Read today’s texts first: 1 Kings 6; 2 Chronicles 3; Psalms 97; Romans 1
You can learn this the easy way or the hard way,
but you will learn it - God’s way is the only way!
If you’ve participated in the memory stack taught at a “Walk Through The Bible” Seminar, you’ll no doubt remember the three phrases for Saul, David, and Solomon – “no heart, whole heart, half a heart.” While catchy and memorable, these descriptions are a little unfair. Actually, Saul started well, David had his share of serious sin, and Solomon, for the most part, was a godly, successful leader who accomplished things we can only dream about!
In the early days of Solomon’s reign we see a man who made good choices, especially when he chose wisdom over wealth, health, and long life. The wisdom given to him by God was real wisdom, unlike the foolishness of so-called human “wisdom” (Rom. 1:20-25). He cared deeply for his people and led them well. His reign stands alone as the most peaceful and prosperous time in Israel’s history. He completed the assignments given to him by his father David, including building God’s Temple and the king’s residence, and he did it with excellence, as a spectacular witness to the surrounding nations of the glory of God.
Unfortunately, as often happens, his success led to his undoing. The admiration of the world’s leaders led to human pride and worldly solutions to maintaining what God had accomplished. In David’s time, God protected Israel’s borders from their enemies. He didn’t need the vast show of military strength that Solomon flaunted. Nor did he need to placate rival powers through intermarriage, which became Solomon’s go-to strategy. While sealing international agreements through intermarriage was the accepted custom of their day, it was never God’s plan (Neh. 13:26).
Solomon, though a great leader in many ways, learned the hard way that God’s way is the only way! Ironically, the peace he secured would lead to conflict under his son, the unity he wisely nurtured would end in an irresolvable split, and the beautiful temple he spent seven years building would become a pile of rubble. The prophetic predictions he prayed at the dedication of that temple not only came true, he actually planted the seeds of Israel’s failure through his own compromises (1 Kings 8:46-53). That is a wise lesson for all of us to learn.
“Lord, I aspire to lead with the wisdom of Solomon, but especially the wisdom he acquired the hard way, through his own mistakes. His conclusions to the emptiness of human pursuits applies to me today: I want to honour You and keep Your commands!” (Eccl. 12:13).
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