The Way of Wisdom (Solomon)
1 Kings 1-11
Rev. Brian Bill
www.pontiacbible.org
3/11/07
I might not look very wise but my name is Solomon. I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you this morning. That’s why I’m sitting on this stool. I had a really good start but I flamed out at the end of my life and I’m concerned that way too many of you are living with some cracks and compromises that if left unaddressed, will lead to a significant spiritual spin out. You may look fine on the outside but inside there may be some bad stuff going on. I know because it happened to me. How else do you explain leaders who allow lust to control their lives? How do you account for the evil deeds that Christ-followers sometimes do? Why is it that when some people approach middle-age, they go on auto-pilot and then crash in flames?
Here’s how we’re going to approach this morning. I’m going to tell my story that has been written down for you in 1 Kings 1-11. I’ll do my best to give it to you straight up – the highlights and the lowlights; my successes and my sins. I’ll try to point out where I’m at in the written word so you can follow along in your Bibles. When I’m finished I’m going to open it up for discussion. Specifically, I want you to tell me where I went wrong. Listen carefully to see how my compromises led to some counterfeit spirituality. And most importantly, be ready to tell me how you can apply these lessons to your own life. At the very minimum that should keep you awake – because you don’t know if I’ll call on you.
Let me give you a brief overview of 1 and 2 Kings. For a long time this was considered just one book. The name comes from the fact that forty different kings are mentioned, covering a period of about 400 years. The events are not always chronological but are arranged according to a theological purpose. The main motif in this section of Scripture is the importance of obedience to God’s law. Incidentally, the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles provide a parallel account with some additional insight and information.
Let me say one more thing before I start my story. I want to give you my conclusion before I begin. Here’s the major life lesson that I learned: It’s not what you know; it’s what you do with what you know.
My mother was Bathsheba and my father was King David. I’ve always carried a bit of shame because of what they did before I was born. On the other hand, because my dad married Bathsheba and he was king, I lived a life of privilege, though our family was pretty messed up. When my dad was old he started slipping physically and become rather passive (I’ve heard that men today still struggle with this). Instead of publicly appointing a king to take his place, my older brother Adonijah usurped the throne and declared himself king. My dad was not really a disciplinarian, letting us get away with things and at times just looking the other way. This ended up causing huge problems in Adonijah’s life according to 1 Kings 1:6: “His father had never interfered with him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’” Dads, you have to “interfere” in your kids’ lives. Nathan the prophet and my mom appealed to my father and he declared me king instead.
Right before my father died, he sat me down and gave me a charge in 1 Kings 2:2-4: “…So be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’”
I’ll never forget those words: “So be strong, show yourself a man…” I wish I could say I followed them faithfully. I heard this challenge but I didn’t heed it; I knew it but I blew it. I’ve observed that many men today are just mediocre, not mighty; passive, not proactive; wimps instead of warriors. If you’re like me you’re going to need some help with this. One of my problems was that I was insulated and isolated from other men. I understand that there’s a Men’s Night Inn coming up on March 24th that is specifically geared to enable you men to become spiritually strong. I hope you’re planning to attend. My problem has always been with the doing, not the knowing, or to say it another way: It’s not what you know; it’s what you do with what you know.
In the rest of chapter two I consolidated my kingdom, eliminating all my enemies by dealing decisively with any threats to my throne. Chapter three states that I married the daughter of King Pharaoh of Egypt. She was nice and everything but I married her primarily for political reasons. I had come a long way, hadn’t I? Previous leaders like Moses had fled from that ancient Pharaoh and now I was able to wed the current Pharaoh’s daughter. My ancestors lived in fear of the Egyptians and now they were enthralled by me. I’m a bit embarrassed to say this, and not too many people know this because you have to do the math, but I was already married to someone else when I married her. I was trying to walk the fence in every way. Have you ever done that?
