1 Kings 4:29, Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. 
	This morning, we are presented with something that we all strive after in our own measure and means. Whether it is in the midst of making major decisions, or simply what to do in the next few minutes, there is that over abiding desire within us to know what we should do. We want the wisdom to make the correct choices when we are striving to accomplish a goal involving many resources and much time, or for the quickest and most efficient means of dealing with the mundane issues of our day to day walk on this earth. 
In reality, wisdom is sought after with tenacity that rivals wealth and fame and social standing in our communities. There is much that is discussed with others in order to gather the sufficient information that would allow for a wise decision to be made. And, on the other hand, there is much derision that we place upon ourselves through our ignorance and lack of wisdom which allowed us to squander copious amounts of money and time into an endeavor that was far less than successful or wise.
This is one of the reasons that there are those people who seek after fortune tellers and talisman and all types of other indicators of what should or should not be done. This age is filled with all manner of people whom the world considers wise and to be sought after for their understanding of how this or that operates and will affect our social strategy over time, etc. The wisdom of this age captivates and enslaves the minds of those who allow themselves to be bent to this or that social, philosophical, political, religious, economic, educational, scientific, recreational, or any other avenue of human thought processes which promote the idea that man can be as god unto himself. That is the core basis of the wisdom of this age and the structural and devastating results which it brings forth. 
As we delve into this consideration, let it be very clearly stated that there is a wisdom that is freely available to all those who are redeemed by God through the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the very wisdom of God as we will see in the scripture which fully declares this tremendously vital gift of God to those whom He has adopted as His very own family in Jesus Christ. In accordance with that divinely awesome working power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, as our source and essence of true wisdom, we are so very blessed by Jehovah with the manifested reality of true insight and understanding into the matters at hand. Our lives are fully guided by the peace of God as He reveals the practical, spiritual, and Biblical principles by which we have the freedom to live before Him in the fullness of His blessing and grace and mercy.
All of this is a prelude to what delightful realities of wisdom and understanding await us as we delve into this amazing veracity of God’s lavished heart of love and His manner of providing all that we need for our life. Throughout scripture, there is in evidence, as we will see, the greatness of God in the obedient submission to His will and His way rather than to the so-called wisdom of this age. 
We start with the passage of this morning which highlights the man whom God declared as the wisest of them all, Solomon. Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. 
The key that is so often overlooked or completely ignored and written off is that Jehovah gave Solomon the wisdom that was practiced by this king. It was not something that he developed through self-help techniques, or through eastern philosophical insights, or through devotion to swami’s or any such thing as this world claims. Solomon was wise because God gave that wisdom for the manner of his ruling with understanding and compassion over the people of the Lord. It was not to highlight any human capacity in this king, but rather that he would be the recipient of the breadth of mind that would consider how his actions would bring forth the greater measure of the glory of God within the nation of the Lord. 
Consider when this was first brought to the forefront for Solomon, in his request for Jehovah to help him be that king who would be honoring to The Lord in the manner of his sovereignty over the people of God. Please refer back to 1 Kings 3:11+12, wherein God bestowed this wisdom because Solomon did not ask for anything that would bring honor to himself. It was all for the purpose of God to be accomplished through this king for the sake of the glory and the praise and the honor of Jehovah in the midst of His people. It was all the gift of God conferred for the sake of highlighting just how much this man was able to bring praise and adoration and justice and discernment among the people who were in such need.
1 Kings 3:11+12, And God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 
	Again the key is that this was given by God for a very specific purpose in the use of this wisdom by Solomon for the sake and the care of the people as well as for the testimony of the goodness of Jehovah through its effective and repeated use. This wisdom was granted because Solomon had the desire to be a compassionate and understanding ruler over the nation, with an emphasis on that which would be pleasing to Jehovah in the course of his administration of this compassionate wisdom and understanding. This stipulated honor unto The Lord brought with it the loving kindness of God to show others just what true and forthright perception and judgment would establish within the reign of God’s chosen servant. 
This was in utter rivalry with the manner of the kings and queens of the surrounding nations. Please keep in mind that God was establishing the earthly kingdom that represented His divine ruling and overruling in the nation that would present to the known world an accurate and vital testimony of the One True, Living, God of all creation. 
