The Heart Solomon Asked For

Readings: I Kings 3:5-12, Secrets of Heaven #1555 (see below)
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Today we have listened to a foundational story from the narrative of King Solomon in ancient Israel. Solomon was the son and the successor of King David. He was known particularly for his wisdom, and because he is the one who finally built the temple in Jerusalem. We hear him in this story ask for the wisdom that will make him famous as a ruler.

This story is one example of the way that differences in translation can really effect the direction of our discourse and comprehension. The translation I read today is the New International Version, the one I usually default to because of its straightforwardness. It says that Solomon asked God for a “discerning” heart. But the King James Version says that Solomon asked God for an “understanding” heart. 

Those words are actually quite different in English. When we think of being “discerning” we think of deciding between things with a certain level of judgment. It can be good judgment, certainly, but there is definitely a sense of figuring something out intellectually, of judging between things.

And it just so happens that in our bible study last Sunday, quite apart from this reading, we had a discussion of what it means to be “judgmental” (in a bad way), as opposed to “discerning” in a good way.

We came to recognize that being “judgmental” involved several qualities. First, there is an element of harmful speed in judgmental decision-making. We might call these “snap judgments”, and in such cases, it is often our various biases that are guiding our judgment. Now, we all have biases, it is an unavoidable element of being human, but the problem is when we pretend that we don’t have them. The problem is when we lean into snap judgments and refuse to do the work of learning about the fullness of someone’s humanity or the fullness of a certain situation. 

Second, there is often a certain level of hypocrisy involved with being judgmental. We are all human and we all have flaws. Maybe not exactly the same flaws at exactly the same time, but knowledge of our own flaws should certainly encourage humility and empathy when we encounter flaws in others and guide our judgement accordingly. If it doesn’t, it is difficult to trust a discernment that is so obviously blind to one half of the picture.

Third, we decided that the most central element of being judgmental was that it comes from ego rather than love and concern. Let’s be honest; being judgmental can be an incredible high. There is nothing quite like feeling superior to another person to make us feel better about ourselves. Feeling superior is incredibly addictive. It can make us feel safe and certain, it can pre-empt uncomfortable reflection, it can guard against shame. But it doesn’t actually make us any better at being truly discerning, or at being truly wise. 

To comprehend the real gift of what Solomon was asking for, and what God gave him, the translation of an “understanding heart” can give us a deeper insight into wisdom.

When we consider the meaning of understanding, it introduces some different elements. Understanding is used to mean comprehending knowledge, yes. In a math class we might be asked: Do you understand this concept? and we can answer Yes I do. But understanding as a word also can contain something deeper than simple comprehension. It can contain a sense of empathy, a larger sense of trying to see the whole picture, of recognizing dignity and shared humanity. We might say in relationship: I felt like this person understood me and what I was going though.

This communicates an essential sense of understanding as involving the heart in a different way than intellectual discernment. That, crucially, in order to really understand rather than just discern, we must be coming from love and respect rather than ego.

And this is exactly how Swedenborg describes the process of becoming wise. He distinguishes between knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, recognizing that they are different capacities that have different purposes on our journey of spiritual growth. Knowledge is simply about assimilating facts. What has happened in my life? What does the bible or my tradition suggest? What do I feel about it? Knowlege is an important stage or capacity because it gathers foundational information that is helpful to be aware of. But it is still only awareness, nothing more.

Intelligence is more about making connections between concepts and figuring out how they should be applied. How does spirituality relate to life? Is charity more important than faith, or are they both important, and how? What does this or that bible story or teaching suggest about my current situation? Intelligence is an important stage or capacity because it allows us to start taking abstract concepts and apply them to our particular lives and situations. It starts making connections between ideas about God and spiritual things and our own development. But, intelligence can still be practiced fairly intellectually or abstractedly.

Wisdom, though, is when knowlege and intelligence engage the heart, and become integrated with it and our experience. We start to ask: what kind of love and insight is needed in a particular situation? What action will serve connection and thriving? How is God’s Providence moving in this situation, and what is it hoping I will learn? These are questions that are not so much about getting answers as they are about performing service, and they are questions that our ego shies away from asking. They are questions that come from love, and they look to the goodness that love wants to achieve. In wisdom, knowledge and intelligence learn to serve love.

Now, you might have noticed that we haven’t yet said anything about the second half of Solomon’s request to God.

So give your servant a discerning (or understanding) heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.

In a state of wisdom, it is still important to distinguish between right and wrong. Wisdom isn’t some magical woowoo oneness that transcends any need to make distinctions. Wisdom doesn’t take us away from the question of right and wrong, but rather, takes us deeper into it. 

Because then right and wrong become, not judgmental terms to be co-opted by ego for its own purposes but a way into love. Wisdom asks of the distinction between right and wrong: how and for what purpose? Not just because God said it, not because being right can make us feel safe or good or superior, not even because it makes the most sense. Right because it furthers human dignity and freedom, right because it connects people one with another, right because it gives us a chance to become who God wants us to be, right because it is good, respectful and loving. And wrong because it takes us further away from any of those things. We must love goodness (and not ourselves) in order to know what is right and wrong; we must love goodness to be wise, and have in Swedenborgian language “a heart so established in what is good that it has a perception of truth."(1)

And the thing that is so tricky about this story is that, like most characters in the bible, Solomon had his flaws. He was wise in many ways, but also imprudent in others. We are once again challenged to recognize that God doesn’t require perfection to engage with us. God doesn’t require wisdom in every part of us in order to work towards wisdom in others. Our journeys are sometimes lurching and incomplete. Wisdom does not ask us to be perfect. It simply asks us to keep listening, and to keep striving for the heart that understands. Amen.

(1) Anita Dole, The Dole Study Notes: The Wisdom of Solomon

Readings:

I Kings 3:5-12

5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 “Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.
8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,
12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.


Secrets of Heaven #1555

The light we gain through knowledge of faith's true concepts and good actions is called the light of [intelligence], whereas the light of wisdom is part and parcel of life and is gained from life. The light of [intelligence] relates to our intellectual side, or our intellect, while wisdom's light relates to our volitional side, or our life.

[2] Few if any know how we are led to true wisdom. [Intelligence] is not wisdom but leads to wisdom, since to understand what is true and good is not to be true or good. To be wise is to be so. Wisdom is exclusively a question of the way we live, of actually being wise. Wisdom, or in other words, life, is what secular and religious knowledge introduces us into.