Arizona republican., 1920-08-28
For Sunday, August 2s, 1920
 BY E. D. RALEY
Text First Kings 3.4-i5.

Text: First Kings 3:4-i5.
 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place; A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon the altar. Tn Gideon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solo, mon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great loving kindness, according as he walked be- fore thee in truth and h, righteousness. and in Hprightness of heart with thee: and thou hast kept for him this great loving kindness, that thou hast given him son to sit on hls throne. as it is this day. And now, O Jehovah my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my Father: and I am but little child, I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen a great people. that can not be numbered or counted for multi tude. Give thy servant therefore the understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this thy great people? And the speech pleased the Lord that solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thy self long life, neither hast asked riches for
 
 enemies, but hast asked for thy self understanding to discern justice: be- hold, I have done according to thy word: To, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee. neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given that for which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee, all thy days And thou will walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will Ienghten thy days. And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream: and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and of fered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings. and make a feast to all his servant4s &HiN sl4&
 There is just one central, outstand- ing lesson in the text of this wonder ful lesson. It is like the tall trees in the forest or the high peaks of the Rockies. It is seen above everything else. It strikes one in the face. We are thrilled and nerved by it. It is the text that ought to be used for the young of every generation. It is the testing acid for life. It is the parting of the ways between good and evil. It will lead to happiness or misery.
 When Solomon was to told by God to ask for what he would most like, he replied, Give thy servant therefore an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil" Let us all commit it and repeat it and teach it to our chil- dren and explain it. Nothing else mat ters much in the lesson for this Sun day. No bigger lesson in all the Bible than this. It is a prayer that we need n nId learned to repeat and really feel.
 It will not matter much whether we go to commentaries and dictionaries and notes of various theologians for our study of this lesson, as teachers. It is enough for the half hour if we can get the one fundamental idea into the minds of our pupils.
 A secondary thought in the lesson may be noted if there is time. God gave Solomon what he asked for and then gave him more than he asked because he asked wisely.
 When Queen Victoria was crowned queen of the British empire she at once sent for the archbishop of Cam tenburry and asked him to pray that she might be given simple faith in God and wisdom to direct the weighty affairs of state. When Lincoln came to the throne he sent for Henry Ward Beecher. Garfield and Mckinley asked their pastors to pray for them daily.
 
 The great men selected to lead the vast allied armies against the Huns were men of prayer and were often found kneeling in the church praying. If the leaders in nation and state today were men of God and men of prayer, the world would know it soon by their wise leadership. Just now is good time to talk to older classes about the kind of men we are voting for It should be a cause of prayer and serious con-
 1 lf nfIfS state candidates are active members of Evangelical churches. The number is probably less than ten. Is this a Christian or a pagan nation2 Is Ari- zona Christian heathen? The chances are that four out of five of those we elect this fall in this state will not be members of any church. We are not blaming the candidates for this situation just now but we are trying to reflect some sense of duty