God Blesses a King

King Solomon was wiser and richer than all the kings of the earth—he surpassed them all. People came from all over the world to be with Solomon and drink in the wisdom God had given him. And everyone who came brought gifts—artifacts of gold and silver, fashionable robes and gowns, the latest in weapons, exotic spices, and horses and mules—parades of visitors, year after year. ~ 1Kings 10:23-25



16 Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him. 17 And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house.18 Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.”

22 Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.”

And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.”

Thus they spoke before the king.

23 And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” 24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”

26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!”

But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”

27 So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice. ~ 1Kings 3:16-28

David Danced!

                   

During one of my nursing rounds, I went to check on one of my patients who had an IV antibiotic infusing. I realized the antibiotic was finished so I proceeded to disconnect the IV as I said, “Now you will be able to move around the room a little easier without having to drag around this IV pole.” A visitor that was present in the room at the time said with a laugh, “You can even get up and dance a jig!” to which he immediately responded, “Oh no, God would get me for that!”. As I listened I quickly debated over whether to respond to what I had heard or to just act as if I didn’t. It only took a few seconds before I came to a decision as I heard myself say, “Well, David danced!”. That comment provoked a look of wonder from the man. Then, to elaborate on my previous remark I said, ”You know, king David in the Bible”. The man abruptly turned to me with the strangest look of awe in his eyes and a slight grin on his face. He didn’t even speak for several seconds but just gazed at me as if pleasantly confused. I couldn’t help but giggle a bit as I looked at him and said, “Oh, you didn’t think I would know that, did you?”. To this remark, his grin progressed into a huge smile as a discussion of celebrating God’s grace developed among those of us in the room.

                             
As we talked, the demeanor of the man lightened and I began to think to myself that in this moment we were experiencing evidence of God’s word. The Word states that where two or three are present in his name, there he will be also (Matthew 18:20). He revealed his presence in that room that day by the glow of the faces and the lifting of mood all around. All this brought about merely by sharing God’s given knowledge of him to someone else.