If
someone were to ask you what one gift they could give you, what would it be?
Now, this person has the authority and power to give you anything you say you
want. Most of us will never be in this position, but Solomon was.
2
Chronicles 1:7
In
that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give
you.”
God
asks Solomon, ‘What is it that you want Me to give you/” God, the all-power
one, asks Solomon, ‘What do you want Me to give you?”
2
Chronicles 1:8-10
And
Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my
father, and have made me king in his place. O Lord God, let your word to David
my father be now fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous
as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come
in before this people, for who can govern this people of Yours, which is so
great?”
Solomon
answers God
First,
he acknowledges how gracious God had been to his father David.
David
had not been a perfectly obedient king. He had committed adultery. He had
committed murder. He had, in his pride and arrogance, disobeyed God. Yet, God
loved David and, in His love, had confronted David over his sin, He forgave
David when David repented, and He restored David to still be a man after God’s
own heart.
All
that we have.
All
that we are.
Is
because of God’s grace.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is recognizing and acknowledging God’s grace
shown to us in His steadfast love.
Second,
he acknowledges how gracious God is being to him.
Solomon
knows that it is God who has made him king in his father’s place. Solomon was
not David’s firstborn son. He is not the oldest living son of David. Solomon is
only king because God revealed to David that Solomon was to be king.
God
has not blessed me based on me.
God
has blessed me because of Him.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is living in obedience to God because of God’s
grace, not to get His grace.
Third,
he asks God to give him wisdom.
Solomon
knows that governing Israel was something that went beyond his natural
abilities. He knows that he does not have the knowledge and wisdom to
effectively lead Israel in the way that God wants him to.
Solomon
humbles himself and admits that and asks God for knowledge and wisdom.
Life
is complex and complicated and in our natural ability we don’t have the insight
or knowledge or wisdom to live it in a God-honoring way. We need God to be our
wisdom.
Raise
the Roof and Remove is
humbling ourselves under God’s authority and asking Him to be our wisdom.
2
Chronicles 1:11-12
God
answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for
possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not
even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself
that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and
knowledge are granted to you. I will give you riches, possessions, and honor,
such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall
have the like.”
God’s
response is that He will give Solomon what he asked for: knowledge and wisdom.
But God will also give him what he did not ask for: riches, possessions, and
honor like no king has had before.
God’s
grace is shown in that He gave Solomon what he asked for and what he did not
ask for. This again shows how gracious God is.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is honoring God and receiving His grace.
When
we honor God by obeying Him, God will then pour out more blessings on us
because He can trust us. The more God knows He can trust us, the more He can
graciously bless us.
In
Obedience and Blessing Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,
Joe
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