This was His redeemed people, who were to be ruled over by the one in whom God instilled His wise and compassionate heart of understanding and love. The nations were to see the difference that God’s people presented in terms of that which was right and just in the treatment of others. The holiness and the righteousness of God was to be on display within the manner in which His chosen people lived their lives before all of creation.
1 Kings 3:28 indicates just how important and urgent was this wise ruling of the king over the people in the way that indicated the wisdom of God rather than the perception of humanity. There was a sense of wonder within the nation that they would have such a sovereign who would bring forth an administration of justice and empathy to so rule over the people of God.
1 Kings 3:28, When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice. 
There was the blessing of God upon Solomon in terms of how others perceived the use of that gifted wisdom, bringing honor to the king for the justice and the wise decisions that he would render on behalf of the Lord unto the people. Solomon was regarded as the one to whom all should go in order to receive that which would bring forth the valid and earnest decision of justice and compassion in a world beset with selfish ambition and self promotion. Solomon held that place of utmost honor and consideration throughout the world as detailed further in 1 Kings 10:23+24.
1 Kings 10:23+24, So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. 
	Again, note, that even in this seeking after the presence of Solomon in order to hear his decisions and his wise understanding of the issues of the day, there is still that honor set before God. As great as Solomon was, it was only because of the wisdom that God had bequeathed unto him. There was no other way to come into this vast accounting of understanding than to give God all the praise and honor and adoration for the manner of that which He instilled into Solomon, and instills into each that is His own.
	The Psalmist brings this to light as detailed in Ps 119:33-35. It is the Lord Who teaches mankind what is necessary to understand and to practice the compassion which will display, albeit imperfectly, the heart of God among the sons of men.
Ps 119:33-35, Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes, And I shall observe it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, And keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments, For I delight in it. 
	It is as we look to God and as we dwell upon His Word and abide by His precepts that we will learn what it means to be a member of His family. We will desire that it is all His wisdom which is displayed in the course of our walk on this earth. That will only be established as we submit ourselves to a dedicated and intentional life of commitment unto Him in the every sense of how we operate and function on the paths in which He leads us. That is the wisdom that will show forth His divine will and love in the course of the human expression of His redemptive grace and mercy.
	In Prov 2:1-11, we have the encouragement to seeking this wisdom of God above all other means of approaching our decision making processes in this life. Despite all that this world puts forth as good and proper, we need to stay committed to that which honors Jehovah above all else! We hold to His precepts and His abiding Holy Spirit as our source of understanding and acumen. It is all from The Lord that we need to seek how to live before those whom He brings into our lives as witnesses of His loving kindness and tender mercy and His holy justice and His righteousness.	
Prov 2:1-11, My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, And discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you, 
	We close this morning’s deliberation with a couple of passages from the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is here that The Preacher reveals the true magnitude of the wisdom that is bestowed by God. This is in opposition to the wisdom of humanity, fettered with lies and deception and sinful indulgence. Consider what is stated so succinctly in Eccl 1:16-18.
Eccl 1:16-18, I said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge." And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. 
	Striving after the wisdom of this age is a striving after the wind since it really has no eternal value of any consequence. The Lord blows against it and it becomes the folly of humanity in the vain effort to be as god on this earth. The Preacher recognized that there was a vast difference between that which is of The Lord’s wisdom and that which is of the faltering and fettered futility of mankind.
	This is further detailed for us in Eccl 2:24-26, as the Preacher found himself wallowing in the manner in which this world will call anything wise, that promotes the human condition. It is all about what is best for me in the current situation, rather than what is of value and magnitude in the eyes and the heart of Jehovah. What man calls good and right is in such vast and abhorrent opposition to the value of the wisdom of God which never changes and never waivers in the holiness and the justice and the righteousness of The Lord. 
Eccl 2:24-26, There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen, that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God's sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind. 
	Lord willing, we will continue with our consideration of the vastness and the splendor and the richness and the abiding peace that is inherent in the wisdom that God gives to those who turn to Him and seek Him with all their heart. There is nothing of this age which compares with that abiding wisdom of Jehovah presented in all fullness by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit! So be it and amen!
Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. Amen. 

This morning’s benediction is Matt 5:16. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Amen.