Solomon was blessed with great wisdom from God. The Bible tells us that he was wise beyond measure. He was the wisest of all men.

1 Kings 4:29-34

²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, ³⁰ so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ³² He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. ³³ He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. ³⁴ And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

So when Solomon did good, it’s worth meditating on to see the wisdom. To see the wisdom that came from God.

1 Kings 8:56-58

Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers.

In 1 Kings 8, Solomon had just finished dedicating the temple he built for God. After praying, he blessed the people with these words above.

• He first acknowledges God,
• Then he acknowledges that God had fulfilled the promises He made to their ancestors,
• Then he asks God to be with them just as he was with their fathers,
• He asked that God not leave or forsake them,
• He asks that God incline his heart to them so that they would:
• walk in all his ways,
• keep his commandments, statutes, and rules, which he gave their fathers.   

Reflecting on it, you would realise he did not pray anything similar to what we usually think to pray. For instance, he did not ask God’s favour to grant them what they wanted. But he asked for the will of God. We often have desires and dreams and pray to God for them. But I am noticing more and more from God’s word that it’s more profitable to want the will of God for us. Not only is His perfect will the best thing for us, but when we work towards His will, he will bless us with what we need. So, our dreams and desires are not bad, but we don’t want that to be the first and most important desires of our hearts. We must first seek God’s will and he will bless us. He wants us to love others with the love of God, spend time with Him in His word and pray for them to come to Him. When we seek His interest, he remembers us and knows what we need and want. These wants shouldn’t become the forefront of our minds, desires and prayers.

So let us take Solomon’s blessing as a reminder of God’s will for us and all others around us. Spread that love that he has shown you.