First read 1 Kings 3: 7-9 one more time.
“Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my Father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 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?”
I want you to take Solomon’s prayer and use it for yourself. Simply substitute yourself for Solomon. “What?” you ask. “What? I am not a king or even a government official. I don’t lead any group of people.”
You don’t?
Let’s see…
“Now, O LORD my God, you have made me your servant, child of the King of Kings, to walk in place of my Jesus. But I am only a little child, I don’t know much about God and His word. I do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant (me) is here among the people, too numerous to count or number.”
Are you God’s servant, one who serves God or one who desires to serve God? Are you the child of the King of Kings? Are you a child of God? Do you represent God on earth? Do you walk where Jesus once walked? Do you walk in His place? Do you feel as if you do not know enough of God’s Word or much about Him to lead anyone to Him? Do you feel as if you do not know how to carry out your duties and purpose for God? Are you living among a great number of people? Surrounded?
What Solomon says to God here in 1 Kings 3:7-9 is really no different than what we say in our own hearts. We live in a world of people too numerous to count or number. We want them to have salvation and know God. We want them to not perish, but have eternal life. We want them to know God and have a relationship with Him. We want so much for these people.
But we too, like Solomon, question how. How can we lead these people to God? How can we lead people to salvation? We too do not know how to carry out our duties. We too do not know how to fulfill our purpose in God, our purpose on earth. That is not so far different than Solomon’s question and need for help. We live among a great number of people who need to be lead to God and by God. We too, like Solomon, want to lead the people to walk with God.
Solomon asks for a discerning heart to govern the people and to distinguish between right and wrong. Solomon wants a heart that truly understands between right and wrong so that he can govern the people for God. Did you know that “govern” and “rule” also identifies with the word “feed” in the Bible. The word poimaino is Greek. It is a verb used in the New Testament meaning feed, lend and rule. It is used both literally and metaphorically. In John 21: 15, 16 Jesus tells Peter to “Feed my lambs.”
John 21: 15 -16
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
Jesus was telling Peter to nurture God’s people in His Word. Jesus tells Peter to “Feed my lambs.” Jesus asks us to do the same. We are asked to feed His lambs, tend to them, teach them and lead them to Him.
Solomon’s plea for help to govern, or rule, these people is not so far from our cry for help. We also need help to rule and govern people, thus feed them, lead them. No, we are not rulers and kings, but are children of the God Almighty. We are asked to tend to the people. We are asked, in essence, to govern them by feeding them God’s Word and leading them to Him.
Solomon’s prayer is our prayer. We too, Solomon, want help to tend to the people and lead them in God’s ways. So we want that discerning heart that Solomon requested. “So give your servant a discerning heart to (govern) lead and feed your people and to distinguish between right and wrong," we ask.
Follow 1 Kings 3:7-9:
"Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 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?"
Let’s look at it again this way:
“Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant Truly your representative on earth, But I am only a little child without much knowledge of you and your Word, And do not know how to carry out my duties and my purpose in you, God. Your servant is here among the people too numerous to count or number.
So give your servant a discerning heart to feed and lead your people to distinguish between right and wrong.
For who is able to lead these people your creation, mankind.”
See what I mean? We too want a discerning heart in order to carry out our duties, our mission on earth as Christians. We need a discerning heart to help us lead people to God, to feed them. A discerning heart directs us to do the right thing. It distinguishes between right and wrong. It leads us to make decisions based on what is good and right in God’s eyes. It will help us to carry out our Christian purpose to lead others to Christ. God does not expect us to do it on our own. He wants to give us wisdom and a discerning heart to further his kingdom.
Now that you realize a discerning, wise heart can work for you to lead others to Christ and the joy they can receive in that, we have a Part 2 to this lesson. I didn't want to give you too much information at one time, so I made it a 2 part lesson (both parts being very simple to read and apply). You don't want to miss Part 2 because God has a lesson in it to help us discover our love and care for the unsaved. It may open your eyes to the true love and compassion that you have for those in the world without Jesus' love. It comes from God's love for us. He wants us to see our very own hearts and what love is actually contained there. It is an easy lesson to do this week. Read it and begin to apply it when you have time.
I will post Week 5 Part 2 - I Saw My Heart very soon. I hope it shows you just how much God loves you and how much you love others, especially the unsaved.
Love always,
Truly
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