Why did God give Solomon Riches?

See 1 Kings 3:3-14 (Proper 15B)

Why does God choose to give Solomon riches and make him great after Solomon asks for wisdom?

God is pleased with Solomon’s request and grants it, yet he also grants him everything else he might desire.  The result, as we read further into the story, is that Solomon turns away from God and really becomes a not-so-good ruler.

Would Solomon have also turned from God if he had been given very little?  We really don’t know. What we do know is that he did not use his wealth and the power he was given as wisely as he might have, given all that wisdom.

I don’t have any certain answer to this question.  Scripture simply doesn’t tell us.  But by thinking about the question and this story, I think we can get some idea about God’s gifts.  Many in the church today are returning to the view tha many in Israel had, that rices indicates God’s blessing and approval while poverty indicates God’s disapproval.  (Prosperity theology implies this, I believe.)

But in Solomon’s case, while he is blessed with riches, he remains rich as he turns further and further from God.  God’s gifts carry with them a responsibility.  One could say the same thing about the gift of wisdom.  Solomon clearly had both knowledge and wisdom, but in the end he did not rule wisely, as events showed.