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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Wednesday, 10 September 2025:
1 Kings 3:1 — Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem.
Solomon began his reign by compromising and going against God’s specific word not to entangle with Egypt, not to marry unbelieving women, and not to have many wives. (Exodus 34:12; Deuteronomy 7:3-4; Deuteronomy 17:16) Almost immediately, Solomon, the wisest ruler of all time, had sown the seeds for his downfall – “When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.” (1 Kings 11:4) Solomon’s disobedience to God, the ultimate leadership failure, left Israel permanently divided until its final destruction.
Why would Solomon directly disobey God by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter? Solomon was following a common practice used by rulers during that historical period to maintain peace between nations. His decision was likely celebrated by many as a great step forward for diplomacy and world peace. But there is no real peace apart from peace with God.
Solomon chose worldly wisdom over true wisdom which comes only from God. True wisdom would have been to fear the LORD and obey His commands, defying worldly expectations. If only he had trusted the Lord and remained obedient to His commands for marriage and holiness. This reminds us how “small” compromises, tolerated at the start, can open the door to greater sin. Jesus warns us that no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
Today, many of God’s commands are viewed as outdated and out of touch with how the world actually works, and Christians have compromised to keep the peace and to get along. As a result, the Church is more divided than ever before, and Christians suffer the same consequences of sin as everyone else.
1 Kings 3:2 — The people were sacrificing at the high places, however….
A historic trend revealed as a warning in the Old Testament for future generations is that while a nation is heading down a path of destruction, it often continues proudly in religious practices, deceiving itself in believing that all is well with God. “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35; see also Romans 2:11)
- Jeremiah 6:14 – They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
- Ezekiel 13:10 — Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash….
- Ezekiel 13:16 — …the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.
- Isaiah 56:10 — His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
1 Kings 3:3 — Only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.
Solomon was in disobedience to Deuteronomy 12. Why? Again, probably because everyone else was doing it. Here is another incident where Solomon’s compromise set the stage for his future idolatry that would cause him to lose the kingdom. This is the deceptive, destructive worldly ‘wisdom’ of “acceptance”, “inclusion”, and “tolerance”, that is so widely proclaimed today. But not every idea or lifestyle is equally honorable, valuable, or beneficial. God is the Author of ethics, right and wrong, and opposites cannot both be right.
No one on earth was smarter than Solomon, yet intelligence cannot overcome pride and an unfaithful heart. Every person makes a choice to obey God or not. There are really only two kingdoms on earth. The Kingdom of God, and the kingdom of man, with its many warring factions. Jesus told us to seek the Kingdom of God. We will soon read Ecclesiastes where Solomon laments at the end of his days over his ultimate failure to simply obey God and serve the Kingdom of God on earth faithfully.
1 Kings 3:4-5 — And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
Solomon brought abundant sacrifices, and God met him with extraordinary generosity. Despite Solomon’s imperfect worship, God’s grace abounded. God does not bless compromise, but He often meets His people in mercy to draw them deeper. Solomon’s dream recalls how God appeared to Jacob and Joseph, showing that He directs His people even through the night.
1 Kings 3:6-9 — And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, 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 this day. And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but 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 many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
Solomon acknowledges God’s covenant faithfulness, his own inadequacy, and his dependence on God. He does not ask for wealth or victory but wisdom to discern between good and evil. This humble prayer reflects true leadership — dependence on God for guidance. James 1:5 tells us that God gives wisdom generously to those who ask in faith. Solomon’s request points to Christ, who is Himself the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:30).
1 Kings 3:7 — I do not know how to go out or come in.
Humility is the path to greatness. Knowing that you don’t know anything is key. God is very clear in his word. You cannot know how to make good choices without His guidance, and you cannot obtain the self-control required to resist temptation apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Kings 3:10-14 — It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. … I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
God delights in prayers that seek His purposes over self-gain. Solomon’s request aligned with God’s heart, and so God gave him wisdom and abundance besides. Yet God’s promise remained conditional — blessing was tied to obedience. This reminds us that God’s gifts are not substitutes for faithfulness. Christ later said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
“Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word.” Wisdom comes through selfless sacrifice, seeking what is right in God’s eyes and best for others over self. You have to decide if you want wisdom or rather comfort. There is no growth in the comfort zone, and there is no comfort in the growth zone.
1 Kings 3:13 — I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
When you focus on God and others, God will take care of you better than you could take care of yourself by directing your efforts towards personal success and security. God gives His people abilities and success, not for their glory and comfort but rather for His glory. If you start to believe life is for you or about you, you have walked away from God.
1 Kings 3:14 — And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.
Intelligence and talent are not enough. Obedience is essential.
1 Kings 3:15 — And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream . Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
After receiving wisdom, Solomon rightly returned to the ark of the covenant, the true center of worship, rather than the high places. He gave thanks and offered peace offerings, pointing to reconciliation with God. God’s gifts should always lead us to deeper worship and obedience.