I’ll tell you more about this in a few minutes but marrying someone who didn’t share my faith started my spiritual slippage. Nehemiah called me out for my bad example in Nehemiah 13:26: “Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.” Your New Testament gives a similar mandate in 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers…”
What was happening is that I was compromising in my heart because I was half-hearted in my commitment. Take a look at 3:3: “Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.” Did you catch that little word “except”? What about you? He’s a good father except that he’s never home at night. She’s a good woman except she gossips. He’s a hard worker except he has a foul mouth. She says she believes in God except she never goes to church. They say God is the most important thing to them except that they don’t tithe. Don’t be an “except that” Christian.
One of the highlights of my life was when God appeared to me in a dream and asked me for whatever I wanted. Before I tell you how I responded, what would your honest answer be to this question from God? “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Would it be popularity or power or prestige or a possession? Looking back, I can hardly believe that I got this one right. I told God that what I really wanted was wisdom. I think you have it there in verse 9: “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” I wish I would have been able to keep that truth in mind – people and possessions are His, not mine. I didn’t figure this out until later in life…almost too late. Because God was pleased with my answer He told me that He would also give me riches and honor. He then gave me a conditional promise: “If you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
My wisdom was put to the test when two prostitutes came before me and asked me to figure out which mother belonged to a baby. It was pretty easy for me to decide because I told them I would divide the baby in two and then they could share it. The real mother objected to this and so I knew immediately who the baby belonged to. I kind of strutted after this. Verse 28 provides a clue: “When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe…”
Chapter four shows the expanse of my kingdom and how I set everything up organizationally. Amazingly, the promises given to Abraham were being fulfilled in front of my eyes. Genesis 12 states that God would grant three things: a people, a place and platform for blessing. Let me give you an example from Genesis 22:17: “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” Now look at 1 Kings 4:20: “The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.” Verse 25 mentions the expanse of the land and verse 34 indicates how other nations were being blessed. Looking back, I must confess that this was all going to my head.
In spite of my pride, by God’s grace and enablement, I was able to write 3,000 proverbs, compose over 1,000 songs and I learned a lot about animals and plants and trees. Two of the psalms in the Bible were written by me and most of the Book of Proverbs. Unbelievably, my diary of despair called Ecclesiastes made into the Bible and my lyrics of love called the Song of Songs, while not read very often, is also part of God’s inspired Word. It makes me wonder. How could I be so “good” and so “bad” at the same time? How could I be wise and yet wicked? Aren’t we all a bit like that? We can move from praising to profaning pretty quickly, can’t we? It’s not what you know; it’s what you do with what you know.
In chapter five I made preparations for building the Temple, signing a contract with my friend Hiram from Tyre to provide the wood that I would need. I also conscripted 30,000 laborers, 70,000 carriers, 80,000 stonecutters and 3300 foremen. Chapter six details how the Temple was built. I spared no expense, overlaying everything with cedar and the inner sanctuary with pure gold. It took seven years to build the Temple. I was pretty focused during this time, wanting to build God a home, and complete what my dad David could only dream about.
I must confess, however, that while the Temple was being finished, my mind was drifting to my drafting table as I spent many months designing my own home. While the place for God took seven years to build; my palace took almost double that – 13 years (you’ll see that in 1 Kings 7:1). That’s kind of a metaphor for my life. I cared about God but I was caught up in my kingdom about twice as often as I thought about the King of Heaven. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I wanted my house to be bigger and better than God’s home.
I used so much cedar that they actually called my place “The Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.” I had forty-five pillars in the palace and hundreds of gold shields were hung up on the walls. What we build or what we buy says something about our values, doesn’t it? I noticed that some of the biggest buildings in your culture are shopping centers and arenas for sports and entertainment. I wonder what that says about your country. You can read about the detailed construction of my dream home in chapter 7.
In chapter 8 we brought the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple (I made sure it was carried the right way – I did learn from my dad’s mistake). I’ll never forget what happened when the Ark was placed in the Holy Place. Follow along as I read verse 10-11: “When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.” God’s Shekinah glory showed up in such way that the priests had nothing to do. Wouldn’t it be great if God’s glory was so prominent at PBC that your pastors would be out of a job? I’m serious. Isn’t that why we’re here? We want the glory of God to fill His temple today, and His temple is His church and the Christians who make up that church.
