When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice. (1 Kings 3:28)
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. (1 Kings 4:29-30)
Solomon accepted the wisdom from God to his benefit and to the benefit of his kingdom. All of us would like to think that any wisdom we attain throughout our lives can be attributed to God. But, Solomon's life provides us with reason for pause as seen in the following example:
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharoah's daughter…They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they surely will turn your hearts after their gods.” (1 Kings 11:1a,2a)
It did not take long for Solomon to turn his heart away from the LORD because of his failure to accept the wisdom from God. This is an example of what can happen to believers today. What is the answer? In order to have wisdom we must heed the Holy Spirit as explained in the next verse.
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
