WISDOM 15 - 2 Samuel 7:23; Genesis 13:16; Abraham 3:14

Two footnotes (and 3 references) on 1 Kings 3:8 point us in the direction of some verbal echoes of Solomon's humble recognition of not being adequate for the responsibility placed upon him.  Solomon's phrase was "thy servant is in the midst of thy people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude."

2 Samuel 7:23 reminds us that not only was Solomon made a king, he was made king over ISRAEL, a nation with a covenant relationship with Jehovah.  Solomon, at this stage in his life at least, correctly sees himself as a "servant" - a steward over something that really belongs to his master.

The "multitude" Solomon references also echoes Israel's origins in the Abrahamic Covenant - a seed promised to be as numerous as the "dust of the earth" (Genesis 13:16) or the "number of the sands" (Abraham 3:14). 

I know that our present stewardships - whether it be a calling in the nursery or the Ward Library, our marriage, our family, our job or our talents - may not seem to us to be as great as Solomon's.  The truth is that it appears so only because we lack vision.  The lengthened shadow of any stewardship approached with humility and seriousness is something we often talk about without understanding, the phrase "magnifying a calling."  Trace the effects of a single couple who go inactive and do not raise their children in gospel light and in 5 generations the numbers of individuals affected by their dereliction is already potentially in the thousands.  Trace the same effect of your influence on a single person who embraces the gospel because of something you did and the potential blessings are just as great.

I think we often fail to beseech the Lord for the strength and wisdom we need because we fail to see how important we really are, how far reaching IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES WE ARE IN RIGHT NOW the impact of the choices we might make if we had a vision of our true potential.  If we could see ourselves aright, like Abraham, we would see the potential for good that we have exceeds the number of stars in the heavens, or the sands on the shore.