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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
in the Scriptures .(2 Tim. 3:15, 16; Is. 8:20; Acts 17:11) .^-Haldeman. One of twenty dreams recorded in Scripture.— Comp. Bible. Ask what I shall give Thee. God does not give blank checks to those whom He cannot trust to fill them out. — Brookes. He says the same wonderful thing to each humble child of His to day. (Jn. 14:13, 1^; 15:7; Matt. 7:7, 8; Mk. 11:24; Jn. 15:16 16:23, 24; 1 Jn. 3:22; 5 : 4 - 1 5 ) Torrey. We are com manded to pray and given specific prom ise of the answer. If prayer was intend ed for nothing more than its reflex ac tion on the supplicant, what did the Lord mean by saying, “ All things what soever ye ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive” ? (Matt. 21:22). How any one can honestly affirm that it is not God’s plan to bestow His favors for the right kind of asking is a hard thing for the simple believing spirit to understand. — Biederwolf. Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.— Gregg. v. 6. Showed my father great mercy. God’s mercies are doubly sweet when we-see them transmitted to us through godly parents.— Gurney. v. 7. Thou hast made thy servant king. Promotion comes neither from the hand of man nor the accident ot circumstance but from the will of God. — Cook. I am but a little child. The wis dom of God is for those who have the spirit of a child (Lk. 10:21; 1 Cor. 1: 27, 28).— Palmer. The knowledge of our own limitations is a great essential to success. Some have to learn their limitations like the blind horse, by but ting up against the stone wall.— S. John son. The great man is the man woo is little enough to let God be grcat.^-Mc- Neill. The truly great men are the ones most unconscious of their greatness. Only little men must increase their size by inflation.p-Sel. The great man is the man who does not lose his child’s heart. ;—A Saying of Confucius. I know not how to go out or come in. Put for the whole manner of life.— Comp. Bible. O Lord my God. Only the man who de lights in God can be trusted with the gratification of his heart’s desires. CPs. 37:4). Live deep in God.—Devo. Com. v. 8. A great people. The wise man feels the responsibility of the position he is in. It is better to feel smaller than your job than too big for it»4£V Davis. Some grow under responsibility. Others merely swell.— Sel. v. 9. Give thy servant an under standing heart. The word “ understand
ing” signifies “ hearing.” He desired to have a heart attentive to the word of the Lord. (Ps. 78:1; Jer. 38:15; Prov. 4: 20; ■ Is. 55:3).—Haldeman. There is more fear that we will not hear the Lord than that He .will not hear us.-—Sel. Solomon began by asking wisdom from God. Rehoboam, his son, began by ask ing counsel from man. (12:6-8).-—Bul- linger. See how well Solomon begins. The very goodness of the beginning alarms us. How many fair mornings have died in tumultuous sunsets. How many who began well haVe fallen out of the way. Yet no doctrine can he founded on these facts. They are simply to be taken as phenomena full of sharp suggestion and profound moral teacn- ing.-—Parker. That I may discern. Solomon’s prayer exhibits a conscious ness that truth and falsehood, right and wrong, are not always easy to distin guish and that to discern between them there are needed special gifts of the heart and understanding.— Dummelow. -,- v. 10. The speech pleased the Lord. God is pleased with the prayer that puts first things first.— Eliott. It always pleases Him when His people confess their littleness and expect help from Him.— Gaebelein. v. 11. Thou hast not asked for thy self long life, God is pleased with what we do not ask as well as what we ask.— K. B. Because thou hast asked. It Is God’s way to reward the choice of the supreme or higher good by the bestow- ment of the lower. When the nigher good is preferred, the lower good can safely be bestowed and so God tells Solo mon that because he had asked for wis dom in administration and had not asked for himself long life, victories or the sacrifice of the life of enemies, he would grant him what he had not asked, both wealth and honor, (Eph. 3:20).— Pierson. v. 12. According to thy words. The omnipotent God is at our disposal (Jer. 33:3).— McConkey. v. 13. I have also given thee. The Lord’s plus i s ,in ratio to our minus. If we subtract self, He will add Himself. —Cook. v. 14. If thou wilt walk. There was an additional promise, “ if thou wilt walk in my ways.” Alas, Solomon did not fulfill the condition. He forsook the Lord and died before he was sixty years of age. Anno. Bible. Lengthen thy days. Obedience to God’s will is the great secret of longevity (Deut. 5:16;
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