Fr. Mike Schmitz

And this is just so, so massively important because on one hand, we have our own sacrifices, right? We have the things that we're going to do. Here's what I'm going to do for God. And yet we wonder sometimes, okay, God, are you receiving what I'm offering? Do you even want what I'm offering? The Shekinah, we possibly could be the Shekinah glory cloud, like to call it the glory cloud.

It possibly could be that this is a sign of God's favor and not just a sign of God's presence, a sign of God's acceptance, you know, as I said, a confirmation and affirmation of what they're doing and not simply a sign of his presence where they're like, okay, yes, we've done the right thing. We have offered to the Lord what he deserves and we even have offered to the Lord what he desires.

It possibly could be that this is a sign of God's favor and not just a sign of God's presence, a sign of God's acceptance, you know, as I said, a confirmation and affirmation of what they're doing and not simply a sign of his presence where they're like, okay, yes, we've done the right thing. We have offered to the Lord what he deserves and we even have offered to the Lord what he desires.

It possibly could be that this is a sign of God's favor and not just a sign of God's presence, a sign of God's acceptance, you know, as I said, a confirmation and affirmation of what they're doing and not simply a sign of his presence where they're like, okay, yes, we've done the right thing. We have offered to the Lord what he deserves and we even have offered to the Lord what he desires.

And that is just a remarkable thing. But this concludes, essentially, in Chronicles at least, Solomon's high point, right? His greatest task. He'll do other things, but this concludes the greatest task of Solomon's life. And we might talk about that later on in the next couple of days. But going back to 1 Kings and Solomon, we have him praying. We covered a couple of days ago, praying for wisdom.

And that is just a remarkable thing. But this concludes, essentially, in Chronicles at least, Solomon's high point, right? His greatest task. He'll do other things, but this concludes the greatest task of Solomon's life. And we might talk about that later on in the next couple of days. But going back to 1 Kings and Solomon, we have him praying. We covered a couple of days ago, praying for wisdom.

And that is just a remarkable thing. But this concludes, essentially, in Chronicles at least, Solomon's high point, right? His greatest task. He'll do other things, but this concludes the greatest task of Solomon's life. And we might talk about that later on in the next couple of days. But going back to 1 Kings and Solomon, we have him praying. We covered a couple of days ago, praying for wisdom.

One thing to note is that Solomon prays for wisdom at Gibeon at the place of sacrifice before the temple in Jerusalem becomes a place of sacrifice. He is sacrificing the Lord. He's praying to the Lord and he's giving to the Lord a sign of his heart. He's giving the Lord a sign of his life. That's what sacrifices are, right?

One thing to note is that Solomon prays for wisdom at Gibeon at the place of sacrifice before the temple in Jerusalem becomes a place of sacrifice. He is sacrificing the Lord. He's praying to the Lord and he's giving to the Lord a sign of his heart. He's giving the Lord a sign of his life. That's what sacrifices are, right?

One thing to note is that Solomon prays for wisdom at Gibeon at the place of sacrifice before the temple in Jerusalem becomes a place of sacrifice. He is sacrificing the Lord. He's praying to the Lord and he's giving to the Lord a sign of his heart. He's giving the Lord a sign of his life. That's what sacrifices are, right?

They're a sign of our desire to give ourselves to the Lord by giving him something valuable. And that's what is at the heart of virtually every sacrifice is it's rather than myself being sacrificed. I am sacrificing something on my behalf. I'm sacrificing something that is of importance to me. And Solomon is doing this. And here's the Lord comes to him and says, what do you want?

They're a sign of our desire to give ourselves to the Lord by giving him something valuable. And that's what is at the heart of virtually every sacrifice is it's rather than myself being sacrificed. I am sacrificing something on my behalf. I'm sacrificing something that is of importance to me. And Solomon is doing this. And here's the Lord comes to him and says, what do you want?

They're a sign of our desire to give ourselves to the Lord by giving him something valuable. And that's what is at the heart of virtually every sacrifice is it's rather than myself being sacrificed. I am sacrificing something on my behalf. I'm sacrificing something that is of importance to me. And Solomon is doing this. And here's the Lord comes to him and says, what do you want?

And he asks for this wisdom and right understanding in discernment and judgment. And he gets given this, this great gift. And we see him play it out. We see this played out in one of the, I remember this story from when I was a little kid. It just was so striking of the two women who both had children.

And he asks for this wisdom and right understanding in discernment and judgment. And he gets given this, this great gift. And we see him play it out. We see this played out in one of the, I remember this story from when I was a little kid. It just was so striking of the two women who both had children.

And he asks for this wisdom and right understanding in discernment and judgment. And he gets given this, this great gift. And we see him play it out. We see this played out in one of the, I remember this story from when I was a little kid. It just was so striking of the two women who both had children.

One of the children had died and there was this debate, you know, she said, and then she said, and who's right. And then Solomon, he's the tiebreaker here by employing and utilizing the wisdom that God had given to him, which is also good. It's also good. And yet, at the very beginning of 1 Kings 3, we get thrown this line, or maybe not thrown a line, we are given a line.

One of the children had died and there was this debate, you know, she said, and then she said, and who's right. And then Solomon, he's the tiebreaker here by employing and utilizing the wisdom that God had given to him, which is also good. It's also good. And yet, at the very beginning of 1 Kings 3, we get thrown this line, or maybe not thrown a line, we are given a line.

One of the children had died and there was this debate, you know, she said, and then she said, and who's right. And then Solomon, he's the tiebreaker here by employing and utilizing the wisdom that God had given to him, which is also good. It's also good. And yet, at the very beginning of 1 Kings 3, we get thrown this line, or maybe not thrown a line, we are given a line.

And that line is that David had married the daughter of Pharaoh. Now, this isn't necessarily completely proscribed, right? Not completely prohibited. But we're going to see what happens in that.