And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
Solomon had become king after David even though he was not the firstborn, but he had been chosen. And when he was king, God offered to give him what he would desire. And instead of asking for riches or long life or honor or anything else, he asked for wisdom. He knew it was a position that required something more than he had. He knew that in order to do the right thing, he wasn't going to be able to depend on himself. And so God blessed him with wisdom that would surpass all others, the kind of wisdom that would bring renown to Solomon.
What is wisdom and good judgment but being able to discern truth from a complicated situation. Especially when dealing with other people, it is about taking all factors into consideration. First there was the rational aspect. This situation had been presented to him where two women claimed the living child was their own. When they both said the child was theirs, it was obvious that one of them was lying. But how could he tell which was which when they both said the same thing?
So often we try to solve things just by looking at them logically, but there was another important component that enabled Solomon to discern the truth. He considered a mother's love. He understood that the life of her child would be so precious that she would rather give up her son than see him harmed. He saw the hearts of each of the women, and that revealed much more than their words.
Likewise, when we have a dilemma, God can give us a way to know what is right. He will give us the wisdom we seek to best handle our situation. We have to consider all the factors. We have to understand that so often people and situations are too multifaceted to present a straightforward solution. But we can ask God, and He will help us to know the right thing to do, the right thing to say. He'll help us to make sense out of what seems impossible to figure out, and He'll help us to see the truth through the lies and deception that surround us.
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