This past week I finished reading about David and moved on to reading about King Solomon.

I
noted some very interesting things as I was reading both 1Kings and 2Chronicles.

In 1Kings the first thing we see is that Adonijah tries to ascend to the throne as Davids
successor. Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba have to get involved to push King David to
proclaim that Solomon was to be his successor. Then Solomon was able to do what was
necessary to secure the kingdom.

After that David charges Solomon to walk in Gods ways and to keep His statues and
commandments. He then advises Solomon concerning various key people in the kingdom.
After this we see Solomon acting wisely in handling those people that David warned him about.
After that Solomon does something rather surprising to me. He makes an alliance with Pharaoh
and marries one of his daughters. I would have thought that God would disapprove of this.

Here is the record from 1Kings 3:

1 Ki. 3:1-3 ESV

1
Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's
daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own
house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem.
2
The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been
built for the name of the LORD.

Verses 1 and 2 both sound rather bad. The people were sacrificing at the high places. Those
were places that were originally built for the worship of pagan gods. Gods Word doesnt tell us
who they were actually worshipping there. Verse 2 does tells us that they were worshipping
there because there was no temple build for the one true God. So perhaps they were worshipping
God in the high places. What about the tabernacle?

Then I got to verse 3 and breathed with a sigh of relief.

3
Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he
sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.

So from this verse it certainly doesnt seem like Solomon and the people were worshipping
pagan gods in the high places.

These verses indicate a reason why David was so concerned about building a temple for the one
true God.

1 Ki. 3:5-14 ESV

5
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, "Ask
what I shall give you."
Apparently God recognized the great love that Solomon had for Him and He responded by
offering to give him whatever he asked for. What would you have asked for in this situation?
He could have asked for anything. It seems to me that Solomon asked for the one thing that he
needed most.
6
And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David
my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in
uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love
and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.
7
And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my
father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.
8
And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people,
too many to be numbered or counted for multitude.
9
Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may
discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?"

Solomon didnt ask for riches, he didnt ask for tanks and bazookas so he could defend against
his enemies. He didnt ask for beautiful women. He didnt ask for a long life. He asked for an
understanding heart so he could rule his people well. Is there anything better that a leader of
Gods people can ask for?
10
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.

Solomons request pleased God. I wonder how many of my prayers have pleased God. God
answered this prayer by giving Solomon what he wanted and a great deal more.
11
And God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself
long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding
to discern what is right,
12
behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning
mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
13
I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king
shall compare with you, all your days.
14
And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as
your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days."

It seems to me that Solomon got it all he got a wise and understanding heart far above any
other man who had ever lived or who would ever live. God also gave him riches and honor
above all the other kings and promised him long life if he walked in Gods ways.

As we read further into the record we see the great wisdom of Solomon. The Queen of Sheba
had this to say about Solomon:

1 Ki. 10:4-7 ESV

 4
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he
had built,
5
the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their
clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD,
there was no more breath in her.
6
And she said to the king, "The report was true that I heard in my own land of your
words and of your wisdom,
7
but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold,
the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.

As great as that is Gods Word gives us even greater insight into Solomons wisdom:

1 Ki. 4:29-34 ESV

29
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of
mind like the sand on the seashore,
30
so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all
the wisdom of Egypt.
31
For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman,
Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
32
He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.
33
He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the
wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.
34
And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings
of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

What is amazing was that all of Solomons great wisdom didnt keep him from eventually
turning away from the true God to worship pagan Gods. Apparently he had a weakness for
beautiful women:

1 Ki. 11:1-6 ESV

1
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh:
Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2
from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, "You
shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will
turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.
3
He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned
away his heart.

What man need 700 wives and 300 concubines? He couldnt have a whole lot of time to rule the
kingdom with that many. Couldnt he find and beautiful women of Israel to marry? Perhaps
some of the marriages like the one to Pharaohs daughter was motivated by diplomacy. In any
case, isnt it amazing that the man who God blessed by making him the wisest and richest man in
the world would be tricked by the devil into turning away from God. I suppose it is not a
complete surprise since the devil managed to get a perfect man who had perfect fellowship with
God to sin against God.
You would think the great riches God had blessed Solomon with would have made him very
thankful to God. You would have thought that the great honor and respect he received from all
the rulers and people of the world would have made Solomon very thankful for the wisdom God
had given him.

You would have also thought that the wisdom God had given him would have led him to stay out
of trouble and to marry safe women believers, not pagans.

Thats not what happened. I cringe as I read it. If the devil tricked Solomon into turning away
from the true God, who cant he trick?

Well here it is:

4
For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his
heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the
abomination of the Ammonites.
6
So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the
LORD, as David his father had done.

The road down. He disobey God over and over again at least 1000 times by forming a very
tight bond with idolaters what bond is tighter than marriage. Then his beautiful wives who he
apparently loved more than God caused him to turn his heart toward pagan gods and away from
the true God.

I am reminded of a verse in Proverbs:

Prov. 30:8-9 ESV

8
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me
with the food that is needful for me,
9
lest I be full and deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" or lest I be poor and steal and
profane the name of my God.

Perhaps Solomons wealth, power, and fame went to his head and he became prideful.
If we continue reading 1 Kings we will see that Solomons actions led to the splitting of the
kingdom very early in his sons reign. Twelve tribes left the kingdom and quickly turned to
idolatry. Only two tribes remained under the rule of Davids ancestors (and somewhat more
often worshipped the true God).

So we see a big contrast between the first 3 kings of Israel. Saul quickly turned away from
following the true God. God turned the kingdom over to David who committed some pretty bad
sins. Despite that he remained humble to God and always confessed his sin and returned to God.
Then we see Solomon, who apparently learned some great things from his fathers example. He
initially loved God tremendously and just wanted to carry out Gods will by ruling the people
well. Unfortunately he didnt restrain himself from getting involved with idolatrous women.
Because of that over time he turned away from God.

Davids life shines a beacon. He wasnt the richest of these three men. Apparently he wasnt the
wisest of them either. But his heart for God and to please God was far above the other 2 men.
What do I take away from this? God is more interested in our heart and love for Him than he is
in our ability. That reminds me of several verses:

Matt. 6:33 ESV

33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be
added to you.

Deut. 6:4-5 ESV

4
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
5
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your might.

Matt. 22:35-38 ESV

35
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
36
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
37
And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.
38
This is the great and first commandment.