Solomon

At Gibeon, Solomon was given an extraordinary invitation. God appeared to him in a dream and told him to ask for what he wanted. The new king could have asked for wealth, a long life or the defeat of his enemies. Instead, he brought God the responsibility he did not know how to carry.

He was ruling a people too numerous to count. He needed to hear their disputes, distinguish right from wrong and make decisions that would shape their lives. Solomon acknowledged his inexperience and asked for a discerning heart. Before becoming famous for his answers, he admitted that he needed help.

God was pleased with that request. He gave Solomon exceptional wisdom, along with riches and honour he had not asked for. But the promise of a long life came with a condition: Solomon was to keep walking in God’s ways. Wisdom was a gift; obedience would still require his continuing response. (1 Kings 3:4-15)

A kingdom entrusted to him

Solomon was David’s son, inheriting a throne and responsibilities that reached far beyond himself. Before his death, David urged him to obey God’s commands. He also charged Solomon to know God for himself and serve Him wholeheartedly and willingly. His father’s relationship with God could not stand in for his own. (1 Kings 2:1-4; 1 Chronicles 28:9-10)

There was a particular work ahead of him, too. David had wanted to build the temple in Jerusalem, but God had chosen Solomon to build it. David handed him the plans and encouraged him to carry out the work. The king who had asked for understanding now had a kingdom to govern and a temple to build. (1 Chronicles 28:11-20)

Wisdom the world came to hear

When the temple was complete, the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant into its inner sanctuary. A cloud filled the building, and the priests could not continue their service because the glory of the Lord filled His house.

Solomon stood before the gathered people and prayed. Even at the dedication of this great building, he acknowledged that heaven itself could not contain God, much less the house he had built. He asked God to hear His people’s prayers and forgive them. (1 Kings 8:6-11, 22-30)

His reputation travelled. The Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem with difficult questions, and Solomon answered them. She saw his wisdom, his household and the ordering of his kingdom, and recognised that what she had heard had not told her half of it. She praised God for placing Solomon on Israel’s throne to uphold justice and righteousness. (1 Kings 10:1-9)

The heart that turned away

Yet the man who could answer her questions did not remain faithful to what he knew.

Solomon married women from nations God had warned Israel about because their worship would turn His people’s hearts towards other gods. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart away. He followed other gods and built places for their worship. The king who had built the Lord’s temple was now building high places for Chemosh and Molek.

God had appeared to Solomon twice and commanded him not to follow other gods. Solomon disobeyed. God announced that most of the kingdom would be torn from his son’s rule. For David’s sake, that division would not happen during Solomon’s lifetime, and part of the kingdom would remain with his son. His choices would reach beyond his own life. (1 Kings 11:1-13)

What Solomon’s story asks of us

Solomon’s first request still offers us a place to begin: admit our limits and ask God for wisdom to serve well. His later choices ask something harder of us. Are we continuing to practise what we already know is right?

One lesson we can draw from his life is that insight and achievement cannot replace an obedient heart. We can return to the humility of his beginning: willing to listen, receive correction and let what we learn from God shape the choices before us today.