Folk sayings are easily remembered, but not always understood. People talk about "walking the walk" and "following in the footsteps" of others, about "taking a stand," "standing firm," and "standing tall." These sayings, along with many traditional proverbs, are all commonly expressed folk wisdom about social change, and they condense and preserve the experiences of many who have gone before. Such folklore passes on basic values. When we talk about having "big shoes to fill," we are remembering larger-than-life heroes and holding ourselves accountable to them. This is the case as Israel waits for their beloved, aged king to let them know who will succeed him on the throne of Israel. David has fought hard his whole life and now that his days are winding down this great warrior is weary. He is plagued by numerous health issues and is apparently out of touch with what is happening in his kingdom. Weary and at the end of his life, he discovers that he has one last task. He needs to publicly name his successor, but there was one problem: Adonijah. Adonijah was ambitious, and wanted to become king. Never mind that his father David had not yet died. Never mind that it was by no means clear in this kingdom that the crown is passed from father to son – after all, David himself did not get it that way. And never mind, most of all, that David had not promised the throne to Adonijah, but to another son, Solomon. None of that mattered to this crafty and ambitious young man. He wanted to be king and he went about gathering support. The Kingdom of Israel was about to go into full-fledged crisis. David’s wife Bathsheba and her son, Solomon, along with Nathan the prophet, intervened, so that David could keep his word and put Solomon on the throne. Today let’s get more acquainted with Solomon.
I. Assuming the throne in his father’s shadow.
A. The circumstances surrounding his birth and name.
1. After the dust had settled on David’s adultery with Bathsheba and the ensuing attempt to cover it up. David comes to terms with God’s grace and judgment which allowed him to find comfort. Having been comforted by God, he was able to bring comfort to “his wife Bathsheba”.
2. Eventually she becomes pregnant a second time by David. The son who was born was named Solomon. The name Solomon means “the peaceful”. David regarded the birth of this child as a pledge that he should now become a partaker again of peace with God.
3. Now Yahweh loved this child. He sent the prophet Nathan to bestow on the infant a special name: Jedidiah, which means “beloved of Yahweh.”
4. Following the agony of death, the Lord had given him peace. The contrasts between the first child of David and Bathsheba’s union and the second were sharp. Whereas the Lord fatally judged the first, “the Lord loved” the second
5. Nathan’s ministry with respect to David and Solomon is not yet finished. During David’s last days Nathan would play a key role in making sure that Solomon would succeed his father as king of Israel. In fact, Nathan would share in Solomon’s anointing, the most solemn act of all.
B. Prosperity, loyalty and majesty were the main characteristics of Solomon’s reign.
1. All Israel gathered in a holy assembly to acknowledge Solomon as king. The author emphasizes all Israel by noting that David’s officers, mighty men, and sons all pledged their submission (literally: “gave the hand under”) to Solomon.
2. Theologically, Solomon did not sit on David’s throne. Chronicles places him on the throne of the Lord. The kingdom belongs to God, and the one who sits on the throne does so by grace rather than right. Solomon’s kingdom is a manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth.
3. The Lord prospered him, and Israel obeyed him. Solomon was exalted in the sight of all Israel over his rivals and enjoyed royal splendor such as no king over Israel ever had before him or after him, which includes David.
4. Solomon sat on the throne of a united Israel for 40 years (970-940 BC) and the people enjoyed safety, peace and prosperity.
II. Solomon was showered with blessings by God during his reign.
A. God blessed Solomon with wisdom and knowledge.
1. God appears to Solomon in a dream at Gibeon and offers to give him anything he desires.
2. Solomon offers two petitions: let your promise to my father David be confirmed and give me wisdom and knowledge.
3. Solomon’s request for “wisdom and knowledge” to lead and govern “this great people of yours” is an acknowledgment of his own weakness in the tasks of government and of the fact that Israel was God’s people, not Solomon’s.
4. Solomon’s request is granted because his heart is properly oriented toward God’s goals. Solomon’s interests are communal rather than individualistic. He seeks the welfare of his people rather than his own glory.
5. Because Solomon had requested wisdom and knowledge rather than what one might have expected—wealth, honor, the death of his enemies, and long life for himself—God promised him the wisdom and knowledge he had asked for and these other gifts as well.
