1 Kings 3:5-9 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 6 And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
Deut. 28:6-7 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
In the Book of Kings, when King Solomon began his reign, God asked him, “What shall I give you?” He replied, “I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in” (1 Kings 3:7). Such a phrase seems curious, yet it holds deep significance. It is echoed throughout Scripture, revealing a principle that intimacy with God leads to victory!
When Moses pleaded for a leader to replace him, he asked the Lord for a leader who could lead the Israelites “to go out and come in” so they wouldn’t be like sheep without a shepherd (Numbers 27:17). Joshua was chosen. He was one of the two spies, Caleb being the other, who said, “Adonai is with us”- do not fear the giants of the land! (Numbers 14:7-9)
After Joshua was appointed leader, he spoke to Caleb, who, at eighty-five, boldly claimed his strength for battle was as strong as ever, “both for going out and for coming in.” (Joshua 14:11)
Again, this expression surfaces regarding David in 1 Samuel 18. Here, amidst the praises of the people who acclaimed, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7), we see that Israel loved David because “he went out and came in before them.” (1 Samuel 18:13)
What can we learn from these faithful servants? They all shared a profound intimacy with God. Moses spoke to God face-to-face as one speaks to a friend (Exodus 33:11), Joshua was one with whom the Spirit rested (Numbers 27:18), Caleb followed God wholly with all his heart (Joshua 14:9), and David was known as a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 13:14)
Each of these faithful leaders understood the critical importance of entering God’s presence and drawing on His strength and power before stepping out to battle. They faced formidable adversities—enemies, even giants and armies—yet they were victorious.
So cultivate that type of intimacy in your daily walk with the Lord. Begin each day by entering into His presence through worship and prayer before you step out into the world. By doing this, when you go out, you go out with the confidence that the Lord “will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.” (Deut 28:6-7)
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
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There is something deeply intentional in God’s instruction concerning the lamb. He does not tell Israel to take a lamb at the last moment — He commands them to choose it on the 10th day of Nisan, set it apart, and live with it until the 14th day. This was not random timing; it was divine design.
There is something deeply powerful in the way God introduces Passover (Pesach) in Exodus. He does not begin with a list of instructions. He begins with divine intervention. Israel is enslaved, bound under Pharaoh, and crushed beneath a system they have no power to escape. Yet right in the middle of that helplessness, God speaks: “This month shall be for you the beginning of months.”
Yeshua (Jesus) does not conclude this parable with separation alone — He brings it to its true climax in glory. After the harvest, after the revealing, after everything has been set in its proper place, He lifts our eyes beyond the process and into the purpose with a powerful promise: the righteous will shine. This is the heart of the harvest — not merely the removal of what does not belong, but the unveiling of what truly does.
Yeshua (Jesus) brings this parable to a decisive and unavoidable climax: a moment is coming when everything in the field will be uncovered for what it truly is. The harvest is not merely the end of a process — it is the unveiling. What has been growing quietly over time will suddenly stand in full clarity, with no room left for confusion, assumption, or misjudgment. In that moment, the distinction will be undeniable.
There is something deeply instructive in the restraint of the Lord. When the servants recognize the problem in the field, their instinct is immediate action. They want to fix it, remove it, clean it up. But the Lord responds in a way that challenges human urgency. He tells them to wait.
There is a deeper layer in this parable that moves beyond simply identifying the difference between wheat and tares. Yeshua (Jesus) is not only revealing that the tare looks like wheat — He is warning that what it produces has the power to affect those who partake of it. The issue is not just imitation; it is ingestion. It is not only what is growing in the field, but what is being received into the heart.
With so much disinformation and so many voices speaking into our lives, people often ask for my thoughts on who to trust and what to believe. In light of that, I believe it’s time to step into a deeper kind of discernment — becoming what I would call a fruit inspector. This series is born out of that burden: to learn how to recognize the difference between the wheat and the tares.