1 Kings 3:16-18 — Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house.”
This case brought before Solomon was simple in facts yet impossible to prove by evidence. Both women claimed the living child; no witness existed. The king’s judgment would reveal whether his wisdom was truly from God.
When Solomon asked for wisdom, God answered him with a gift beyond measure, but almost immediately Solomon was confronted with a situation where the limits of human understanding were exposed. This was no accident. God often answers prayer by placing His people in circumstances that stretch them beyond their own resources, so that His strength may be made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9–10). Solomon prayed for wisdom, and God’s response was not merely to infuse his mind with answers but to provide opportunities to practice wisdom in real life, to rely on God moment by moment, and to grow through experience into the kind of king Israel needed. In the same way, when we pray for patience, God often places us among people and in situations that test our patience; when we pray for love, He gives us neighbors and enemies who are difficult to love; when we pray for faith, He gives us uncertainty and storms where faith must be lived, not just spoken.
Solomon’s judgment between the two women was more than a legal decision. It was a demonstration that God’s wisdom, when sought in humility, works through human vessels to bring life, justice, and truth. James writes that if any of us lacks wisdom, we should ask God, “who gives generously to all without reproach” (James 1:5). Yet the wisdom God gives is not abstract—it is tested and refined in the furnace of daily challenges, whether in homes, workplaces, or courts. It is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits” (James 3:17), and it shows itself in actions that reflect the heart of Christ. Every difficult choice, every dilemma with no clear evidence, becomes a training ground in Christlike character.
God does not compartmentalize wisdom. The same Spirit who guides in the greatest matters of state guides in the smallest moments of family life, workplace integrity, and personal holiness. Jesus taught that “one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10). This judgment between two women, seemingly insignificant in the larger affairs of a kingdom, was in fact the proving ground for Solomon’s reign, training him for the weightier matters of justice, politics, and covenant faithfulness that would follow. God grows us by giving us challenges that prepare us for greater assignments ahead, and what seems small may be the very thing He uses to shape us for eternal influence.
What we see in Solomon is also what God intends for us: that our decisions become a revelation of His wisdom and grace to others. Our words and actions in moments of difficulty can serve as instruments of God’s blessing, bringing clarity where there is confusion, peace where there is conflict, and life where there is death. In this way, wisdom is not merely about solving problems but about embodying the character of God. As Paul exhorts, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16), so that our responses flow not from cleverness but from a heart conformed to Christ.
The deeper lesson is that challenges are not interruptions to God’s blessing but part of the blessing itself. Hard choices are woven into the very fabric of our prayers for wisdom and growth. God rarely gives us every answer in advance because His goal is not merely that we make the right choice but that we become the kind of people who, abiding in Him, naturally choose what is good, holy, and just. Character itself becomes the embodiment of His will, so that we live by discernment rather than constant directives. Solomon’s ruling revealed to the world not only God’s wisdom but also His glory, for in that moment truth and justice came through a king who leaned on God’s gift. So it is with us: our trials are not obstacles to answered prayer but instruments by which God trains us, reveals Himself through us, and prepares us to make an eternal difference in a broken world.
1 Kings 3:24-28 — And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
Solomon’s wisdom revealed true motherhood through compassion. Real love sacrifices self for the good of another; false love clings to control, even if it destroys. This judgment not only secured justice but displayed God’s wisdom at work through His chosen king. It foreshadows the greater wisdom of Christ, who sees beyond appearances and discerns the heart (John 2:24–25).
There is worldly ‘love’ and then there is genuine godly love. All ‘love’ that is not godly love (selfless) is really lust (self-centered desire). Most of the time, when people profess love, they are really describing their lust. The worldly form of love is ultimately focused on self — getting what you want from someone else, approval, validation, pleasure, gifts, etc. Worldly love, which is not really love, will eventually hurt the object of affection. Godly love is selfless — wanting what is best for the other regardless the personal cost. True love is ready to surrender everything for the sake the one loved. King Solomon knew that true love would be self-evident by the choices made by the one who truly loves.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 10 September 2025: Today, seek wisdom not for your own gain, but to better serve others and honor God. Like Solomon, confess your inadequacy and ask God for discernment in decisions. Wisdom is shown not in cleverness, but in compassion that reflects God’s heart. Practice Christlike character today by choosing sacrificial love in one decision, laying aside self-interest for the true good of another.
Pray: “Lord God, You are the source of all wisdom. I confess my weakness and my tendency to rely on my own understanding. Give me, like Solomon, a discerning heart to know what is right. Protect me from pride and selfish ambition, and fill me with Your Spirit that I may choose love over control, service over self, and obedience over compromise. May Christ, who is my wisdom, shape my thoughts and actions today. In His name I pray, Amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 