Grace Assembly : Acts of Grace

1 Kings 3:6-10 NASU
6 Then Solomon said, "You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

7 "Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

8 "Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.

9 "So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"

10 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

1 Kings 4:29-30 NASU
29 Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.

It is interesting that at the beginning of Solomon’s kingship, the first thing he did was to acknowledge God in his life. And here we discover four acknowledgements he made before God. Now we do make acknowledgements to fellow human beings but here is an acknowledgement, a confession, before God.

The first acknowledgement that he made is the acknowledgement of God’s great loving kindness. Solomon spoke to the Lord and acknowledged His great loving kindness over his dad’s life and ministry. He did not acknowledge his father’s power, abilities or his achievements although there is no doubt that he had witnessed these things as a son living in the family, and seeing how his father led the nation.

In this acknowledgement, Solomon did not only see his father’s exploits, he saw beyond that. He saw God’s loving kindness upon his father’s life and ministry. That is spiritual insight. And this is more than natural. In life, whether from an employee and employer perspective, or in a father and son relationship, we tend to see just the immediate human exploits and abilities and we enjoy all that and we attribute the person’s success to his education. We attribute it to his charisma. We attribute it to his upbringing. We attribute it to his personality, and everything related to him as a human being. And there is no doubt about that. Those attributes are important contributions to be a successful leader and a successful man in life but as we read Solomon’s prayer and confession, we learn that Solomon saw first and foremost, God’s great loving kindness upon his father, David.

What do we see about what is happening in the church? What do we see about what is happening in the leadership of the nation? Do we see God’s great loving kindness? Do we acknowledge it is God and not just man’s accomplishments alone? It is not just Bible school education. It is not just our degrees or our training. It is not just all these gifts that we have. Ultimately in the end, we are like what the apostle Paul says, “I am what I am today because of the grace of God.”

Solomon acknowledged first of all, God’s great loving kindness in his father’s life. In other words, he saw God’s loving kindness in the past, in the life of his father. A lesson to learn here: we need to acknowledge our predecessors - those who had contributed so much towards the church, those who have laid down their lives to plant churches and so on. But more than that, we need to acknowledge that they did what they did because of God’s great loving kindness.

Solomon also acknowledged God’s great loving kindness towards him. Here he acknowledged God’s loving kindness in the present. He realized that his position as heir to the throne was also because of God’s great loving kindness. He did not take for granted the fact that he was born into the royal family and he was the rightful heir to inherit the throne. In fact, we know there were many other siblings and competitors to the throne but ultimately it was God’s grace upon his life that he was appointed as the next king of Israel.

Whatever position we are in, whatever ministry or thing we are doing, if God has promoted us and blessed us, let us acknowledge it is God’s grace and loving kindness towards us.