THE STATUTES OF HIS FATHER: The heritage of a good
example: not just the statutes of his God, but of his father also!
1Ki 3:7
IN PLACE OF MY FATHER DAVID: Solomon asks Hiram to deal
with him just as he had done with David his father (1Ki 5:2-7; and cp 1Ki 5:1
with 2Sa 5:11). The number of times these phrases occur in the records is so
large that we simply have to recognize that God is pointing something out to us
about the relationship between Solomon and David: 1Ki 2:24,26,32,44; 3:6,7,14;
5:3,5; 6:12; 8:15,17,18,20,24-26; 9:4; 11:33; 2Ch 1:8,9; 2:3,7,14;
6:4,7,8,10,15,16; 7:17. David, for example, had weaknesses for horses (2Sa 8:4)
as well as many wives, and Solomon followed in these steps too. Does he have a
psychological need to "one-up" his father? And does this lead him into greater
dangers and problems?
HOW TO CARRY OUT MY DUTIES: Lit, "how to go out or come
in" (as AV).
1Ki 3:9
Sympathy for others.
1Ki 3:16
Here is an example of the way Christ will exercise wisdom (cp
Heb 4:12,13). "The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him -- the Spirit of wisdom
and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -- and he will delight in the fear of the
LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he
hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with
justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the
earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the
wicked" (Isa 11:1-4).
PROSTITUTES: Would Solomon be reminded of the
"character" of his mother Bathsheba, who "played the harlot" with his father
David? (Cp Christ, called to "judge" the woman taken in the act of adultery --
as it impacts himself and HIS mother: John 8.)