THE KINGS part 1 Solomon

ALL THE KINGS HORSES

Solomon’s Reign

Humpty Dumpty Sat On a Wall

“Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion. They will not be defeated but will endure forever!” Psalm 125:1 NLT

 Once upon a time there was a great king This king was the most powerful ruler in all the land and the greatest king to ever rule Israel. He had a vast kingdom from the Euphrates river in the North to Egypt in the south and as far west as Gaza.

            David, his warrior father, had conquered all this great kingdom and the peoples of the land served King Solomon and sent money to him all of his life time. His subjects, the people of Judah and Israel, were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and each family had its own garden and home. There was peace in the land and the people lived in security and safety.

On his death bed, David told his son to always walk with the Lord and obey God’s commandments and God would bless him and his descendents forever. This king was a good son and obeyed the words of his father, even after the mighty David had gone on to Glory. Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his God, and he offered sacrifices at the local places of worship.

One night God came to him in a dream, “Solomon,” God said, “What do you want? Ask and I will give it to you!”

Without hesitation young Solomon answered, “You showed faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to You. Now O Lord, You have made me king instead of my father, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. Here I am in the midst of your people, a nation so great and numerous they can not be counted and I am lost! I don’t know what to do. So, Please give me an understanding heart so that I can govern Your people well and know the difference between right and wrong.”

God was very pleased that Solomon had asked for such a wise and selfless thing when he could have asked for all the riches in the world.

God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing My people with justice and have not asked for long life or wealth, 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! And I will also give you what you did NOT ask for, riches and fame! And if you follow Me and obey My decrees and My commands as your father did, I will give you a long life.”

So the young king began to rule with much wisdom and understanding so much so that his subjects began to nod their heads and feel confident in their new king.

One day two women who were prostitutes, came to the king to have him settle an argument between them. “Please my lord,” one of them began as they kneeled before the king, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me. Three days later this woman also had a baby and there was only the two of us in the house. Her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. Then she got up and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. You can imagine how I felt in the morning when I woke up and my child was dead! However when I looked at him closely I could see it was not my son at all.”

“It certainly was your son!” The other woman interrupted, “this one who is living is mine!” She rocked the baby in her arms.

“No!” cried the first woman, “I know the living one is mine, I know my own son. The dead baby is yours!” So they argued and shouted back and forth to each other.

Oh my what was a king to do! “Lets get this straight,” King Solomon said, “both of you claim the living child is yours and each says the dead child belongs to the other.”

Amidst the clamor of their shouting, the king raised his hand, “All right, bring me a sword!”

Suddenly the two women became silent as with round eyes they watched a servant bring the king a big sword and at the king’s command take the child from the woman.

The king’s voice rang in authority as he said, “Now, cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!”

The first woman gasped and tears began to roll down her face, “No! No! My lord!” she cried, reaching both hands to the king. “Please don’t kill him! Give the baby to her.”

The other woman merely nodded and said flatly, “Fine then, he will be neither yours nor mine, divide him between us.”

“Do not kill the child!” The king commanded, “Give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”

When the people heard of this they were in awe of the king for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.

So King Solomon set up his kingdom and his government. He amassed much wealth and power. He owned no less than 12,000 horses and many chariots. He was richer and wiser than any other king on earth! God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding and his knowledge was as vast as the sands on the seashore. In fact his wisdom even exceeded all the wise men of the east and the wise men of Egypt.

Solomon composed 1,005 songs and wrote 3,000 proverbs. He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great Cedars of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from the cracks in a wall. He also knew about animals, all creatures great and small, and fish of the sea. Since there was no Google, the kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to learn from the wisdom of Solomon.

David, Solomon’s father, had said, “I live in a fine house, but the Almighty God dwells in a tent.” He wanted to build a temple for his God. But God told him since David was a man of war, he could plan the temple, but his son, who would be a man of peace, would actually build the temple.

So 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt and actually became a nation, King Solomon began construction on the Temple of the Lord. It was a great temple, very large with complex rooms that were three stories high. It was constructed of cedar beams, stone and marble and the inner rooms were paneled with cypress and cedar. All of the interior was overlaid with solid gold including the altar and the floor. The walls, doors, doorposts, beams, and columns were decorated with many intricate carvings. I really wish I could have seen that building!

The temple took seven years to complete and was a sight to behold. When it was completed, the king of all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the Lord with burnt offerings. The bronze altar in the Lord’s presence was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.

Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his hands toward Heaven and prayed, “Oh Lord God of Israel there is no God like You in all of Heaven above or on earth below.” And so on for a long prayer. Then Solomon and the people celebrated 14 days and afterwards the people went home joyful and glad because the Lord had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel.

All was well in the land.

Later God appeared to Solomon a second time and said, “I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this temple apart to be holy, this place you have built where My name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it for it is dear to my heart.” 1 Kings 9:1-3 NLT

God was pleased with the great building Solomon had built to honor His name. However the hearts of His people meant more to him than this great tribute.

He said to Solomon, “But if you or your descendants abandon Me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this temple that I have made holy to honor My name. I will make Israel a mockery and a ridicule among the nations.” 1 Kings 9:6-7 NLT

No one in the world would know more about building a house than Solomon. No one had more wisdom and understanding than Solomon. When reading this story in my One Year Bible, I saw the parallel Psalm was about building a house and it was written, no less by Solomon!

“Unless the Lord builds a house the work of the builders is wasted.

Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.

It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night anxiously working for food to eat, for God gives rest to His loved ones.” Psalm 127:1-2 NLT

I ask myself, “Am I building my house or is God?

Am I guarding my gates or is God?

Am I anxiously working from morning till late at night for food to eat?

Or am I resting in My God?

“Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forever.” Psalm 125:2

Story taken from 1 Kings 2-9 more about Solomon coming up!