Solomon’s Reign

GOLDEN TEXT: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” —Proverbs 3:5,6

I KINGS 9:1-9

SOON after Solomon became king of the Israelites the Lord appeared unto him at Gibeon, and said, “Ask what I shall give thee.” To this request by the Lord, Solomon replied, “Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my Father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or to come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?”—I Kings 3:5-9

The Lord was pleased with this request, and in compliance with it, gave Solomon great wisdom, and an “understanding heart.” Solomon was undoubtedly sincere in this request, recognizing his own lack of wisdom, and his need to be guided by the Lord. It was in keeping with this that he wrote the beautiful sentiments contained in our Golden Text—“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”—Prov. 3:5,6

David very much wanted to build a “house” for the Lord, but was not permitted to do so, although he gathered much of the material for it. The construction of the temple was under the jurisdiction of Solomon, and when it was completed he appropriately dedicated the magnificent structure to the Lord. The record of this is set forth in chapter 8 of I Kings.

Probably Solomon’s Temple represented the greatest concentration of gold and other precious metals, as well as costly stones and wood, that had ever been brought together into one building. Yet, after it was completed he realized that the Lord would not literally dwell in it, so in his prayer he said, “Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?”—I Kings 8:27

All Solomon asked was that when the Israelites were in need of divine help, the Lord’s “eyes” might “be open toward this house night and day,” and that he might hearken unto the prayer of his servant. Solomon enumerated various situations in which the Israelites would need the mercy and help of their God, and prayed that when they turned to him for help he would hear.

Our lesson for today is, in part, the Lord’s reply to Solomon’s prayer of dedication. The Lord said to him, “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there forever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”—vs. 3

How strengthening this must have been to Solomon! And the Lord promised him even more. He promised that he would not rend the kingdom from him, but this was conditional. Most of the Lord’s promises are conditional, the conditions being loyalty to him and the doing of his will. In Solomon’s day, and in fact through most of Israel’s national existence, the greatest temptation of the people seemed to be to worship false gods, and Solomon was warned particularly against this.

Strangely enough, it was this very sin which later led to the withdrawal of divine favor from Solomon. We read, “It came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.” Then the Lord said to him, “Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.”—I Kings 11:3-11

But the Lord eased the blow somewhat for the aging king, and said that he would not rend the kingdom from him directly, but that after his death, it would be taken away from his son. And even then, he promised Solomon that, for David’s sake, his son would retain rulership over Judah. This was to be a manifestation of the “sure mercies of David.”

QUESTIONS

What blessing did Solomon ask of the Lord at the beginning of his reign?

What did God promise Solomon when he appeared to him, following the dedication of the temple?

What condition was attached to this promise?

Did Solomon comply with the condition?

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