This week we are looking at the life of one of the kings
of the Jewish people, a man named Solomon. Yesterday we looked on as King
Solomon, upon becoming king, recognized that he was in desperate need of the
Lord. Solomon recognized the incredible role and responsibility that he had
been given as king. Solomon recognized that he was inexperienced and lacked the
leadership skills to lead the Jewish people. Solomon recognized that he was in
desperate need of the Lord’s wisdom, guidance, and direction to lead the Jewish
people.
So Solomon asked for the Lord to provide him with the
wisdom, discernment and understanding to hear and follow the Lord so that He
could listen and lead the Jewish people. We see the Lord’s response to
Solomon’s request in 1 Kings 12:10:
It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that
Solomon had asked this thing. God said to him, "Because you have asked
this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for
yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for
yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to
your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there
has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.
"I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so
that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. "If you
walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David
walked, then I will prolong your days."
The Lord responded to Solomon’s request by granting
his request. The Lord gave Solomon a wise and discerning heart, which equipped
Solomon with a developed skill for living life that would produce positive
results in his life and the life of the Jewish nation. The Lord gave Solomon
the wisdom and leadership skills that would result in him being remembered
throughout history. Solomon would become known as the wisest human being who
ever lived.
And, in an amazing expression of grace and
generosity, the Lord gave Solomon what he could of asked for but did not ask
for. The Lord would bless Solomon
materially. Solomon would become the wealthiest man on the planet. And the Lord
would bless Solomon when it came to his reputation. The Lord would give Solomon
a life of distinction, fame, and respect by others that would be unparalleled.
All that Solomon had to do was to continue to live out his life in a way that
continued to place His confident trust in and follow the Lord.
And that is what King Solomon did. King Solomon
placed his confident trust in the Lord and followed the Lord as he administered
justice for the Jewish people. King Solomon placed his confident trust in the
Lord and followed the Lord as he led the Jewish people to complete the Temple. King
Solomon placed his confident trust in the Lord and followed the Lord as he
built the temple according to God’s design.
King Solomon placed his confident trust in the Lord
and followed the Lord as he led the Jewish people to seek and worship the Lord
at the dedication of the temple. King Solomon then dedicated the Temple by
offering acts of worship that were so numerous that they could not be counted. King
Solomon prayed and asked the Lord to be continually present with the Jewish
people and to protect the Jewish people. King Solomon also asked the Lord to
continue to demonstrate His character and His forgiveness to the Jewish people
as they strived to follow Him. King Solomon asked the Lord would continue to
use the Jewish people as the vehicle to reveal Himself to the world.
And as King Solomon placed his confident trust in
the Lord and followed the Lord, the Lord blessed King Solomon and the Jewish
people materially and relationally. We see that reality revealed for us a few
chapters later in 1 Kings 9:1:
Now it came
about when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD, and the king's
house, and all that Solomon desired to do, that the LORD appeared to Solomon a
second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. The LORD said to him, "I
have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I
have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there
forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. "As for you,
if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart
and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My
ordinances, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel
forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, 'You shall not lack a
man on the throne of Israel.' "But if you or your sons indeed turn away
from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have
set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut
off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have
consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a
proverb and a byword among all peoples. "And this house will become a heap
of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, 'Why has
the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?' "And they will say, 'Because they
forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt,
and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the LORD
has brought all this adversity on them.'"
The Lord responded to King Solomon’s faithfulness in
building the Temple and his prayerful desire for the Lord’s presence and
protection by appearing to him a second time. The Lord reaffirmed His promise
to be present and to watch over and protect the Jewish people. And the Lord
reaffirmed His promise to establish the rule of King Solomon and his
descendants if he and his descendants continued to walk in integrity of heart
and uprightness.
In other words, the Lord promised King Solomon that
He would fulfill His promises to him if he continued to live his life in a way
that was wholly devoted to the Lord and did not turn from following the Lord.
However, if King Solomon or his sons failed to remain wholly devoted to the
Lord; if King Solomon or his sons turned from following the way of the Lord;
then the Lord would reject the Jewish people as He had been rejected. The Lord
promised Solomon that He would remove the Jewish people from the Promised Land
and would abandon and destroy the Temple if the Jewish people abandoned Him so
as to follow false gods.
And in the rest of 1 Kings nine and ten, we see King
Solomon respond to the Lord’s appearance and promises by continuing to live his
life in a way that placed His confident trust in and followed the Lord. And as King
Solomon continued to live a life that was wholly devoted to the Lord, the Lord
continued to bless King Solomon and the Jewish people.
The Lord used King Solomon and the Jewish people as
the vehicle to reveal Himself to the world and enhance His reputation in the
world. People from throughout the world were traveling to seek out King Solomon
to hear the wisdom that God had placed within him. The Lord blessed Solomon
when it came to his reputation.
And the Lord blessed Solomon materially. King Solomon’s
temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. During King Solomon’s
reign the Jewish people collected 25 tons of gold annually. During King Solomon’s
reign, the Jewish military had ceremonial shields that contained 15 pounds of
gold each. The Lord had kept His promise as King Solomon lived a life that was
wholly devoted to the Lord and that trusted upon the Lord.
And if King Solomon’s story had ended there, King Solomon’s
story would have been the perfect story. However, King Solomon’s story did not
end there. Instead, King Solomon’s story took a turn that would impact the
Jewish people in a profound and powerful way. Friday, we see King Solomon’s
story turn...
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