Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: WORTHY (11/29/24)
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TITLE: King Jedidiah | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lynae Fisher
12/05/24 -
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Now it was as his. The kingdom knelt before him. How could he ever lead such a great people? How could he ever live up to his father’s name? Why, his father had killed a lion with his hands and a bear with a sling; while he had grown up as a prince in the royal palace.
Footsteps disrupted his musings. The young king turned to see who approached. A man robed in rough garments bowed before the king.
“Long live the King!” Nathan called.
“Nathan! Prophet of the Lord who counselled my father. You are always welcome in my court.”
The prophet paused for a moment and saw the distant gaze in the king’s eyes.
“Something troubles you?”
“How can I be king? How can I ever lead this people? I’m scarcely more than a child, and now, my father is dead. I’m not qualified to shepherd this great people.”
The prophet looked lovingly at the king. “Your father was a little boy when God anointed him to be king.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t become king until like twenty years later!”
“No, but he became a great champion for God’s people long before that. Though he was a little, unqualified child, God used him and gave him the strength to do what he needed to do.”
“Still, he was different; he was a mighty warrior.”
“What is your name? The name your Father gave you?”
“Solomon”
“No, not that name. Not the name your earthly father gave you, the name your heavenly Father gave you.”
“Jedidiah?”
“Yes. Jedidiah. Beloved of Yah*. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Creator of heaven and earth called you beloved. You are right, that you cannot lead these people in your own strength. But my God who called you can be your strength and your shield as he was to your father David. It is He who qualifies and cleanses you and calls you His child. What He has set up let none tear down. It is He who makes you rule in His kingdom. Always put Him first and lean on Him and He will direct you.”
The king pondered over the prophet’s words. “Thank you my friend. If He wants me to be king, let Him show me how He wants me to do it. Would you come with me to sacrifice to the Lord?”
“Certainly, my king.”
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1Kings 3:3-4 KJV “And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.”
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While the smoke still went up from the fires of the sacrifices, the king lay down to sleep. God answered his call and appeared to him in a dream.
“Ask, what I shall give you.”
“Please, Lord, you have made me king over this great people instead of my father David. Please, give me wisdom to know how to lead Your people, for I am but a child. I do not know how to do the things You call me to do. Please, help me to know how to do right.”
The Lord was pleased with Solomon’s request. “Because you have asked for wisdom rather than riches, power, or long life, I will give you both what you have asked and what you have not asked. I will grant you wisdom that shall not be matched and also riches, power, and honour. Furthermore, if you will follow my laws and do right, I will grant you long-life.”
The king awoke from his dream.
(Based on 1Kings 3:6-14 KJV )
2Sa 12:24b-25 KJV “and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him. And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.”
*Yah: one of the names of God in the Old Testament.
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