Word of Salvation – Vol. 25 No. 35 – June 1979

 

Covenant Request Number One

 

Sermon by Rev. J.F.H. Vanderbom on 1Kings 3:3 – 15

Readings: Deuteronomy 6 (law); James 1: 1 12

Psalter Hymnal: 48; 237; 62; 462

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

This morning, God’s Word reminds us of a great work that is to be done. It is work which may not be left until Monday. No, this morning we must be active and at work in the church service.

Yes, we say very quickly, that we have come to Church to hear the Word of God. It sounds so easy just to hear God’s Word! Please, let there be no mistake about this, the hearing of God’s Word does not come automatically. We have to be ready. We must be prepared to listen, which means to give ourselves. A really good Service can be demanding, and make you tired. This also applies to our young friends here, You see, it is not enough to have you here, with Dad and Mum, or in the back seats. Sure, we are happy to see you. We see it as one of the blessings that in the Reformed Church we still have you with us, our youth, our ‘Covenant Youth’

But repeating :in a Covenant Service there is a work to be done.

We bring our children (and ourselves) to this place, not to be passive, but active. We come to listen. We must listen in order to learn, and learn in order to live.

Here we must find, discover and work out the riches that we receive in God’s Covenant. We must listen to learn. Our children must learn to live. We pray that they may see light. This does not come automatically.

Today we hear the Word of God speaking to us about King Solomon and his discovery.

In our text we have a well known prayer, the lovely passage where young Solomon, standing at the beginning of his kingly rule (verse 1) and facing the gigantic, overwhelming task, after an enormous sacrifice of consecration, spends the night in prayer.

We’ll see that this was a prayer of intense activity, which the Lord, the God of the Covenant, had more or less enforced upon him.

Does God enforce prayers upon His people? If you think that this is too strong, then we must at least agree that God took the initiative here. You know, in His Covenant, God always takes initiatives.

It is not us, it is not me or Solomon who makes a decision for God…! What makes this story so attractive is that here we see a young and promising man as he really is, and was meant to be: not big, but very small, at the receiving end. A young king, and yet so very timid.

We would say the king is in his pyjamas, possibly on his knees, at his bedside. At the moment, very small and timid.

Now, this is how God loves to see him : ‘Solomon in all his glory, the anointed king of the kingdom’, at the receiving end.

And this is how God likes to see all of us! Big? Important? As the lords and ladies of the future? No, if we may assume that there is one difference which makes our Covenant youth visible, then it must be in those moments of smallness and quiet timidity. We know that our boys can be very big and boastful . . . ! Yet, praise God, when there are still those moments in pyjamas, on their knees at the bedside.

Solomon is timid. Why is Solomon timid? Is the young king afraid? There is no war-threat, is there? No poverty, no sorrow.

Solomon is timid, not because he is so poor, but so rich! Timid, because he is overwhelmed with God’s goodness. He cannot understand, why God, the Lord, our Covenant God, has showered so many graces upon him.

If there is one thing that makes God’s children humble, then it is not firstly: suffering, war, sorrow, or the preaching of hell . . ., but that undeserved goodness of a sovereign, gracious God. We know that He is great and holy. And yet He is the faithful One, Who has taken an initiative, and He takes the promise and the oath. And… who am I, who are we?

When I look at myself, like king Solomon did, and I think of my poor response then there is every reason to be very timid and humble. Because all the initiative was His! The great decisions in life were not mine, but His! And were the whole realm of nature mine, and even if I were king Solomon himself in all his splendour, and I could sacrifice a thousand burnt offerings – that would be a present far too small!

Young Solomon understood this very well there were no reasons for him to be proud of his decisions and his sacrifices. Here stood the Lord. The Lord Who had chosen, and decided to bless him, appeared to him again! This second night He has come for a next step.. to continue what He had begun. Young Solomon made an extraordinary sacrifice.

But the Lord God came with a question. It was another invitation: ‘Ask what I shall give you’. ‘Tell Me, what more can I do for you?’

But, Lord… I have already so much! You have been so good so kind..! God says: Ask! Because to him who has, more shall be given! The blessing of the Lord makes rich!

The Lord wants to see His people even richer than they are now! Because He wants them to bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit!

The young man answers: Lord, what shall I ask? A very difficult question for a young man who lives as a prince!

Now we may readily assume that the heart of every young man and woman is filled with many desires. And this is good and natural. We were not meant to be Buddhists. We do not believe in Zen-Buddhism. It is God Himself Who has created the desires in us. In the book Deuteronomy we can read how children in the Covenant of grace were taught to ask for good things.

So now you can believe that Solomon was wide awake. It was a dream. Yes, but the dream didn’t leave him passive. He was active enough to respond immediately. What shall I ask? What more shall I ask from my Covenant God? Lord God, this is a good question to keep me awake for a night!

True life in the Covenant doesn’t leave room for dullness. It is: unspeakable riches! Because to live in the Covenant with God does NOT mean that we have arrived. It does NOT mean that we have all the answers. It does NOT mean that the fight is over, and that we must simply live according to some rules and laws.

