings look at chapter four again just considering the credentials of Solomon to be our teacher in the next several weeks on Sunday evenings as we consider the book of Proverbs first Kings chapter four at verse 29 and God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore thus Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt for he was wiser than all the man then Ethan the Ezra height Ezra height and Heymann calc all Darda the sons of Mahal and his fame was in all the surrounding Nations he spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs were 1005 also he spoke of trees from the cedar trees of Lebanon even to the hyssop that Springs out of the wall he spoke also of animals of birds of creeping things in a fish and men of all nations from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom came to hear the wisdom of Solomon turn over to chapter 10 chapter 10 verses 23 and 24 so King Solomon verse 23 surpassed all the kings of the earth and riches and wisdom now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart each man brought his present articles of silver and gold garments Armour spices horses and mules at a set rate year by year you see the testimony concerning Solomon is not confined to chapter three the proof of wisdom is certainly there but the further manifestations of his wisdom is indicated to us in these chapters following the book of Ecclesiastes most likely written by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12 it speaks again concerning his wisdom and his proverbs and his ability to instruct people in a commentary that I hope to use in more detail as we move through the Proverbs Bruce walki and his authors preface basically treats the book of Proverbs and says you know why study this today it's sort of confusing to a lot of people there's things that at times seem contradictory do not have or answer a fool do not answer a fool according to his folly lest you be like him and then the very next verse says answer a fool according to his folly lest you be lest he be wise in his own eyes so what is it well it depends on the situation you see the proverbs are given to people to promote wisdom and they're also given to people who have a modicum of wisdom so that they know how to process the data that they are receiving the walki discusses why you know we should study the book of Proverbs in the very first statement that he mentions in the author's preface to this big big commentary he says in a world bombarded by inane cliches and Aine simply means not insane though it's insane at times inane means something like empty foolish it's just nothing there in a world bombarded by inane cliches trivial catch words and godless sound bites the expression of true wisdom is in short supply today I think we'd all give a hearty amen to that statement wouldn't we I mean it doesn't take long to say yeah there's not a lot of wisdom we look at you know government leaders and we said not a lot of wisdom we look at you know people all around us we say not a lot of wisdom other words we're not living in a day of and an age where the best and the brightest are at the helm it just doesn't seem to be the way it is he goes on to say the church stands alone as the receptacle and repository of the inspired traditions that carry a mandate for a holy life from ancient sages the greatest of whom was Solomon and from the greater than Solomon Jesus Christ as the course in both the biblical wisdom the book of Proverbs remains the model of curriculum for Humanity now I love this to learn how to live under God and before humankind the Proverbs instruct us in how to live before God or under God and before humankind as a result it beckons the church to diligent study and application and in this final statement I want to address the kids and the young people here he says to uncommitted youth it serves as a stumbling stone but to committed youth it is a foundation stone I think the book of Proverbs in particular is very applicable to young people over and over again what does Solomon say my son my son my son my son the young people are addressed to take heed to godly wise parents and to lady wisdom wisdom is personified as a woman specifically there in chapters 8 & 9 & 8 Christ specifically but young people are told to pay attention to their elders pay attention to the hoary ad pay attention to your fathers and your mothers pay attention when the Word of God comes to you pay attention so that you don't go out and do the sorts of things that people are doing everywhere at all times pretty consistently today The Book of Proverbs speaks to the people of God it is educational in terms of wisdom that we need to conduct ourselves in the fear of God and with other people in who to whom we are in contact with and it does have very applicable lessons for young people and I hope to address young people along the way and I hope that God will bless this Scottie and as we look at the Proverbs as we go to the school of Solomon and sit under his feet for I don't know how long that the Lord would be pleased to give us wisdom because we need it well let us close in a word of Prayer father we thank you for your word we thank you for the wisdom that you gave to Solomon and for the promise that you give to us through James and James chapter one and we would cry out to you for wisdom we know that you give to all liberally and without reproach and we pray that you would supply that which is lacking in our own hearts and in our own minds grant us grace we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well why don't we stand and we'll sing hymn number seven in the Trinity hymnal that's okay with Lucas alright hymn number seven you can stand as we sing together [Music] the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen please be seated you