Word of Encouragement (03/06/2024)
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)
In acknowledging his inadequacy, Solomon described himself as “but a little child” who does not know “how to go out or come in.” John Gill points out that the expression, “how to go out or come in,” alludes to the activity of shepherds, taking the sheep out and bringing them back into the fold. It must have been ingrained deep in the culture of Israel to view its kings as the shepherds of its people (cf., v. 9, in which Solomon asks for “an understanding mind to govern your people”). What a beautiful picture of how kings should view their kingship! We can see what God expected the kings to do in His rebuke of the false shepherds of His people:
“Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them” (Ezek. 34:2-4).
Unlike the kings of Gentile nations, the kings of Israel were supposed to take care of the people as the shepherds took care of their sheep. They were not to use and abuse the people to amass wealth for themselves or fulfill their worldly ambitions or satisfy their sinful pleasures. Israel was God’s kingdom, and the people of Israel were His sheep. The kings were merely God’s vicegerents, His under-shepherds. This is not to say that they existed for the people of Israel to do their (whimsical) bidding and meet their (sinful) demands. They were God’s vicegerents, His under-shepherds: their primary goal was to honor and glorify God through their humble and willing obedience to God’s law. It was in obedience to God, who commanded them to take care of His people, whom He loved, that they were supposed to love and take care of them.
Solomon had already demonstrated his uncanny competency and leadership by wisely and decisively suppressing the rebellious forces against his God-ordained kingship. But he could not help but feel his inadequacy when he considered the glory and majesty of the LORD, whom he was called to serve as king of Israel. The people around him might have praised and adored him for his abilities and charisma, and rightly so. But in the presence of God, Solomon felt like a little child, who had no idea about how to govern the people of God according to God’s standard in a manner that was worthy of God’s honor.
God has given to each of us our respective callings. Some of us may have grown quite competent. But is it according to people’s standards or God’s? This morning, let us humble ourselves before God and ask the Lord to help and enable us to do what He has called us to do in a way that honors and pleases Him!