"Wisdom of Solomon" is a phrase we sometimes hear in everyday conversation, in situations that have nothing to do with the Bible or religious matters. It's just well-known. It's also a phrase you might recall if you read comics featuring the original Captain Marvel character (now known as Shazam). It was something that Cap gained when he spoke his magic word and was transformed into the World's Mightiest Mortal, represented by the "S" in said magic word, "Shazam."
Conventional wisdom suggests Solomon gained his wisdom during this encounter with God in his dream. After all, that's what Solomon's own language suggests when he says he does not even know how to go out or come in. This convention overlooks a couple of key elements, though. One is the lavish hyperbole common in ancient Near Eastern formal language. In the same way that we might value informality and plain speaking, they valued flattery and self-effacement -- and not in some sort of kiss-up fashion, either. Solomon of course knew how to go in and out of a building -- but when he compared his knowledge to that needed in order to be a good and successful king of God's people, it was woefully inadequate.
The second key element links to the first: If you know you need to ask for wisdom, there is an excellent chance you already possess that quality. The book of Proverbs is a genre called "wisdom literature," or advice for someone on how to live life in a good and successful way. In it, we find the idea I just expressed, in Proverbs 12:15: "Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice."
Solomon's request demonstrates to God that he not only knows enough to ask for advice, he knows who he should ask. Anyone can consult ancient thinkers and philosophers whose ideas have been tested by time and shown to be accurate, and anyone can be guided by those ideas no matter their source. But God's people should be ready first of all to rely on God for advice and wisdom -- and the king of God's people even more so. Solomon tells God the only way for him to be a fitting king of God's people is to ask for God's wisdom.
I think God often works in us in this way -- of course he can instill in us qualities we have never before demonstrated. But most often I think he magnifies what he already finds -- because he is the one who installed that quality in the original factory model when it came off the floor.
This is not a blanket policy, of course. If I am, say, staggeringly handsome, God will not make me dangerously handsome simply at my request. Not every quality need be magnified, nor need it be magnified for any reason. God is much more strategic and purposeful.
Solomon's wisdom was magnified because it would help him be a better king of God's people. Perhaps you are a good listener. Then you might pray that God helps you be an even better one so that people will know that they can talk with you and be truly heard -- and that you will know more precisely what you might pray for in response to what they have said. The key is not to just ask for more of a quality. It's to ask to be better able to employ that quality for the work of God's kingdom, and for God to develop it in you to better serve him and his people.
In the parable of the talents, Jesus told of a master who gave some servants authority over different amounts of money while he was gone. We remember how angry the master was with the servant who buried the talent he was given and gave him back no more than he started with. God may not be angry with us if we do not seek the growth and strengthening of the characteristics he's given us for his purpose -- but we might become sad angry with ourselves when we see what we could have been doing for the kingdom.
Fortunately, God offers us another chance when we realize how much more we could have been doing for him. All he wants is for us to ask for it, and you don't have to be all that smart to do that.
