April 7, 2026 - 1 Kings 9-11

Solomon accomplished so much during his reign:  the building of the temple and his own palace, he built up Israel’s army in order to defend the nation, he built a great administrative state, he built structures (both military and civilian) all over Israel, and he built a fleet of ships that traded all over the Mediterranean and brought him great riches.  So rich did Solomon become that the queen of Sheba said to him, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard” (10:6-7).  How great was Solomon!  But he “loved many foreign women . . . And his wives turned away his heart.  For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father” (11:1-4).  And so, God raised up adversaries, and the Lord took ten of the twelve tribes from Solomon’s descendants, and Solomon was greatly diminished not only in the eyes of the Lord but before his people and before the nations.  Great wealth and renown did not result in great things for the kingdom.  Another reminder from Scripture that the wise person looks not for great reputation among men nor great wealth that cannot be kept but “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20).

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me save that thou art.

Thou my best thought by day and by night;

Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;

Thou mine inheritance, now and always.

Thou and thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.   --Eleanor H. Hull (1927)