Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, (fame due to the name of the Lord), she came to test him with hard questions.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, August 23, 2018
by Daniel D. Maurer, Clergy Stuff
I love to type questions into an internet search engine to see what comes up. It's amazing, really. The internet has become the new Oracle of Delphi (or, in this case, I suppose wise King Solomon).
We live today in a world full of questions. Information, they say, is now the key to power.
However, how many questions still go unanswered? A great deal, I wager.
Conjectures and speculation abound. Not just for these questions, but a great many.
- Why do bad things happen to good people?
- In a world where we have the capability and the capacity to feed everyone, why do people still starve?
- What came BEFORE the Big Bang?
Perhaps the wisest bit of info we can glean from today's reading is that we do not need all the answers to necessarily find wisdom.
Sometimes the wisest course is acknowledging first that we don't know about lots of things.
Who knows, maybe that's one of the answers Solomon gave to Queen Sheba. Even Jesus, after all, posed tough questions back to those who wanted to stump him!
Narrative Lectionary Daily Reading:
1 Kings 10:1-10
When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, (fame due to the name of the Lord), she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba had observed all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his valets, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. So she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. Not even half had been told me; your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I had heard. Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness.” Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones; never again did spices come in such quantity as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
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