Word of Encouragement (03/05/2024)
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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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?"(1 Kings 3:6-9)
Before stating his answer to God’s gracious invitation to make a wish, Solomon sets up his answer in two stages. As we saw last week, the first was to praise God for His steadfast love for his father, David—for granting him a covenant and fulfilling it by giving him a son (Solomon himself) to sit on his throne (v. 6). Solomon proceeds to the second stage, in which he acknowledges his inadequacy to carry out the noble task of governing God’s people as king.
Solomon describes himself as “but a little child” who does not know “how to go out or come it.” We don’t know how old he was when he ascended to the throne, but he was certainly not a child at this time. He was expressing how he felt about himself at this time. Was this a sign of “Impostor Syndrome”? “People who struggle with impostor syndrome believe that they are undeserving of their achievements and the high esteem in which they are, in fact, generally held. They feel that they aren’t as competent or intelligent as others might think—and that soon enough, people will discover the truth about them” (Psychology Today, “Impostor Syndrome”). It is only natural to experience this when we are suddenly thrust into a high position or endowed with a high honor. Faced with what we have never done, we naturally feel unprepared and inadequate. Maybe even Solomon was not immune to it.
Should believers ever be subject to this syndrome? All the more so in some sense but not for the same reason. The syndrome has its roots in insecurity. It is only natural to feel insecure when we don’t feel like we are up to the job. If that is the reason, we can grow out of impostor syndrome by gaining more experience and competency. It can come also from fear of men. This fear may be legitimate or irrational. If it is legitimate, you are in trouble because it is hard to change people. If it is irrational, you are in bigger trouble because you are fighting against an imaginary enemy. We know how difficult it is to get out of our mental trap.
How about believers? If anything, we should be even more aware of our inadequacies. We don’t, like the people of the world, compare ourselves to other people only. Some people are amazing in their knowledge, intelligence, and talents. But no matter how great they are, they are still mere creatures, fallen creatures at that. By our new birth from above, we are now aware of God and His majesty, though imperfectly. We also see how utterly helpless and dependent we are. We are mindful of what God demands, not just what people demand. How can we not feel as Solomon did?
But we are also mindful that God is the sovereign Lord, who calls each of us to our respective stations in life. We can trust that He who called us will equip us to do the work: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We maintain the posture of humility because we are painfully conscious of our inadequacies. But we do not have to fear men, for we are ultimately accountable to God, who asks for faithfulness, not success (which comes from God). So, go out with this blessing: “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20-21)!