Solomon asked for wisdom and God granted him that understanding and discernment in abundance, but He also promised Solomon riches and honor because Solomon had not been selfish and asked for those things. God loves to give us good things, when they are good for us and appreciated. To give some people the kind of fame and wealth He gave to Solomon would have destroyed them and led them further from God. But for Solomon in meant that everyone in Israel had plenty. His wisdom truly did make him a better king.
He appointed 12 officers over Israel and each month of the year one of them was responsible for putting food on the king’s table. He was very rich, his household was huge and required a lot of provision. But with the each officer being responsible only one month of each year, no one was over-taxed in the job. Verses 22-28 describe Solomon’s wealth and the huge undertaking providing for the palace was.
“Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. 25 And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26 Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.”
God gave Solomon all that wealth and the great wisdom to handle it well and the great wisdom to rule well. Solomon was a man who could handle it. He was described, even by Jesus as splendid and glorious. (Matthew 6:29). Yet, he didn’t let all that finery go to his head. He cared about the people in the palace and he cared about the people outside the palace. There was a ‘chicken in every pot’ and a fig tree in every yard. God doesn’t promise every person that kind of wealth. Many of us could not handle it properly. I know that I would waste it pretty quickly. I would be generous with it, but not a good steward. Solomon was generous but he was also a good steward. God gives us gifts by His grace according to our faith. He knows how we will use those gifts. Romans 12:3-8 reads,
“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
As we exercise and grow our gifts and our provision, Our Loving Father gives us more. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus told the parable of the talents. Briefly, the story goes that a man was going on a long journey and entrusted his servants to take care of his property and his money. He gave each servant a portion of his money to care for. One received five talents (about 3.3 million dollars in today’s money), another received two talents, ($1,320,000) and the last received one talent ($660,000). He went away and when he came back after a long time he went to the servants to settle accounts. The first who had received five talents had doubled the money since immediately upon being given charge of his master’s money had begun to trade. The second also had doubled the money. The third had been afraid to lose the money, had buried it and returned the single talent to his master. The man was angry that he had entrusted his servant with his money and he had nothing from it. He said, “Dude! You could have at the very least put it in a bank and let it earn interest! You’re a dufus!” (Maybe I added the dufus part.) He took the talent from the man and gave it to the one with ten. Verse 29 of the parable reads,
“For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away”
Our money and our gifts come from The Lord and He gives them to us, expecting them to be used wisely. If we can’t handle the gifts He gives, He’ll take them away and give them to the person who uses and grows them.
For instance, I was given the gift of encouragement. And so I went out of my way to use that gift well and used it often. One day I began praying that God would give me the gift of prophecy. I longed for that gift because I love to receive prophetic prayer and I longed to lift people up with the Word of The Lord as well. I began prophesying to people even when I didn’t think I had the gift. I gave them God’s messages that I knew to be true. “God loves you and wants a relationship with you. God smiles when He thinks of you.” He soon gave me the gift I asked for and sought. And soon I was prophesying more. And as time passes I continue to grow in that gift which supports the gift of encouragement in me as well. I love to prophesy as much as I love to receive prophetic words. God granted me that gift because he knew I would appreciate it, use it, and serve Him better with it.
What is it you’re lacking? What is it you want? Why do you want it? Do you want money so you can live an easy life? That is why I want it, and why I do not have it. Or do you want money so that you can build God’s kingdom and edify the body of Christ? In Matthew 7:6-8 Jesus said,
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. 7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
God will not give you what you will not appreciate, but He will gladly give you what you desire when you delight in Him. Solomon longed for wisdom and that is what he asked for. God gave it to him in abundance. Verses 29-34 describe it.
“And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.”
Believer, He wants to bless you as well. He wants to give you the desires of your heart because you delight in Him and He delights in you. He adores you. He loves to give His children good gifts. (Matthew 7:9-11). Go ahead, ask Him and see what He will do.