Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places.  The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt-offerings on that altar.  At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask what I should give you.’  And Solomon said, ‘You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart towards you; and you have kept for him this great an steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.  And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.  And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.  Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?’  It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.  God said to him, ‘Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word.  Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.  I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you.

"I give you what you have not asked for."  In the heart of man there lies a desire to return to Eden, that place out of which we were cast due to sin.  This longing for Eden - does it not underpin so much of our relationship with the Father?  Does it define the extent of what we are capable of asking for - a return to the presence of the Father in the garden?  And so we ask, and are given what we need in the revelation of the Son.  But we are also to receive that for which we did not ask: eternal communion with God - a nearness to Christ which he shares with his Father: that all be one in him.  We ask for what our heart yearns for, we receive unimaginably more.

We are commanded to "Be perfect as the Father is perfect."  (Matthew 5.48)  In imitation of the Father, then, we must give others far more than that for which they ask.  This includes our enemies: "If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile." (Matthew 5.40-41)