Life in the Covenant always asks for MORE!

Solomon’s answer to the Lord’s invitation is beautiful. There are two things that strike us in particular.

Firstly, he says: Lord, You have given us so much. Or, rather: You have done so many things for us – You have shown so much kindness and care and patience and love…! Solomon mentions five things: five times he relates the marvellous deeds of Jehovah’s goodness.

And then, secondly: he speaks about his father. ‘Lord, You have been so marvellous to us, good and glorious to. Your servant, my father David. Isn’t that interesting!

The son remembers the father! In the hour of decision he praises the Lord for his father’s life!

Solomon must have been proud of his father. But that is not the only thing.

Why does he, in this hour, remember his father’s life and work?

Simply because in the Church, in the Covenant we are never on our own! We are not made as individuals, to make our individual decisions. We are part of the Covenant community. And that Covenant community has all its roots in the past. We realise that to say these things is certainly not popular, today. There are the many Christians about us, young people and older folk, who couldn’t be bothered by who ‘the fathers’ were, or what they did, thought and prayed. For them, the Church seems to begin with them, and their decisions. They live and die with their own story.

But they are in for disillusionment. A plant cannot live on its own. A plant bears fruit only when it has roots.

Solomon knew of the deep roots. He had often been thinking about his father, David. He was deeply interested in what his father did, said and suffered. This was not because his father was so good and perfect. He must have loved to hear his father tell stories. Not: his own story, the story of his heroic goodness. But the story of the manifold graces and the wonderful faithfulness of that mighty and glorious God Who keeps the oath and the Covenant.

He who has ears must hear and listen to the story of the past. Then we will realize that the Lord’s goodness in His Covenant cannot be explained from our human side at all!

It certainly is not so, as we can sometimes read it in our own magazines, that our children will come right when they see their parents do the right things. It is not so, that in the Christian home and family we can calculate God’s goodness with a computer.

The truth is totally different. The truth is one great and glorious miracle. From eternity, God has been looking at His people. There has been a whole generation of people in whom He has shown His peculiar interest. He began a work for Israel many generations ago.

And now my time has come. I have seen Him at work, because He was there, in the lives of my parents and my grandparents, and in the Christian Church. And it will be my turn to say that the same God is also pleased to come to me and call me.

‘Ask, what shall I give you, young man! Tell Me, what can I do for you!’ Solomon says: Lord, You have given me so very much. What shall I ask? I have so much, And yet, I am still such a nit-wit!

Lord, You have made your servant a king in the place of my father David. But I am only a youth. I am so inexperienced. I don’t even know the difference between what is good and bad. And the nation for which I am responsible is so vast and numerous. So I ask You one thing, Lord! My one request is: wisdom.

We all know that wisdom is not the same as knowledge. The boy who goes to College may have a lot of knowledge. Mother may have much more wisdom. Wisdom or discernment is a practical thing. Wisdom is that I may know, how to live, and how to spend my time and my money. “Give me a wise and understanding heart, Lord! Tell me, how to rule Your people, teach me, how to bless them!”

This prayer was a good prayer. It was pure. We read that the Lord was pleased with it. We may always come to ask Him for more wisdom. (James 1).

However, before we stop, we may need a little warning. When going home, let us not say: that was an interesting sermon on king Solomon. That would be a bad conclusion to draw.

We haven’t come to Church to hear a good old story. This morning we have spoken about the Covenant-relationship. It is the task of the preacher to tell you about that glorious, living God, Who is Lord of all, and of His wonderful invitation for Solomon, the Old Testament anointed King, and for all of us who are here. God’s Word calls us, old and young. And His Word also shows the way in which He wants to bless His people. God’s way is the way of a relationship. That we may know Him, and ourselves, and the purpose for which He has destined us.

The Lord says, today too: Ask!

What are we going to answer? Do not be passive in the Church! Work out your salvation with fear and trembling because God is at work in you. You see, there is a work that must be done.

The preacher’s task is to make you think. Young people, this morning again you have heard the Covenant invitation. Now make it difficult for yourselves, and say: Lord, You have told me that I should open my mouth and ask!

But I have so much. So very much.

Yes, and possibly you have never really asked something from God! Perhaps you have never prayed for the One thing in life!

A last remark.

Did Solomon ask the right thing? He prayed for wisdom, discernment. For him, the king and Messiah on David’s throne this was very important. He wanted to be useful. O, use me, Lord, use even me Give me wisdom! Some Bible students say, this was a good prayer. Others suggest: he should have asked for more.

A good question for your morning coffee!

We read that Solomon’s prayer pleased the Lord, because wisdom, true wisdom is that I know God and myself, and find the right attitude to everything in life. Still, as New Testament Christians we could ask things in a different fashion, because we live in a clearer light.

This was the apostle Paul’s request: ‘that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death. . . One thing I do forgetting what lies behind, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!’ (Philippians 3).

Amen.