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1 Kings 3

A Wise and Understanding Heart

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A Wise and Understanding Heart

1 Kings 3

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A Wise and Understanding Heart

1 Kings 3

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About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the 1 Kings collection. 8 recordings are available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
1 Kings
Collection
1 Kings
[Verse 1] At Gibeon the young king offered Till the smoke rose through the night. In a dream the choice stood open: Riches, vengeance, years, or might. Solomon remembered David, Called himself a child to lead; He asked to judge a countless people With a heart that could discern their need. [Chorus] A wise and understanding heart, Not silver in the treasury, Not length of days or death of foes, But wisdom for responsibility. Because he asked to serve the people, More than self or royal art, God gave riches, honor, judgment, And a wise and understanding heart. [Verse 2] Two women came before the throne, One living child between their cries. Each declared the son belonged her; No witness stood to test the lies. "Bring a sword," the king commanded; "Divide the child and give them share." One said, "Neither mine nor thine." One begged, "Give him whole; let him be spared." [Turn] The mother who surrendered claim To save the child was known. All Israel heard and feared the wisdom That God had placed upon the throne. [Final Chorus] A wise and understanding heart Sees love where words may disagree. Truth appeared when mercy chose The living child above a plea.

Named in this songGibeonSolomonDavid

About the passage

1 Kings 3: Wisdom asks to listen before it judges

Solomon’s reign enters its wisdom phase in a setting the Book of 1 Kings deliberately leaves mixed. He loves the LORD, yet worships at high places, and his marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter is already part of the royal landscape. At Gibeon, God invites him to ask for a gift, and Solomon answers from a sense of inadequacy. He is governing God’s people, not merely possessing a kingdom, so he asks for an understanding, listening heart able to distinguish good from bad. God grants extraordinary wisdom, adds riches and honor, and leaves long life under a stated condition of obedience. The chapter then moves from promise to practice. Two women bring mutually exclusive claims over a living child with no independent witness available. Solomon’s threatened division of the child exposes the difference between possession and maternal compassion, allowing him to identify the true mother without carrying out the threat. Israel recognizes God’s wisdom in the judgment. The gift first appears publicly not as abstract knowledge, but as the capacity to hear a hopelessly tangled case and preserve a life.

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