Soloman Had Asked For This

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​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ August 23 2026)
Sermon Title –Soloman Had Asked For This
Text – Matthew 6:33,34
Rev Key Min Lee, Pastor

​Let me begin by asking you a question.
Imagine that there are many doors standing in front of you, and you have to choose just one.  Whatever decision you make, you will have to live with the consequences of that choice.  If you were standing in that position right now, which door would you choose?
Of course, it would be wonderful if every door led to peace and joy for everyone.  But what if the door you chose led countless people into suffering—even death?  What would you do?
To be honest, I have a hard time making decisions sometimes.  Even when I go to the grocery store to buy something as simple as butter, if the prices are even slightly different, I can’t decide which one to get.  But I have a solution.  I ask my wife, “Honey, which one should I buy?”
God knows me very well.  So, for me, He sometimes leaves only one door open!  So if you are struggling with a decision, you can pray, “Lord, please leave only one door open for me.”  And then you won’t have to worry about which one to choose!
Today’s passage tells us about a man who was struggling with the circumstances he had been placed in, much like the struggles we face in our own lives.  His name was Solomon.  Think about the position Solomon was sitting in.  What kind of position was it?
He was sitting on the throne of a kingdom that David had built through years of warfare.  David had brought the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and the Aramean kingdoms, including Zobah and Damascus, under his control and had made them pay tribute to Israel.
Just think about that for a moment.  That is an enormous responsibility!
And before David died, he handed over the kingdom he had established through so much bloodshed to his son Solomon.
As we know, the kingdom Solomon inherited stretched from “Dan to Beersheba and as far as the Euphrates River.”  It was the vast territory that David had established through a lifetime of battles.  Economically, religiously, politically, and militarily, the nation was experiencing a time of peace.
So when Solomon became king, everything he had inherited must have felt overwhelming.
If I had been in Solomon’s position, I might have quietly moved far away where nobody could find me!
So what do you think was going through Solomon’s heart?
For the past several weeks, I have been sharing with you about not allowing our circumstances to control us.  So what kind of circumstances was Solomon facing?
Suppose Solomon had been an excellent warrior.  Would he still have that strength when he grew old?
Suppose Solomon had great knowledge and brilliant strategies.  Would that guarantee that the peace David had established would last forever?
Simply put, governing this vast kingdom was an insurmountable task for a young Solomon.  The responsibility was overwhelming.
No matter what he did, problems could arise at any time.  There could be rebellions, and when that happened, the peace could be destroyed.
Solomon must have realized that there was no way he could preserve the kingdom and the peace David had established simply by relying on his own knowledge, strength, or experience.
So he began looking for another way.
And that is where it began:  worship.
He began to seek God.
But there is something we need to be careful about here.  It is our circumstances.
In today’s passage, we are told that after Solomon became king, he offered a thousand burnt offerings to the Lord (v. 4).
When you hear the phrase “a thousand burnt offerings,” what comes to your mind?
If we become focused on the number one thousand, then we have already allowed our circumstances to distract us.
The number is only a circumstance.
Whether Solomon offered one thousand burnt offerings or ten thousand burnt offerings is not the main point.  The important thing is that Solomon worshiped God.
That was the heart of what he was doing.
Through his worship, Solomon expressed his deep and earnest desire for God.
If Solomon had become focused on the number, he might have forgotten God and remembered only that he had offered one thousand sacrifices.
That is how our circumstances can deceive and distract us.
Have you ever experienced something like this?
Maybe you have never prayed for three hours before.  Then one day, you pray for three hours, and afterward you think, “Wow!  I actually prayed for three hours!”
But in that moment, we can forget that we spent three hours walking with the Lord.  Instead, all we remember is, “I prayed for three hours.”
That means we have become focused on the circumstance rather than on God.
I believe Solomon was focused on God throughout those thousand offerings.  After all, what he had learned from his father David was what it truly meant to worship God.
For Solomon, holding on to God was more important and more urgent than the wealth, glory, and power of this world.
Shouldn’t we also show our children what it means to truly worship God and what it looks like to live a life that earnestly seeks Him?
Then God answered Solomon.  “What do you want Me to give you?”
Solomon replied in verses 7–9:  “I am only a little child and do not know how to go out or come in.  Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”
I believe this answer reveals exactly what was going on in Solomon’s heart.
It is almost as if Solomon were saying, “Lord, I cannot do this on my own.  I don’t know what to do.  The only thing I can do is depend on You.”
Why?  Because he probably knew that he was not as courageous as his father David, nor did he have the same kind of leadership experience.
Perhaps all Solomon wanted was for everything David had established to continue peacefully and remain secure.
Don’t we all think that way?
When everything is stable, don’t we hope and pray that nothing will go wrong?
But the reality is that problems continue to arise all around us.
And here is what we need to understand:
The circumstances God allows us to face can be an expression of His love and grace, because He uses them to lead us to hold onto Him alone.
I pray that you will believe this.
What the world wants is for us to become discouraged, give up, and turn away from God because of our circumstances.  That is exactly what Satan wants as well.
But Solomon chose the opposite.
Through the circumstances he was facing, he decided to hold onto God alone.
And we see the result in verse 10:  “The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.”
What Solomon asked for was not simply a way to govern the kingdom that David had established.
He was asking for the wisdom of the One who created and rules over all things.  In other words, he was seeking God Himself.
And God responded in verses 11–13:  “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself... I will give you what you have asked for.  I will also give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.”
What does this mean?  It means that when we seek God, He promises to take care of everything we need.
May every one of us become people who seek God alone.  I bless you in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 6:33 says:  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
1 Samuel 17:47 and 2 Chronicles 20:17 remind us that God is the One who created all things and that the battle belongs to the Lord.
Proverbs 2:6 says:  “For the Lord gives wisdom.”
And Proverbs 3:18 says:  “She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.”
Solomon knew that he could never secure and preserve the kingdom David had established by relying on his own abilities.  So without hesitation, he sought God Himself—the source of all wisdom.
When we seek God, who is our wisdom, He will provide everything we need.
And remember this:  Our circumstances are not meant to control us.  God can use those circumstances to lead us to hold onto Him alone.  That is an expression of His love and grace toward us.
When we seek the living God, He provides what we need in ways we could never have imagined.
I pray that you will believe this.
May each of us become people who walk with wisdom and, ultimately, walk with God.  May we stop focusing on our circumstances, give thanks in every situation, and continually experience the love and grace of God.
I bless you all in the name of the Lord.