1 Kings 9 - Solomon's Heart Series

What would be the worst thing to happen to you at the end of your life?

For me, it might well be losing your mind.

For others, it may be the terrible tragedy of losing your children, somewhat like happened to Job.

For many, I guess, it would be that everything that you have spent your life building just crumbles away. In today’s passage, we see a repeat of God’s warning and the beginning of the end.

Rather than me reading it out, I’m going to play this version of 1 Kings 9 read out to us.

PLAY

PRAY

We join the story, picking up from where we left off last week, with Solomon finally finishing the temple, and he gives that amazing prayer that we looked at last week.

This chapter comes in two parts. The first is another appearance by God to Solomon. We kind of forget about this second appearance, even though an appearance by God to anyone is really quite an event to note. We forget about it, because God doesn’t really say anything new.

Verse 3

I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever.

Now we saw this in Chapter 6, didn’t we?

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.”

I spoke on this two weeks ago, and I hope that you remember what I said. And this is important, because God doesn’t repeat himself without good reason. Let me remind you of what I said two weeks ago. We have this strange tension between what God promised to David, because that was without condition, and this conditional promise that He gives to Solomon. Why? Because God knows the future, He knows what Solomon will do, and He will fulfill His promises regardless of Solomon’s failure… and I showed you then that God fulfills His promises through Jesus Christ, who is God’s full plan for His temple and where He puts His name forever.

So it’s always worth asking, what’s different about this passage? Let’s look on:

Verse 6

But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Wow.

Solomon has just prayer an amazing prayer and offered a ton of sacrifices and completed the building of a magnificent temple for God and God say this to him?

Wow.

Why? Because God knows where Solomon’s heart is.

And this is my first point. We had better listen and heed God’s warnings. He is patient with us, and sometimes it takes God repeating it more than once to us, and we know that God listens to our prayers, but he also knows what’s in our hearts, so we better listen and we better heed God’s warnings. To Solomon, he gave this warning, and sadly, we know that this came about.

Let me read it again:

But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’”