I broke into prayer because the splendor of God’s Shekinah glory broke me. I want to ask my friend Dean Ridder to actually pray part of my prayer back to God right now. You can follow along in 1 Kings 8:23-30: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below-you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it-as it is today. Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.’ And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true. But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.”
When I finished this prayer, I then stood and blessed the whole assembly with a loud voice, saying in verses 56-61: “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”
Can I tell you something? As much as it might seem that I was a spiritually-oriented guy, I was actually just going through the motions. Drop down to 9:25 to see that I did all of this to fulfill: “the temple obligations.” My heart wasn’t really into it. Does that describe any of you? If so, you are on dangerous ground. I keep coming back to that opening statement: It’s not what you know; it’s what you do with what you know.
When we come to chapter 10, we see what was really going on in my heart. Because of my great fame and unrivaled wisdom, the Queen of Sheba traveled over 1200 miles to come and see me. She was very complimentary and gave me great gifts. At one point she said my wisdom and wealth had “far exceeded the report” she had heard. I in turn showered her with gifts. I was starting to slide quickly now but I couldn’t see it at the time. I wish I would have put my own wise words into practice from Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Chapter 11 explains what happens next. Do you remember that word “except” from chapter 3? Now we’ll see the word “however” show up in verse 1: “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter – Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.” I have no excuse because God’s commands were very clear. Look at verse 2: “They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.” The phrase “held fast” means that I clung to them. Sitting here today, I don’t know how someone so smart could be so stupid.
You probably already know that I had 700 wives (please, no mother-in-law jokes) and 300 mistresses. As King Solomon I could do whatever I wanted…and I did. But, something happened to my soul. Look at verse 4: “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.” I’m not quite sure how this happened, and I can barely look you in the eye to say this, but I followed the goddess of immorality named Ashteroth and I even bowed before Molech, the detestable god that children were sacrificed to. My problem was summed up in verse 6: “So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely…” Please don’t do what I did. I drifted and then I defected. As a result, verse 11 really stung when God said: “…I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.” The word “tear” also means “to cut away” and that’s exactly what happened. Your pastor will explain more about that next week.
Before I open this up for some discussion, I want to confess that I broke some pretty clear commands. Listen to what God said in Deuteronomy 17:16-17: “The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, ‘You are not to go back that way again.’ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.”
> I had a problem with the hoarding of horses. I started accumulating them in 4:26 and 10:26 says that I had 1200 horses, most imported from Egypt.
> I had multiple wives and my heart was led astray.
> And I accumulated large amounts of silver and gold, putting me at the top of the billionaire’s list.
Congregational discussion time. What are some lessons we can learn from my life? What were some of my cracks and compromises? How can you apply some of this to your own life?
Life Lessons from a Wise Fool
Here are some lessons that I’d like to pass along. Please lock in here because they can keep you from ending up like I did. Someone has said that I was the wisest fool who ever lived. Don’t let that be said of you.
1. Ease can lead to sleaze. When life is too easy, evil seems too attractive. I never really had to work for things like my father David did. I was pampered and protected and never had to slay any giants. Be careful about wanting to be too comfortable.
2. Avoid middle age atrophy. Atrophy means a wasting away or a progressive decline. I started out strong when I was young but when middle age set in I started heading south. It’s amazing that I wrote Proverbs 4:23 because I certainly didn’t follow it. It just shows once again that it’s not what we know; it’s what we do with what we know. Check it out: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Smart people can do some pretty stupid things. Or, as Albert Einstein once said, “When growth stops, decay sets in.”
3. Identify your spiritual soft spot. As King Solomon, my two were intellectual arrogance and attraction to women. Someone wrote these words about me. They sting but I think they’re true: “Solomon’s sensual sweethearts spoiled his spirituality. Slowly but surely sexual seduction shriveled up Solomon’s sense of sin. Scorning Scripture, staunch Solomon slid speedily and sank seriously into the swamp of separation from his Savior.”
