Walking with the Wise #252: The Sword of Truth

“The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious
and adds persuasiveness to his lips.”
—Proverbs 16:23

Solomon was known to be the wisest man who ever lived. One of the greatest stories of his wisdom comes about as he was acting as a judge in a case involving two prostitutes seeking his intervention and decision regarding the parentage of a baby boy.

“The one woman said, ‘Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.’ But the other woman said, ‘No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.’ The first said, ‘No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.’ Thus they spoke before the king”—1 Kings 3:17-22.

What was Solomon to do? How could he determine which mother the boy belonged to? Wisely, he asked for a sword and said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other,” knowing that only the boy’s real mother would give him up to preserve his life.

“Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, ‘Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.’ But the other said, ‘He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him’”—1 Kings 3:26.

Recognizing his real mother Solomon responded, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother”—1 Kings 3:27.

Such wisdom endeared Solomon—and not only to his people, but to people the world over. His speech was judicious and fair, enabling many to come to him, because they knew he was honest and forthright.

If we endeavor to “speak the truth in love,” (Ephesians 4:15) we will discover ourselves being sought after by others. Truth is a valuable commodity in a world of half-truths, spin-doctors, and shadows, but as Christians we must testify to the validity of the truth, knowing that our Lord Jesus is the personification of truth itself (cf. John 14:6). Are you speaking the truth in love? Have you learned how to speak wisely? Ask God to give you wisdom and He will enable you to live and act wisely in such a way that He might receive glory and you might receive joy. Speak truth, honor the Lord your God, and continually come before Him in humble adoration and He will He will “bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday”—Psalm 37:6. Amen.