1 Kings 3:16-28 - Ugliness of sin

Scripture:

1 Kings 3:16-28
16 Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him.
17 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.
18 "It happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house.
19 "This woman's son died in the night, because she lay on it.
20 "So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.
21 "When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne."
22 Then the other woman said, "No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son." But the first woman said, "No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son." Thus they spoke before the king.

23 Then the king said, " The one says, 'This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one'; and the other says, 'No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.'"
24 The king said, "Get me a sword." So they brought a sword before the king.
25 The king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other."
26 Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him." But the other said, "He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!"
27 Then the king said, "Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother."
28 When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
NASU


Thoughts:

Without a doubt, this is the most famous story of Solomon.  With God's wisdom (verse 28), he is able to flush out the impostor (verse 26).  Having already lost her own child, she wouldn't care if her "friend" also lost hers.

How degraded humans can become!  How selfish!  These women were sexually immoral (verse 16), and on top of this, the jealous one shows no regard for a child's life.  Her own child having died (verse 19), now she's ready to have another killed (verse 26b). 

This is such an extreme story, it's difficult to read it without disgust.  But what of our own sin?  Our selfish and hurtful choices are no less disgusting in the eyes of God and others.  Oh for a heart that is pure, and set upon pleasing the Lord!


Prayer:

Lord, it's hard to read such an ugly account of human behavior -- though such things occur, everyday. 

Let my heart always be soft towards You!  May I always be quick to respond to Your nudges at my heart and mind, steering me into what is right and away from what is sinful. 

Help me Lord to walk in Your ways, today.  Thank You for Your word that so clearly shows the way I should live.

Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.