11/01/2026 - "Wisdom of the Saints" (1 Kings 3:1-14)

You can watch the sermon here.

Scripture: 1 Kings 3:1-14

The king went to the great shrine at Gibeon in order to sacrifice there. He used to offer a thousand entirely burned offerings on that altar. The Lord appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”

Solomon responded, “You showed so much kindness to your servant my father David when he walked before you in truth, righteousness, and with a heart true to you. You’ve kept this great loyalty and kindness for him and have now given him a son to sit on his throne. And now, Lord my God, you have made me, your servant, king in my father David’s place. But I’m young and inexperienced. I know next to nothing. But I’m here, your servant, in the middle of the people you have chosen, a large population that can’t be numbered or counted due to its vast size. Please give your servant a discerning mind in order to govern your people and to distinguish good from evil, because no one is able to govern this important people of yours without your help.”

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request. God said to him, “Because you have asked for this instead of requesting long life, wealth, or victory over your enemies—asking for discernment so as to acquire good judgment— I will now do just what you said. Look, I hereby give you a wise and understanding mind. There has been no one like you before now, nor will there be anyone like you afterward. I now also give you what you didn’t ask for: wealth and fame. There won’t be a king like you as long as you live. And if you walk in my ways and obey my laws and commands, just as your father David did, then I will give you a very long life.”

Solomon awoke and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem and stood before the chest containing the Lord’s covenant. Then he offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices, and held a celebration for all his servants.

~

From this moment on, Solomon is considered to be the wisest king of Israel. He’s the one who builds the first Temple, and a good part of the wisdom literature in the Old Testament - Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon - are attributed to him. Later on we’ll see that like every king before him and every king after him, Solomon becomes corrupted by his power. But for this moment, he wants to be a good king.

When Solomon meets with God for the first time in his dream, he’s still in mourning for his father, David, who died in the chapter before this. David’s final words were to his son, telling him to follow God and to be wise in his dealings with both friends and foes of the kingdom of Israel. Solomon seems to take these words to heart, but he also seems to take his father’s actions to heart as well. In verse 6, Solomon says that “You showed so much kindness to your servant my father David when he walked before you in truth, righteousness, and with a heart true to you.” Knowing what we know about David, we know that he didn’t walk the path of truth and righteousness for his entire reign. It’s possible Solomon had only heard stories about how David had walked with God, and only had memories of his father once he’d turned away. And from what he’d seen, he didn’t want to go down the same path.

But it’s also just as possible that Solomon saw his father in times when he had walked with God, that he had memories of David being a good and righteous king that Solomon wanted to emulate. Either way, he’s learning from what his father taught him when he asks for a discerning mind, so he can be a good king in the ways his father was, and in the ways his father was not.

The Hebrew phrase that gets translated here as “discerning mind” is leb shomea, which more literally translates to “listening heart.” So Solomon is literally asking for a heart that truly listens. He doesn’t want to just hear what people say or what God says, he wants to be able to listen to truly understand so he can empathize, respond well, and therefore govern well.

Solomon’s wisdom is a mix of what is granted to him by God, and the wisdom already handed to him by life. Including a father who did some truly great things, and also did some truly horrific things. It’s up to Solomon to sort through it all and decide what he carries forward with him, and what he leaves behind. Just like it’s up to all of us to sort through what we get from our family members and loved ones who have passed on. Because we all inherit wisdom from those who have come before us. It’s up to us to decide whether it’s wisdom we want to follow, or wisdom we want to leave in the past.

Discernment is what helps us decide what to do with it.

Because we can love someone deeply, grieve that they are gone, hope to see them again in Heaven, and still realize that there are things that were modeled for us, things that we learned, that we don’t want to repeat. And there are people where, if we’re being honest, we felt more relief than grief at their passing. But we find ourselves still holding on to things that we learned from them that we’re thankful for, that have shaped who we are, even if we wish things had gone differently. People are complicated, so therefore relationships can be complicated, so grief and love can all be complicated too.

But no matter how complicated or simple it is for you, all of it is seen and held by God.

And one of the things we can do to honor both God and our loved ones is to reflect on what we’ve learned from them.

So I invite you into a time to reflect on that.

I want you to think of somebody that you loved who has passed away. Could be the person who you brought a token for today, could be a family member or a friend or a neighbor, anybody. How do you picture them? Is it just their face, smiling at you? Are you doing something with them? Or are you just together?

As you think of this person, I invite you to ask, “What is something that I learned from you?”

Once you have something in mind, I invite you to ask yourself:

What parts of this wisdom do you want to carry with you? All of it, some of it, or none of it?

When you have an idea of what wisdom you would like to carry with you, I invite you to picture holding it in your hands. Even if it’s nothing, because there is still wisdom in deciding to leave certain things behind. However you want to visualize that wisdom, picture holding it in your hands.

If it’s appropriate, I also invite you to thank God for that wisdom, and for the person who gave it to you.

Then, when you’re ready, I invite you to imagine pressing your hands to your heart, letting the wisdom sink into you.

A little piece of their love that still lives on through you.

May we carry that love and wisdom faithfully, just as God faithfully carries us in love.