6. Only a small portion of the literary fruits of Solomon’s wisdom has been incorporated into the Bible. During his reign this king spoke three thousand proverbs of which less than one third are preserved in the Book of Proverbs. Of his 1,005 songs, only three have survived: the beautiful Song of Songs, and two of the psalms (72 and 127).
7. Solomon’s skill in judgment and speech was matched by his artistic gifts. Finally, Solomon possessed knowledge of botany and biology.
B. God blessed Solomon with wealth and fame.
1. Solomon’s great wisdom attracted the attention of the kings throughout the Near East.
2. Endowed with skills of observation in the natural sciences, his fame spreads. Men of all nations, sent by all the kings of the world, come to hear for themselves the wisdom of Solomon.
3. Solomon’s wealth is symbolized by gold, highlighted by the shields of hammered gold and the great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold.
4. In one year—probably the year of the queen of Sheba’s visit—the gold revenues of Solomon weighed 666 talents (25 tons). In today’s numbers, this gold would be worth $684,000,000.
5. Solomon’s tableware was made of gold. Prosperous kings were expected to have such tableware and display their wealth flamboyantly. In terms of amounts of gold and its use in adorning Solomon’s building projects, the description in Kings is not out of place in the tenth century B.C.
6. Solomon has a fleet of trading ships that travel a far-reaching route and bring back exotic items every three years.
7. Israel’s king is greater in riches and wisdom than all other kings. The whole world comes, bearing gifts, to hear the wisdom God has put in his heart.
8. An expensive horse and a chariot from Egypt are singled out to put an exclamation point on the king’s actions. As already observed, the law of the king prescribed, “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’ ”
9. God’s blessings on Solomon abound. God has kept all of His promises but will Solomon uphold his end of the bargain.
III. The danger of forgetting the source of our blessings.
A. It is human nature to forget the source of our blessings.
1. Israel did it, Solomon did it and we are guilty of it in fact forgetting is almost a daily occurrence.
2. When Israel had entered the Promised Land they eventually forgot that it was God who brought them there.
3. Solomon began to forget God in the latter parts of his reign. His abundance slowly removed his dependence upon God.
4. Solomon showed that when we become self-sufficient it is easy to forget the source of our blessings.
5. Solomon and Israel have risen to great heights only to fall into idolatry, division, decay, and, ultimately, exile. This was due to a slow turning away from the Lord.
B. Forgetting is the first step toward our heart turning away from God.
1. Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:1-2—NIV)
2. This Psalm of David urges us to reflect on all the blessings and benefits we have received from the Lord.
3. Without a doubt it would be a good practice for us to sit down and truly count our many blessings.
4. How do you feel about all the things the Lord has blessed you with? Undeserving? Humbled? Grateful? Guilty? Content? Dissatisfied? Apathetic? Joyful?
5. Thank God for the peanut butter and crackers as well as the prime rib in your life. Forget none of His blessings because forgetting is the first step toward falling away.
6. We cannot be like Solomon and forget the source of our blessings.
7. We must learn to count them and express our gratitude to God for providing them.
They huddled inside the storm door--two children in ragged, outgrown coats.
"Any old papers, Lady?" they asked a passerby.
She was very busy; she wanted to say no, until she looked down at their feet wrapped only in thin little sandals, sopped with sleet. "Come on in and I will make you a cup of cocoa," she said. There was no conversation. Their soggy sandals left marks on the clean hearthstone.
Cocoa and cake would fortify against the chill outside. After serving them, she went back to the kitchen and started on her household budget as they sat enjoying the warmth.
After a few minutes, the silence in the front room struck through to her. She looked in.
The girl held her empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady, are you rich?"
"Am I rich? Mercy no!" She looked at her shabby slipcovers.
The girl put her cup back in its saucer carefully. "Your cups match your saucers." Her voice was old with a hunger that was not of the stomach.
They left then, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They had not said thank you. They did not need to. They had done more than that. Plain blue pottery cups and saucers--but they matched. She tested the potatoes and stirred the gravy. "Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over our heads, my husband with a good, steady job--these things matched, too," she mused.
She moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still set upon the hearth, and she let them be. "I want them there in case I ever forget how very rich I am," she told herself.
