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The passage before us is the record of a dream which this great man had one night at Gibeon, a place celebrated in the Old Testament but not mentioned in the New, and whose geographical position cannot be determined with any certainty now. There are two things very noteworthy in this dream.

1. The blending of the human and Divine. There is much that you can trace to Solomon's own mind in the nocturnal vision recorded here.

(1) It seemed to be according to the measure of his capacity. He was a large-minded man, and the dream is on a large scale. There is nothing mean or small about it. Solomon's great soul took within the ample range of its imagination the whole Jewish nation, the Eternal Ruler of the universe, the righteous providence of Heaven, and the everlasting principles of moral obligation.

(2) It seemed to be also according to the moral state of his mind. The dream is thoroughly religious. As the religious sentiment had flooded his nature in the day, it worked his imagination in the night. It is generally thus Our dreams grow out of the waking thoughts that have most impressed us.

(3) It seemed to be, moreover, according to the strongest desire of his heart. He felt that to take the place of his father David, and direct the destinies of Israel, he required that wisdom which God alone could bestow. So far, we see the human in this dream; but the Divine is manifestly here too.

2. The suggested conditions of successful prayer. The prayer of his dream was answered in his actual history.

I. THAT EFFECTIVE PRAYER MUST BE DIVINELY AUTHORISED. At the beginning of the dream Solomon received an authority to pray. "And God said, Ask what I shall give thee." Such an authority is evidently a necessary condition Unless the Eternal gave us a warrant to address Him, our appeals would be impious and fruitless. Have we, the men of this age, a Divine authority for praying? If not, our appeals to Heaven are worse than idle breath. "Ask what I shall give thee."

1. This authority to call upon God in prayer agrees with our religious instincts. Prayer in some form or other is the natural cry of the soul the child in distress does not more naturally look to his fond parent for help, than the human soul in sore trouble and danger looks to the heavens for aid. Even men who in theory deny the existence of a God, urged by this instinct will cry to Him in danger.

2. This authority to call upon God in prayer is encouraging to our hope as sinners.

II. THAT EFFECTIVE PRAYER MUST BE EARNESTLY SPIRITUAL. By this we mean that spiritual interest must reign supreme, that spiritual motives must be predominant. It was so now with Solomon in his prayer.

III. THAT EFFECTIVE PRAYER MUST BE THOROUGHLY UNSELFISH. What he prayed for was "an understanding heart"; and he prayed for that, not that it might serve his own interest, but in order, as he says, "to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad."

(Homilist.)

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KJV: In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

WEB: In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I shall give you."