The King Who Had It All Series

The King Who Had it All

January 9, 2010

I want to start out by talking about a frog. Maybe you’re familiar with research that was done a number of years ago on frogs. The research basically goes like this . . . if you put a frog in a boiling pot of water, the frog will jump out, but if you put a frog in a pot of luke warm water, you can slowly turn the heat up on the frog and the frog will stay in the pot and you can boil that frog to death. Then you can have a wonderful plate of frog legs for dinner. I heard they taste like chicken.

So, what does that research mean? It tells us frogs can detect sudden changes in their environment, buy they cannot detect small incremental changes. By the time they recognize they’re in a dangerous situation, it’s too late. Their bodies are too weak to get out. Why do I give you this analogy? Well, this is the story of Solomon, and it’s his story we’re going to look at today.

Solomon starts off strong, like a frog. He jumps over lily pads like no other frog before him. He’s got royal frog blood in him. He’s the son of the great king. Any princess would consider it a privilege to kiss this frog. And as we’ll see, 700 princesses come to the altar and kiss this frog. He’s a strong frog, but one day, he jumps into a pot of lukewarm water. Slowly, it got hotter and hotter and Solomon got cooked.

Let’s start by looking at 1 Kings 1:1. If you have your copy of the Story, if you turn to Chapter 13, that would be great. We’re going to see how this chapter of the Story fits into the upper story of God’s big idea.

Long before Solomon, God started a nation with a man named Abraham. It was through this nation, called, Israel that God was trying to make His name known among the people. He wanted to show people His character, His heart and His plan. He wanted people to turn back to Him, so they could enjoy what had been lost when sin came into the world in the garden of Eden. It was very important that the Israelites cultivate their relationship with God, because they would be God’s witnesses to the world of His redeeming grace. Ultimately the plan is to get everyone back into a relationship with God, through the coming Savior, Jesus.

Eventually, the people wanted a king to lead them. They no longer wanted God to be their leader, so they were given a man named, Saul as their first king. Saul did not represent God’s nature very well. So God replaced Saul with a man named David. Even though David committed sins, he represented God’s character and nature very well. God knew David was a man after His own heart. We see this and we experience this through God’s forgiveness of David when he repented from his sins with Bathsheba.

Chapter 13 opens up with these words, 1When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. You know, the same thing happens to me and I thought about this passage, and I thought I’m getting old, is this my lot in life? Then I came to my senses and realized I live in Indiana in the winter. What else should I expect?

David was anointed king at 16 years old, and time passed and David became old; and it was time to pass on the kingdom to his son, Solomon. Solomon starts off with everything going his way. As the chapter title signifies, he was “The King who had it all.” The nation was in great shape.

Solomon starts off super strong. If you look at 1 Kings 3:5, we see that God comes to Solomon personally and tells Solomon, you can ask for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you, with no boundaries. If it was you and I, what would we ask for? Be truthful, you’re in church. God comes to you and nobody else is around, and God says, “Ask for whatever you want and I’ll give it to you.”

What are you going to ask for? You might ask for long life, or wealth, or power, or a nice car; Solomon asks for wisdom. Not wisdom for his own sake, but wisdom so that he’ll know how to discern right from wrong and how to lead according to God’s way. And God is super impressed with what Solomon asked for. So, God grants and implants super wisdom into Solomon. God takes it one step further and tells Solomon, since you asked for wisdom, I’m also going to give you wealth and honor.