SOLOMON: A DIVIDED HEART
INTRO TO SPEAKER: Share the story of taking Caleb to PLBC in Surrey, BC to attend their music program. The tearful goodbye, the hope we’ve taught and trained him well. Prayer.
INTRO TO TOPIC: We recently started the middle part of The Story: Of Kings and Prophets.
• We looked at King Saul who was a bad king, and then David who was a good king.
• David didn’t always do things right and he even made several parenting mistakes.
KING DAVID’S REBELLIOUS SON ADONIJAH:
“King David was now very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm… About that time David’s son Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, began boasting, “I will make myself king.” So he provided himself with chariots and charioteers and recruited fifty men to run in front of him. Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, “Why are you doing that?”” (1 Kings 1:1,5-6a, NLT).
• You’ll read about David’s challenges with Adonijah in your reading this week.
• The challenge to us as parents: Discipline your children! Teach them right from wrong!
• But this morning, we’re going to look at another one of David’s sons: Solomon.
KING DAVID’S SON SOLOMON:
“1 As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon: 2 “I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. 3 Observe the requirements of the LORD your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go.” (1 Kings 2:1-3, NLT).
• Parents: Let’s encourage our children to be strong in the Lord and to serve Him!
• So after David’s death, Solomon becomes the third king of the nation of Israel.
THE BIG IDEA: Solomon’s life is an example for us, including both positive examples for us to follow, and one negative example for us to avoid.
1. SOLOMON ASKS FOR WISDOM:
“Solomon loved the LORD and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship.” (1 Kings 3:3).
• Notice here that Solomon loved God, and there is only one small record of compromise in Solomon’s life. He had a divided heart. We will come back to that again later.
“4 The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. 5 That night the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” (1 Kings 3:4-5).
• If God told you He would give you anything you asked for, what would you want?
“9 Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. 11 So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— 12 I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! 13 And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! 14 And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.” (1 Kings 3:9-14).
• Solomon asked God for wisdom, and He gave it to Him! This is a great prayer to pray.
• “He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs.” (1 Kings 4:32).
• THE EXAMPLE OF TWO WOMEN AND THE BABY: Paraphrase 1 Kings 3:16-28
2. SOLOMON BUILDS THE TEMPLE:
“It was in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the LORD.” (1 Kings 6:1).
• It took him seven years to build this temple for the Lord.
“Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion.” (1 Kings 8:1).
• A couple of weeks ago in a message on “Getting Ready for Revival” we read this:
• “When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.” (2 Chronicles 7:1, NKJV).
• “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (1 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV).
3. SOLOMON COMPROMISES GOD’S WORD:
“1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2 The LORD had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD. 4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been.” (1 Kings 11:1-4, NLT).
• Remember Solomon’s little compromise at the beginning of his life?
• He was a great king who did many awesome things for the Lord. But in the end?
• Some of the lessons we learn here:
o Don’t date or marry non-Christians as they will turn your heart away from God.
o “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14, NKJV).
o Don’t allow any compromise – no matter how small – into your life.
“9 The LORD was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the LORD’s command. 11 So now the LORD said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 12 But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son.” (1 Kings 11:9-12, NLT).
• What a sad ending to his life! May his life serve as a warning to us today…
APPLICATION:
1. WE NEED GOD’S WISDOM:
a. Ask God to give you wisdom: “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” (Col. 1:9-10, NLT).
b. Get into God’s Word every day: “1 These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. 2 Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. 3 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair.” (Prov. 1:1-3, NLT).
c. Hang around with wise Christians: “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.” (Prov. 13:20, NKJV).
2. WE ARE GOD’S TEMPLE:
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Cor. 6:19, NKJV)
• VISION 2016: God is calling us this year to SEEK HIM FIRST.
• Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, NKJV).
• “A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.” (Psalm 63:1-2, NKJV).
3. WE MUST NOT COMPROMISE:
“15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:15-16,19-20, NKJV).
• Let’s SEEK GOD FIRST this year, and see Him do great things in and through us!
Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor’s Blog: http://pastorchrisjordan.wordpress.com/
