The words of Jesus haunt me: “Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3-4). As a pastor and leader, I’ve often asked, “How do I lead meetings and write sermons like a child?”

Today something fell into place as I prepared this week’s sermon on Solomon.

As he prays his famous prayer, asking for wisdom to rule well, Solomon says, “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties” (1 Kings 3:7).

Here is this great king of Israel, raised in the courts of King David, stepping into what he’s been groomed for, and instead of a king, he feels like a child.

I wonder if that day and that prayer were in Solomon’s mind when compiling these words in Proverbs: “The fear of ...