4. Self-centeredness will never satisfy. To use the phrase I repeated often in Ecclesiastes, seeking to satisfy ourselves apart from a relationship with God is like “chasing after the wind.” Listen. If you’re not satisfied with what you have right now, you won’t be satisfied when you get more either. Materialism is meaningless and possessions will never give you peace.
5. Ask our faithful God for forgiveness. I waited way too long to do this, but God kept bringing me back to the truth of what I prayed in 8:30: “Hear from Heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.” Whatever you’ve done, no matter how long you’ve done it, it’s not too late to repent and ask for forgiveness.
6. Commit to keep God’s commands. At the end of my life, I wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes so that others would come to the same conclusion I did…without having to experience all that I experienced. Listen to these words from Ecclesiastes 12:1, 13-14: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’…Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Don’t just hear God’s Word; heed it.
7. Stay near to the Word and read it constantly. I had a lot of wisdom in secular matters – I was up on the news, the weather, science and botany, but I wasn’t up on the Bible. I spent more time fascinated by God’s world and not enough time in God’s Word. I wish I would have followed Deuteronomy 17:18-20: “When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left.” Let me put this in an easy-to-remember format:
> Stay in. The Bible tells us what’s right and what’s not right; how to get right and how to stay right.
> Stay close. Stay close to a friend you can’t con. Find someone to hold you accountable.
> Stay away. Keep your distance from things that cause you to be disobedient.
> Stay focused. Don’t lose your spiritual edge. Keep your eyes on the finish line. As someone had said, “Solomon would have been a better man had he been more solemn.”
8. Ask for wisdom. As I’ve said several times this morning: It’s not what you know; it’s what you do with what you know that matters. That’s really what wisdom is. Its God’s truth lived out in our lives. Do you feel like you have a deficit in this area? Here’s some good news. James 1:5 gives us a promise: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” That reminds me of a sign on a school bulletin board: “Free! Wisdom on Mondays through Fridays. Bring your own container.” You have to want wisdom and you have to contain it or it will be lost.
9. Take the plunge. If you’ve never cemented your commitment through obedience to the Lord’s command to be baptized, it’s time to do so. Our next service will be held on April 22nd. Contact the church office to get on the list.
10. “Each one bring one” to our Easter service. There are people all around us who need to hear about the reality of the Resurrection so that they can have a fresh start. The problem is that too many people procrastinate. It’s time to ask the question, “What Are You Waiting For?” Many of the people you know will come to the PTHS auditorium with you if you will but invite them.
It struck me recently that if you compare and contrast Israel’s first three kings – Saul, David and myself, you could categorize us this way.
> Saul – had a hollow relationship with God
> David – had a heart relationship with God
> Solomon – had a head relationship with God
Here’s the question. What about you? Are you feeling hollow? Or are things just up in your head but not in your heart? It’s time to make sure that you have a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Jesus was teaching one day and he made this remarkable statement in Matthew 12:42: “The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.” Just as the Queen of Sheba traveled more than a thousand miles to find some wisdom, so too you must seek out the one who is greater than me, and greater than all kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. All of Israel’s kings were fallible and their reigns came to an end. You need to become a member of the kingdom which will never end, and serve the King of Kings. It was said of Him in Luke 1:32-33: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
I built a temple which was delightful to look at but was eventually destroyed. It was designed to be a home for God. God has now come to “tabernacle” among us through His Son, who is King forever. John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
It’s true that it’s not what you know; it’s what you do with what you know that matters. But here’s an even better statement: It’s not what you know that matters; it’s who you know.” Do you know the way of wisdom? The way of wisdom is only found through a relationship with the one who is the only way to God. John 1:12 says: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” It’s time to believe and receive. Wise men and women still follow Him. Will you?
Closing Song: “The Way of Wisdom” by Michael Card
The Way of Wisdom starts out
With a step of holy fear
And it makes its way alone
By every good word that you hear.
It has to do with passion
And it has to do with pain.
It has to do with One
Who has both died and rose again.
