I couldn’t believe it

However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. – 1 Kings 10v7

Word of Solomon’s reign, power, riches, and wisdom spread quickly. When it reached Sheba in Africa the queen was enthralled by the wisdom of this new king of the nation of Israel. Of course, everyone knew about the kingdom of Israel now and of their conquest of Canaan. Perhaps there was some fear in other nations of Israel expanding her power. This new wise king would certainly have added to those fears.

It was not enough for the queen to send an ambassador, she had to go and see for herself. She took a load of riches with her and went to see this king. The first thing we read about was that she asked Solomon all kinds of hard questions. He patiently answered each and every one.

She noticed his wisdom. Then she looked around and saw his palace, his servants, his food table, and all his riches.

‘There was no spirit left in her.’ Might I parrowphrase that? ‘It took her breath away.’

‘I heard about all this,’ she said, ‘but I could not believe it till I saw it with my own eyes. I didn’t hear the half of it!’

We could look at a number of things here, but I want to focus on one of them. The Queen of Sheba was first drawn by the wisdom of Solomon. The first thing she did was to ply him with questions. It was after she saw wisdom that she saw the rest of the blessings.

I think sometimes that we forget that we have all of the wisdom of God at our disposal. He has given us His word and allowed ii to be written down and copied and printed so that we have access to all that wisdom.

What do we do with that wisdom? Do we leave it at church or on a shelf someplace through the week, or do we exercise His wisdom in such a way that the world is drawn to it? If we would do that perhaps we could see the day when our loved ones would also say, ‘You didn’t tell be the half of it!’