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In three swift verses, the succession is accomplished, finally. And David sleeps with his fathers and is buried in the city of David. Our prayer for David, companion in these past weeks, is that David sleeps, at last, in peace. For in those last years, David is so advanced in years, so old, that he cannot get warm. They cover him with clothes, but he does not get warm. They bring him a young maiden to lie beside him, but he does not get warm. I imagine David shivers in the knowledge of all that his life has taught him, the hard way. At the end of his life, David shivers in the knowledge that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Until Nathan and Bath-Sheba come to him.

They come to David to remind him of the promise for Solomon to succeed him. "Yes," David thinks to himself, shivering under a pile of covers. "Yes, that is the covenant, the promise, God is with me still. God forgives my indiscretion and my downfall: God has left me with Solomon." David warms a little with the recognition, son of his love of Bath-Sheba. Solomon is his successor, his son. Finally, David is calmed and warmed and as his time to die draws near, he calls Solomon to come to him, "Solomon, my son, I want to sum up what I know for you, as you begin, what looking back over my long life and reign has taught me. Hindsight is good vision, what looking back over my long life reveals to me, my son, is that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Suddenly the shivering slows, David is calm as he shares what he knows, "Be strong, my son Solomon, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in God's ways, keeping God's statutes as it is written in the law, that you, that you, my dear son, may prosper." And David sleeps with his fathers, and is buried in the city of David and Solomon sits upon the throne. The succession is accomplished.

The second portion of the scripture appointed for this Sunday in Pentecost legitimizes Solomon's succession to the throne. Moving over to the third chapter of First Kings, Solomon goes to Gideon to make a sacrifice as was the custom. At Gideon the Lord appears to Solomon in a dream. And God said, "Ask what I shall give you." Solomon answers, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant, my father, David, because David walked before you in faithfulness and righteousness and uprightness of heart and now, O God, I am in the place of David, and I am depending on you ... I am only a little child. Or so it seems all of a sudden and I do not know if I am coming or going, and besides, I only got to the throne by the skin of my teeth. I only got to the throne because all of the other brothers knocked each other off and I was the only one left standing (except Adonijah, who was exalted but not for long). Then there is the subject of my mother, Bath-Sheba. She is rather infamous (not always admired). And there is the matter of the people of Israel you have chosen for me to lead. There are so many of them they cannot be counted. Who, who could govern them? Help! God! I am so scared! You ask what you can give? Please let's begin with an understanding mind to govern your people and an ability to discern good from evil."

At the very beginning of the reign, Solomon demonstrates his knowledge that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Oh, maybe the source of this fear of the Lord is fear of the job of king. But never again will Israel know such security, peace, well-being, affluence, as under Solomon's reign - 40 years of it. There is this extra little play on words as well since Solomon's name comes from the root of the Hebrew word shalo, "shalom" which means peace and wholeness and well-being. Solomon brings wisdom, peace and magnificence to Israel.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, peace, well-being. Solomon understands himself in this perspective, calls himself a servant of the Lord, four times during the dream. Solomon is a loyal vassal to all that God has asked in the covenant relation with their goal together set as the well-being of all God's people. When God said, "Ask what I shall give you." Solomon answers, "An understanding mind, and the ability to discern good from evil." This request is literally for a hearing heart. For the ancients, the heart is the center of the self and the soul. The heart is the place of thinking and feeling. The heart is the place for discipline and will. Solomon's request implies the desire for a reason that understands, a heart with the skill to listen, the ability to judge, an instinct for integrity. And it pleases the Lord that Solomon has asked it. The Lord grants what Solomon asks and adds to it.

The Hebrew word for wisdom - hokmah - distinguishes wisdom in three ways, all three of which are granted to Solomon. First and foremost, wisdom - hokmah - is the capacity to discern ... to reason ... especially good from evil. And it is the ability to make good judgments. Solomon demonstrates this capacity to discern soon after his dream at Gideon. Two harlots come before him both claiming to be the mother of an infant. Solomon calls for a sword, proposing to give one-half of the baby to each. The true mother responds, "Give her the child." The other harlot says, "Divide it." Solomon returns the child to its true mother and "All Israel heard of the judgment (hokmah) which the king rendered. They stood in awe of the king because they perceived the wisdom of God was in him, to render justice." Wisdom, hokmah, is the capacity to discern good from evil, the ability to judge.

The second meaning of wisdom - hokmah - is encyclopedic knowledge, used in practical matters such as government and administration. Wisdom is the knowledge of fact and the power to use that knowledge well and with skill. Solomon has such a knowledge. Solomon's wisdom in this manner is so wide and so deep that almost any spoken wisdom, from clever proverb to deep truth, is attributed to Solomon for generations.

Wisdom, hokmah, is also a secular asset, a kind of savoir faire, sophistication, savvy. This aspect of wisdom, Solomon has in good measure as well. His knowledge and capacity to discern, and his savvy, are all used to build Jerusalem's temple and Solomon's palace. Solomon designed courtyards and paths through Jerusalem. This particular aspect of wisdom reflects Solomon in all his glory.

Here at Solomon's beginning, during a dream at Gideon, Solomon asks for an understanding mind and the capacity to be a wise servant of the Lord, as king of Israel. And God is pleased with Solomon for making this request and God said to Solomon, "Because you have asked this and have not asked for long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before. I give you also what you have not asked, riches and honor. And if you walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, then I will lengthen your days."

Threaded throughout these Old Testament texts appointed for these Sundays in Pentecost is the truth of what it means to be chosen by God as opposed to isolated and alienated. It means to seek to discern God's paths to distinguish between good and evil, to seek wisdom throughout our days. Amen.