Solomon's prayer for wisdom in 1 Kings 3 is widely known because of his immediate application of it in adjudicating a problem in the same chapter. But what about Solomon's mistakes and failures? How do we reconcile God's gift of wisdom with a complicated life?

During the power transfer from David to Solomon, advice that is deeply spiritual and extremely pragmatic is given to the new king. And though we imagine ourselves to be more sophisticated and evolved in our politics, chapter 2 shows that things are still much the same as they were three thousand years ago.