Wisdom & Foolishness

25/7/2023

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, July 30th, 2023:
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kings
3.5-12

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.

“And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this, your great people?”

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Solomon asked for wisdom, and God was pleased. Solomon was made the wisest man the world has ever known – indeed, God promised that no one would ever be as wise as Solomon in all of human history. Solomon is famous in both religious and secular circles for his wisdom, and his rulings and judgments are taught as examples worldwide.

It wasn’t enough.

Solomon is famous for his wisdom and infamous for his foolishness. He was charmed by the Queen of Sheba and let her take much of the kingdom’s wealth home with her. He married hundreds of women, many from outside of his kingdom, and permitted them to worship their idols in his kingdom, even funding the construction of temples to false gods. He neglected his religious duties, and he ignored political conflicts from neighbouring kingdoms until they grew out of control. The kingdom of Israel ended with his death, splitting into permanent division. Solomon didn’t make these mistakes out of ignorance. He knew the right thing to do, and he chose the wrong things, over and over.

This is the very definition of sin – knowing right and doing wrong.

I have a vivid memory of an early sin of mine. I remember being a little girl on a big playground, my mother calling me to come down from the tallest tower because it was time to go home, and simply refusing to get down. I knew I should – I’d had fun, she’d been patient, we had other things to do. But I chose not to, because I wanted to do what was important to me and not what was important to my mom. It was perhaps the first time I fully knew right and chose wrong. It was a little thing, easily resolved – I got scared of getting in trouble just a few minutes later, and did indeed face consequences equal to my crime. But human nature means that once we’ve tasted defiance, it’s hard to keep at bay.

In some ways, the Bible is a collection of stories about people who tried and failed to figure out the trick to always doing the right thing. Wisdom wasn’t enough for Solomon. Faithfulness wasn’t enough for Paul. Trust wasn’t enough for Moses. Strength wasn’t enough for Peter. God offered us laws and covenants and lands flowing with milk and honey, but our hearts were never fully satisfied with any of it. And thankfully, God loves us too much to be satisfied with our half-hearted attempts to obey Him.

We are not enough. But God’s love is enough. When we know the right thing and choose wrongly, His love forgives us. When we know the right thing and are too scared to do it, His love strengthens us. Solomon thought wisdom would be enough. We can learn from the mistakes of the wisest man in the world and put our trust in God instead of ourselves.

Jenna Young