A Heart So Wise and Understanding

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12

The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. 

God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you." 

Solomon answered:

"O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king

to succeed my father David;

but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. 

I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,

a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. 

Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart

to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. 

For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"

The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request. 

So God said to him:

"Because you have asked for this—

not for a long life for yourself,

nor for riches, 

nor for the life of your enemies,

but for understanding so that you may know what is right—

I do as you requested. 

I give you a heart so wise and understanding

that there has never been anyone like you up to now, 

and after you there will come no one to equal you."

By some accounts, Solomon was twelve years old when he succeeded his father David as king. Others say he was closer to twenty. The youthful Solomon shows a remarkable humility that recognized the limits of his youth, the daunting task of following David’s incredible reign, and the monumental weight of becoming the human leader of God’s People. This overwhelmed youth has the presence of mind, by the grace of God, to ask for “an understanding heart” so that he can rule God’s kingdom well. He prays for wisdom, putting the needs of God’s kingdom ahead of his own desires for long life, wealth, or success. Would that we did the same. 

This reminds me of Mother Teresa’s prayer to be a pencil in God’s hand. The pencil serves the purposes of the author, and not the other way around. The Spirit is reminding each of us that we exist to serve the Lord, not the other way around. This will give us a deeper fulfillment and joy than we ever could find elsewhere. My family is not only meant to bring me joy; I am meant to serve my family. My parish is not meant only to serve me and my preferences; I am meant to serve my parish. The world is not simply for my enjoyment; I am meant to serve the world. 

The life of Solomon is a cautionary tale. In the moment we meet him this week, he got it. He prayed in humility, putting the needs of God’s kingdom first, desiring only to be a pencil in the hand of the Divine Author. With the wisdom the Lord gave him, he “uttered three thousand proverbs” (1 Kings 5:12) and built the first Temple in Jerusalem. Yet by the end of his forty-year reign, “his wives turned his heart” (1 Kings 11:3) and his unified Kingdom of God would split in two shortly after his death. God’s grace was still there, but Solomon had stopped responding to it.

The Lord will never force you to do anything. Catholicism, the sacraments, prayer, and grace, these things are not magic that do what they are supposed to do simply by doing them. They require my willing participation, my ongoing assent, to be effective. Grace can work wonders in our lives as it did for Solomon. Grace can also be wasted in our lives as it was for Solomon. Let us not waste the graces that the Lord gives us. His daily grace requires our daily assent. Lord, give us also understanding hearts.