Wilberforce Forum  

“I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 1:12, 13

Solomon asked God to grant him wisdom so that he might rule the people of Israel justly and well. God granted his request, but, apparently, not as a “package deal.” Solomon did not wake up from his sleep suddenly the wisest man alive. According to his own account in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon had to seek the wisdom of God by all the means of revelation God had provided. So Solomon became a student of the Law of God, as we have seen. But he also became a student of the world of creation, knowing that in the things He has made, God is making Himself, His glory, and His wisdom known to all who will seek Him there.

Solomon’s father, King David, had written of the works of creation, “All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom” (Ps. 145:10-12). Solomon knew that God had hidden His glory in the world of creation, and with His glory, His wisdom. He also understood that, as a king who sought the wisdom of God, it was his responsibility to seek out, through the study of creation, whatever God might be pleased to reveal there of His glory and wisdom (Prov. 25:2). The creation is a vast library of information and example on how to be wise and to live for the glory of God. Knowing this, Solomon took up the study of created things – trees, plants, beasts, birds, reptiles, and fish (1 Kgs. 4:33). His proverbs are rife with wise insights into the ways of God revealed through created things. Jesus, following Solomon’s example, also pointed to birds, flowers, fields, seeds, and more to draw the attention of His hearers to the wisdom of God encoded there, and to explain, by the examples of creation, the mysterious ways and wonders of His Kingdom. If we would be wise like Solomon and Jesus, we must take up the study of the creation, devoting ourselves through reading, study, contemplation, and conversation, to discerning the wisdom of God as revealed in the things He has made.