August 7 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

1 Kings 3:16-38

¹⁶Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
¹⁷And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
¹⁸And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
¹⁹And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
²⁰And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
²¹And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
²²And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
²³Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
²⁴And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
²⁵And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
²⁶Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
²⁷Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
²⁸And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

Devotional:

One of the decisions of King Solomon which has come down to us regards the treatment of a baby claimed by two harlots. What feeble attempts at happiness are pictured here in the desire to possess a child even if it would be reared without a father and in an environment of sin and disgrace! Both of these women, despite their sinfulness, had a regard for the life and care of the little one for whose existence one of them was responsible.

How many women there are today who are harder of heart than these harlots and seek not to possess a living child but rather to abort an unborn child! The low estimate of human life reflected in the modern 'slaughter of the innocents' is frightening to those who recognize life as God's creation and children as His gift.

Not only is abortion sin, it is suicide to the peace of mind of the woman. And it is impoverishing to the home, for children are special, wonderful, created in the image of God. Happy is the man whose quiver is full of them. And happy is the woman who has borne them to him.

Babies are to be regarded with great honor even before birth! They are not to be trafficked in, experimented upon, destroyed! Do not suppose Solomon was ruthless in his sentence and was risking murder! He discerned the mothers' hearts before him and the horror his proposition would arouse. It was his knowledge of these women that led to his sentence. And the response was as he anticipated.

This story has a lesson for our own day which was not as relevant even [thirty] years ago. God's people should be working hard to alert our world to the consequences of the light view of human life that we see all around us! The gospel is the one chief weapon against abortion! And this weapon lies in our hands.