II Chronicles 9: 1 “And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 2 And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not. 3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 4 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. 5 And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: 6 Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.”
This event is in the latter part of Solomon’s reign and his life. There is unusual detail. Many kings would have visited him, but this visit was different. Israel was enjoying prominence in the world. Solomon was known for his wisdom. When the Lord gave him the opportunity to ask for anything he wanted, Solomon chose wisdom. Instead of wealth he wanted to rule Israel well; he wanted to govern and take care of his nation in order to provide answers and help to the people. He did it time after time after time. What they needed he was able to give.
The Queen of Sheba was powerful and wealthy in her own right. She had access to anything she wanted, yet she still had questions in her heart and mind. She didn’t come to match wits with Solomon. She was lacking something and could not find answers from any of her sources or advisers. She went to King Solomon.
Answers are a dime a dozen. You can go to any search engine on the web and find all the information you could want. The trouble is you might not get the right answer; you probably won’t. It just might not be the whole truth that you need. There is one who has the wholeness of answers. It is our Lord. As the Queen had heard of Solomon’s wisdom, we know of the Lord’s. It was not Solomon’s wealth she sought but his wisdom. He was gifted and could give her the true answer. In our Lord we also find our true and lasting answers.
The Queen came with her caravan of goods, and her bags were also packed with her many questions. She had a long journey and may have wondered if the King could and would help her. He had helped others; was he able to help her? We have someone we can go to. Others may give us half answers. Jesus gives it all. Our KING is still on his throne. King Jesus is there in all his glory. He provides us with the answer, the whole answer. Whatever situation the Queen was in, she knew where to find Solomon. We know where Jesus is. He’s still there. We should never doubt if Jesus can help. He is fully able to. Sometimes we’re not willing to accept his answers, but God always supplies the need 100%, not half.
When Solomon heard the Queen was coming he told his court to make room for her. They were to open the gates and give her entrance to the throne room. In a sense, he rolled out the red carpet to let her in. The Lord won’t turn us away either. The Bible says that whosoever comes to him will not be cast out. Ask and receive. Seek and find. Knock and the door will be opened. We can go in.
She came in and sat down. He told her to talk to him. She opened her heart. She felt safe, as if they’d known each other for years. This is the type of relationship we can have with Jesus. Solomon opened his heart before she opened hers. We have a King that has opened himself to us. We can come to him with our load of questions. He wants us to be honest with him. The Bible says if we hide from him we won’t prosper. Solomon started the whole process, and she knew she could unload. Verse 1 says she told him all her heart. “Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.” He reframed the questions and clarified them for her. He knew what she meant. He wanted her to understand just what her real questions were. I like that. When we open up to the Lord, he clarifies what is on our hearts. He makes things clear. He knows what we need.
Verse 4 says “there was no more spirit in her.” She told him everything. Verse 2 says “there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.” He told her everything in return. Jesus did that on the cross; he’s willing to do the same for us. Come to him with all your heart, and he’ll do the same with us. The Queen realized she knew only half of Solomon’s glory and wisdom before she visited him. Now she knew in whole. Being in the Savior’s presence is the same. Sometimes we think we got half of our need met, but with Jesus we never get half. We have all of him; it has been there all the time. It’s time for us to accept the whole of Jesus.
We have a full Shepherd, a full Savior, a full King, and he’s willing to give us his all when we come to him with a full heart. If we bring only half of ourselves we can’t expect a full response. Our Savior gave all for us. Solomon gave her all her desires—the answers to her questions were made known. And when she left for home, she felt complete, and had peace. Like Solomon, Jesus will never shortchange us. The problem is that many time we cut him short.
Is it time to come with all your questions and trust Jesus? We might be surprised at what we get when we turn it all over to him.
Remember what He said. “A greater than Solomon is here.” Right now.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 