Bible Story Lessons

When King David died, his son Solomon became king.  Solomon prayed to the Lord and asked Him for wisdom and understanding of the people he was to reign over.  Wisdom is when a person knows how to say, and do good things.

God was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom rather than for riches and fame.  And so God told him that He would give him a wise mind as well as riches and honour, so that no other king would ever compare with Solomon.  God did this and King Solomon became famous for his wisdom.

One day two women appeared before King Solomon.  The first woman told him that she and the other woman lived in the same house.  Both had given birth to a child.  However, one day the second woman's child died and during the night she took her dead child and swopped it for the living child of the first woman.  The second woman was now claiming the first woman's child as her own.

The second woman denied this, saying that the living child was hers.   It was hard to see how this could be settled, as there was no one who could tell the truth about the living child.

King Solomon thought for a while and finally said, "Bring me a sword."  So a sword was brought to the king and he said, "Now, cut the the living child in two and give half to each woman."  The first woman was horrified and cried out to the king, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child and don't kill it."  But, the other woman said, "Then it won't be either mine nor yours, so divide it!"

Wise King Solomon spoke again, and said, "Give the living child to the first woman and don't kill it, for she is its mother!"  All Israel heard of wise decision and knew that the wisdom of God was in their king.  For what true mother would want her own child to die rather than to live?

If we let God teach us, we too can grow up to be wise people.  Wise people do good things and avoid doing wrong things.  Even young children can know the difference between good and wrong things.

What wrong things do you do? (Let the children respond).  And what are some good things that you could do?  (Let the children respond).  Should you always choose to do right or wrong things? (Let the children respond).  Then how can you choose to do good things? (Let the children respond).

Yes, you can ask God to help you choose to do good things, and to say "No" to doing wrong things.  If you keep on doing this as you grow up, then with God's help you will become a wise person.  Let's pray and ask God to teach you, and help you grow up to be a wise person!

God bless.