'Appreciating God's Love'
A) Solomon Anointed as King
I Kin 3:3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
King David chose Solomon to rule after him. God ensured it by squashing the rebellion of his elder brother Adonijah. Solomon loved the Lord and so He asked him what he wanted.
I Kin 3:5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?"
Wisdom to Rule His People
I Kin 3:7-9 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"
Solomon only wanted God to give him understanding so that he could rule and judge His people the Israelites rightly and justly.
Because Solomon only wanted the gift for the sake of His people, God added both riches and honour so that the Kingdom of Israel under him became the richest and greatest ever.
His wisdom of ruling the kingdom of Israel was par excellent, that even the Queen of Sheba travelled over long distances to witness and consult his great wisdom.
I Kin 3:11-13 Then God said to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.
B) Requirements of King Solomon
Deu17:14, 16-17 "When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' ...But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.' Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself."
Since the Israelites wanted a king to directly rule over them instead of God, God commanded the Israelites in the Mosaic law the requirements of the king of Israel:
1 - must not buy expensive Egyptian horses meant for sport and pleasures (Solomon broke this law in 1 Kin 10:28)
2 - must not multiply wives for himself (Solomon had 1,000 wives in 1 Kin 11:3)
3 - must not multiply silver or gold for himself (gold and silver given to him in 1 Kin 10:23-25)
4 - must make a copy of the Torah (no time with 1,000 wives)
5 - must read the Torah daily to learn to fear the Lord and to keep all the words in the law (no time for God and he broke the law)
Deu17:18-19 "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,"
Solomon was a godly man, and though he was gifted with the wisdom and understanding to rule Israel along with richest and power, but without God's words in his heart, his carnal man caused him to commit all types of sin.
C) Carnality of King Solomon
I Kin 11:1a, 2-4 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, - from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, " You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
Because King Solomon loved women and refused to repent, he wallowed in his sins. He was only able to understand worldly wisdom even though God gave him great wisdom.
King Solomon warned of the dangers of deceptions, those without the fear of the Lord and those without His words, and the traps of worldliness - the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
Lacking the word of God, King Solomon was far from knowing His divine truth, whereas King David's Psalms reveal God's attributes, will, ways, greatness and judgment.
In his old age, Solomon was misled by his wives to idolatry. What a great disappointment it was for God.
I Kin 11:4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.
Tit 2:11-14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Brethren, by grace we are saved for good works. To whom will you compare yourself? To the godly King David or to the worldly and carnal King Solomon - still wallowing in sins?
