A WISE MAN'S FOLLY
God appeared to King Solomon,
Within a dream at night.
He said He’d grant him any wish,
Whether riches, power or might.
Solomon’s answer was instant;
It was not of himself that he thought.
He wanted to rule his people well,
So wisdom was all he sought.
Solomon’s wish was granted,
For God was pleased indeed.
He gave him riches and power, too,
And wisdom no one could exceed.
Two women came to him one day,
To speak with him face to face.
They were having a hostile argument,
And asked him to judge their case.
The women had each bore a baby,
Then one night while they were asleep,
The one rolled over on hers,
For she was sleeping so deep.
She later switched the two children,
When she found her baby was dead.
But the real mother knew the child she bore,
Was not the one in her bed.
After hearing each woman’s story,
Solomon knew just what to do.
He asked that a sword be brought to him,
So the child could be cut in two.
Since there was only one baby,
And the real mother wasn’t known,
Each one could be given half,
For each said the child was her own.
The real mother loved her child,
So she showed much anguish and strife.
“Let her have the child,” she cried,
“But please, do not take his life!”
Solomon gave the mother her child,
After hearing nonsense from the other.
The one who said, “Cut the child in two,”
Could not be the infant’s mother.
He wasn’t so smart when choosing his wives,
For they became his undoing.
They were not of God’s people,
And their idols he began wooing.
God withdrew His protection,
And so the nation grew weak.
Though Solomon finished his reign,
The nation’s future looked bleak.
There was irony in his folly,
For compared to the case he had tried,
Though the child was not cut in two,
The nation he would divide.
His wisdom could not be matched;
None greater could anyone find.
But wisdom is almost absent,
When one has an idol mind.
Becky Wall
