RIGHEOUS JUDGMENT
RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king. Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’ ” And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice. —II Kings 3:16-28
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! —Amos 5:24
For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. —Psalm 94:14-15
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. —Micah 6:8
What a difficult situation Solomon was in when these two women both claimed that a child belonged to them. God gave him wisdom in the situation so that justice would prevail. Before the judgment was passed though the situation became very emotional. Can you imagine you have done nothing wrong and that your child was going to be cut in two? Solomon allowed the emotional heart rending response of the real mother and the emotional cold hearted response of the other woman to reveal the true mother. Justice and righteousness prevailed and the child was given back to the real mother.
Watch the emotions in a person when difficult situations are being decided. The guilty will often be cold, hard, emotionless and have skewed thinking. On the other hand the guiltless will be looking out for the interest of others and seek to do what they can to resolve the situation. In this case the mother would allow the other woman to have her child if it meant he would live. The cold hearted woman desired the child die and did not really care about him. These type people care only about themselves and not the welfare of others.
Dear Father help me to be concerned about the welfare of others while doing the right thing in the situation. Please help me to be discerning and wise in decisions as painful as they may sometimes be. May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmaZLhaPMgQ