INTRODUCTION

Solomon was an amazing man! It is almost as if he won the greatest lottery of all time. Imagine this: when he was a newly appointed king, God granted Solomon one wish. Surprisingly, Solomon didn’t respond as many would by asking for wealth or long life. Instead, Solomon asked God to give him the wisdom to rule God’s people justly.

The Bible tells us that God was impressed with Solomon’s response. He had unselfishly asked for God’s help in fulfilling the task God had given him. So impressed was God with Solomon’s response that He promised not only to grant the wish that Solomon had made, but most of the other wishes he could have wished as well! God gave Solomon the wisdom he requested plus wealth and power like nothing the world had ever seen.

According to the Bible, Solomon was the wisest man who had ever lived (until Jesus Christ arrived, of course). Since then, only Jesus has been wiser. 2 Chronicles 9 tells us, “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth; all the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.”

Solomon was not only the wisest man alive, but the richest man alive, as well as the greatest achiever of his day. His success reached into nearly every arena. He had knowledge, wealth, and fame, as well as accomplishments both political and architectural. He became an incredible leader.

Just recently I was reading again in the book of Chronicles about how Solomon organized the nation of Israel and how he brought that nation to its absolute pinnacle during his reign. Since Solomon’s time, never again has Israel returned to the height that it attained under his leadership.

With a fresh image in your mind of who Solomon is and what he accomplished, I want you to imagine that you are about to personally meet King Solomon, the richest and most powerful man in the world. You have entered his throne room which resembles the most beautiful museum you have ever seen. It is filled with one-of-a-kind items that Solomon received as gifts from the greatest leaders around the world. Never have you even dreamed of such exquisite surroundings.

After you have stopped in front of his throne, he leans forward a little and says, “I am glad you are here. I have thirty things that I want to say to you. These things are my favorites of all the wisdom nuggets God has given me. God Himself has asked me to pass them on to people of every generation. God Almighty attests that these truths will remain useful and applicable to every culture and every time, be it 1000 BC or 2018 AD.”

After pausing and motioning to one of his many servants to bring you a desk with paper and pen, he continues. “These things that I will share with you can improve your marriage. They can revolutionize your finances. They can literally change your entire life. I would like to tell you what God wants you to know about your family, your money, your work, your gifts, skills, attitudes, friends, emotions, desires, and even your future. I want to teach you about judgment and prejudice, about the many things that will disappoint you, and what few things won’t.” Imagine that Solomon then looks you right in the eye and asks, “If I take the time to tell you these things, will you listen? Will you value them?”

I can hardly imagine that any of us would tell such an accomplished man, “No, thank you. I have something else I would rather do.”

Although none of us living today have stood face to face with Solomon, he really did receive supernatural wisdom from God. More

importantly for us, God really did ask him to pass it on. In fact, most of the chapters in the book of Proverbs are Solomon’s way of passing the wisdom he received from God on to his son and all the following generations. There Solomon will tell us what he learned both when he chose to obey God and when he tried to find fulfillment outside of God.

Solomon says in Proverbs 22:20-21 (NIV), “Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, teaching you true and reliable words, so that you can give sound answers to him who sent you?” He’s telling us that he has thirty things he wants us to be sure to hear. This book, Solomon Says is an exploration into this concise, but powerful, section of tips from Solomon on how we should live. Apart from Jesus Christ, Solomon was the most successful man that any of us are likely to be influenced by. I hope you will treat these thirty nuggets as timeless. They represent the wisdom that Solomon received directly from God.

Although I have tried to be thorough and helpful, there is, of course, much more that can be learned than I have time and space to include here. I encourage you not only to look at each chapter of this book for the information it holds, but also to watch for opportunities to delve deeper into each topic. You might call this Solomon’s study guide for life. I am intentionally structuring the book to make it easy for you to use each topic as a separate springboard for discussion or study.