Solomon had it all.
Great wealth, riches, possessions and the wisdom he asked for at the
beginning of his reign. There was no one like him. Even his people were happy.
The
people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they
ate, they drank and they were happy. I Kings 4: 20.
It all started out so well with Solomon asking God for the
wisdom he needed. He built the temple which his father David had planned.
During the building God encouraged Solomon
As for
this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and
keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I
gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not
abandon my people Israel.’ I Kings 6: 12 - 13
At the dedication of the temple Solomon offered a marvellous
prayer of dedication to God who appeared to him promising that if he walked
wholeheartedly with him, God would establish his throne forever as he had
promised King David (I Kings 9: 1 – 9).
However the wheels were already beginning to come off.
Solomon took 7 years to build the temple but 13 years to build his royal
palace. It would also appear that he got into debt with Hiram, king of Lebanon
who provided the materials and labour for the building works. He gave Hiram 20
towns in northern Galilee (I Kings 9: 11) as collateral against the cedar and
gold he wanted. These towns were not his to give. The land was not something to
use in this way. Hiram was not happy with these towns but Solomon probably
repaid his debt when gold was delivered by the expedition to Ophir.
Solomon had a great taste for the high life as the reading
of I Kings 10 shows. Solomon’s real weakness though was foreign women which God
expressly forbad kings to take. Not satisfied with incredible wealth and wisdom
he took 700 wives and 300 concubines starting with Pharaoh’s daughter (I Kings
3: 1). God had said that these foreign women would lead the Israelites astray
(Exodus 34: 16 and Deuteronomy 7: 1 – 3) because they would turn their hearts
away from God and they did. Solomon started following other gods.
Solomon had it all. Unlike his father David though he was
not ‘a man after God’s own heart’. In fact a reading of Deuteronomy 17: 16 – 17
with the instructions to future kings shows Solomon did everything he shouldn’t
do.
Even when God became angry with him (I Kings 11: 9 – 13)
Solomon did not repent or turn back to God unlike David who repented when
confronted with his sins. It is such a
sorry story and yet one repeated again and again throughout history and in the
church.
It happens when the focus of our lives becomes ourselves and
not God. Solomon forgot that the purpose of his fame and wealth was so that God
would be glorified and made famous. The purpose of our lives is to bring glory
to God.
In the midst of the great materialism and wealth of the
Western society and church, we are to live our lives dependent on God and
reflecting his glory. This can be hard as we have so much it is easy to live
dependent of God rather than dependent on God.
However if we make God our priority every day, if we seek to
put him first as Matthew 6: 33 says: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to
you as well, then we will glorify him and not lack either.
Our whole lives, the way we talk about God and others,
the way we spend our money, our attitude to wealth, marriage, fidelity,
honesty, integrity, fame or in other words righteousness can and should be a
great testimony to God and his goodness to us.
My desire this year is to live my life a bit better so it
brings greater glory to God in all I do. What about you?
PS you may not consider yourself wealthy but try out the
Global Rich List (http://www.globalrichlist.net)
and see how rich you are compared to the rest of the world.
