The Wish

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14        Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David. The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established. Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, 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 today. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?” It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”

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One of the first images that comes to mind when I read this story about Solomon is the image of Aladdin in the cave where he found the lamp, shining the lamp and, to his amazement, out pops the genie!  Then follows the three wishes, and so on – you know the story. 

And we all have given considerable thought at some point in our lives about what we would do if we were in Aladdin’s shoes.  Haven’t we?  Some of us have put some effort into trying to figure out if there is a means, some possible loophole, to get an extra wish or two or ten out of the deal.  Everybody knows that wishing for 1000 more wishes is against the rules of the game.  But maybe there is some ingenious way of making a wish that will somehow keep on giving.

This is the stuff of daydreams, certainly.  Let your imagination wander with the idea, “If anything were possible, what would I like to be, where would I like to live, what would I like to do.”  That’s also the premise of brainstorming.  No possibilities are shut down, judgment suspended, anything is – at least temporarily – possible.

What would you ask for, if anything were possible?  What is your wish?

Solomon is known as the wise king; this is the quality that makes him stand out from all the other kings of Israel and Judah.  And this is the story of how he gained his wisdom.  But, even though he was young, I think he was already pretty wise to ask for such a thing, don’t you?

Solomon, as a new king, was doing the best he could.  He was not without enemies, even from within his own family.  This is truly Game of Thrones type of stuff.  There were those who plotted to take his throne away from him, he had to be wary of every suggestion, every bit of advice, for hidden motivations.  And he was doing an impressive job. Solomon was nobody’s fool.  He was doing the best he could, and that was pretty good.

But he did, though, go to the high places.

The high places were the places where the other gods were worshiped.  Remember that Israel lived surrounded by people of other religions, that the land they inhabited had been inhabited for a long time by people who worshiped other gods – idols, if you prefer.  And the fact that those worship sites, the high places, had never been destroyed, seemed to be a source of continuing trouble.  Even for Israel, it turns out, it’s very hard to eradicate false idols.

So people continued going to the high places.  Why?  Maybe because they were attractive.  They probably had a lovely view from up there.  Maybe they felt closer to God, being so high.  Or maybe it was more of a social thing.  You know, you would run into other people up there and you could share the latest news, gossip, and so on.  Maybe all of these were reasons.  And maybe they also thought, while I’m here these other so-called gods might hear my pleas.  And what could it hurt if one of them wanted to answer my prayer.  You know – hedging your bets.

It was a nagging, annoying problem in Israel, and Solomon participated in it too.  But here’s the interesting thing: while he was up at one of these high places, God – the one true God – spoke to him in a dream and made this beautiful offer:  Ask what I should give you.  Tell me what you need.

So here is Solomon’s opportunity to ask for that brand new Cadillac chariot.  Or whatever shiny thing he coveted.  He could ask for it.

Or he could ask for his enemies to be smitten.  Remember, he did have enemies, and God could remove this impediment.  Would Solomon want to ask for this? 

He could ask for a big pile of gold.  Money solves a lot of problems.  And it brings a lot of pleasure.  Maybe you or I would want to ask for a big pot of gold.

Maybe we would, if this was the genie in the lamp we were talking to.  But it was God who came to Solomon and posed the question, and somehow we draw a distinction between God and the lamp genie.  God has bigger things in mind when God says Ask what I should give you.  Tell me what you need.

 So, truthfully, that means we have to work a little harder.  Easy answers like, “A million dollars” won’t do.  Sure, a million dollars would be nice, but it has no eternal value.  In the realm of God, we need to think bigger.  And so we need to engage our imaginations – and not just in the idle game of “how would you use the three wishes granted by the genie.  We need to think broader, dig deeper, play with the question, and muse:  what is the thing you, personally, need?  What is it that you need?

Don’t say nothing.  There is not one of us that needs nothing. Because every one of us is broken.  Every one of us has a hole somewhere inside that is longing to be filled.  What is it for you? What could fill that hole?

A million dollars?  A Mercedes Benz?  Neither of those makes good food for body or soul. 

Revenge?  Hate has no nutritional value.  It only leaves you hungrier.

What is it that you need?