People in the Bible Who Pleased God – Solomon

    Solomon was “young and inexperienced” when he was given the task to build the temple and be the anointed king over Israel (1 Chronicles 28:2-7; 29:1, 21-24), so his father David encouraged him to “be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God – my God – will be with you…” (1 Chronicles 28:20). Moreover, David prayed that God would give Solomon a loyal heart to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple (1 Chronicles 29:19).

    The LORD promised to establish Solomon’s kingdom forever IF Solomon was steadfast to observe His commandments and His judgments, and Solomon, in the sight of the assembly of Israel and in the hearing of God, was to carefully seek out all the commandments of the LORD, that he might possess the good land (of Israel) and leave it as an inheritance for his children after him, forever (1 Chronicles 28:6-8). David, knowing this, instructed his son to “know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”  (1 Chronicles 28:9)

    After David’s death, the LORD appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

    Here is Solomon’s response:

“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?” (1 Kings 3:7-9 NKJV)

    The next verse (v10) says: “The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.”

    Because Solomon, in sincere humility, asked for wisdom, the LORD blessed him with a wise and understanding heart, as well as riches and wealth and honour, “such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.” (1 Kings 3:12, 2 Chronicles 1:11-12)

    Consider this description of God’s blessing to Solomon:

"And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon." (1 Kings 4:29:34 NKJV)

    A few chapters later, in the book of I Kings, Solomon has built the temple and dedicated it to the LORD. God appears to Solomon again and restates His promise to establish the throne of Solomon’s kingdom forever IF he walks before God as his father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, to do according to all that God has commanded, and if he keeps His statutes and His judgments. BUT if Solomon or his sons at all turn from following God, and do not keep His commandments and statutes which He has set before them, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then He will cut off Israel from the land, and the temple will be cast out of His sight; Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples…because they forsook the LORD their God…and have embraced other gods and worshiped them and served them (1 Kings 9:4-7, 9).

    During his reign, Solomon had such increase of wealth that silver was counted as nothing in his days; it was as common in Jerusalem as stones (1 Kings 10:21, 27). One would think that with all his wisdom, all his wealth, all his power and influence – “…all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” (1 Kings 10:24) – that Solomon would be a leader in every room, that people would seek to align with him and his beliefs, but sadly, Solomon allowed himself to be influenced and allowed his heart to be turned.

    Solomon married many foreign women – something the LORD had told the Israelites not to do because “surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods” (1 Kings 11:2) – Solomon clung to these women in love, and when he was old “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.” (1 Kings 11:4). He went so far as to follow after these foreign gods and to build places of worship for them – he did this for all his foreign wives – can you imagine what Jerusalem must have looked like with all those pagan structures built by the king?

    Solomon, a man who had been visited by the LORD twice, a king who, in all his wisdom, concluded that man’s whole purpose and endeavour in life is to “Fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14), took wives from nations he was not to intermarry with, and followed them to do evil in the sight of the LORD (1 Kings 11:6).

What can we learn from Solomon?

    Ask God for wisdom. It pleased the LORD then, and it pleases Him now. If any of you lacks wisdom, ask of God and He will give it liberally, and He won’t reprimand you for asking for it or for needing it (James 1:5). If we, like Solomon, want to discern both good and evil, we must do what God commands (Hebrews 5:14). Don’t glory in your education and/or life experience and think yourself wise, seek after the wisdom that is from above (James 3:13-18).

    Use your blessings for good.  If God has blessed you with something – whether small or great – use it to His glory (Colossians 3:17, 23, Romans 12:6-8, Galatians 6:1). Don’t let your pursuit to use your talent(s) lead you away from Him; be humble, be content, give God the glory, and serve Him faithfully with sincere love and thanksgiving (Jeremiah 9:23-24, 1 Timothy 4:12-16, Titus 2:3-5).

    Choose your friends and/or your spouse wisely. Solomon wrote, “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” (Proverbs 12:26, also consider 2 Corinthians 6:14). We can either influence or be influenced; if we do not anchor ourselves in God and His way, we can easily be led astray by friends/family who do not respect Him (think on 1 Peter 4:1-4, Ephesians 4:17-24, Romans 12:9). A wife can be a good influence on a husband who does not believe, by submitting first to God, then to her husband; when the husband observes his wife’s chaste conduct accompanied by fear, he may be won over to faith and service to God (1 Peter 3:1-2).

    Be faithful until death. Solomon made choices that pleased God when he was young, but when he was old he allowed worldly influence to turn him away from the LORD.  God wants us to count the cost – understand that it is a lifetime commitment we make to Him (Luke 14:25-33). He wants us to deny self, take up our cross – knowing we are not returning to our old life again – and follow Him, each and every day of our life (Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23). Read and consider Revelation 2:10, Psalm 71:17-18; 92:12-15, Proverbs 16:31, Hebrews 10:34-39.

    God is the only way. It was God who gave Solomon the wherewithal to array himself in fine clothing, but God made the short-lived lilies of the field even more beautiful than that king’s apparel (Matthew 6:29). And even though we can be wowed that the Queen of Sheba traveled great distances to hear the wisdom of Solomon, a greater than Solomon is here – Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:42). Don’t be awed by fashion, appearance, wealth, or worldly wisdom, be awed by God and His magnificent power and glory, and His great love that gave us “a greater than Solomon” and who clothes us better than the flowers. When we are given gifts, do not forget the Giver of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17); it is God who gives us life, breath, and all things (Acts 17:25), it is God who gives us ability to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18); only in Him and His Son can we find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2-3), and it is only through His Son that we can be given the greatest gifts: forgiveness (Acts 2:38; 10:43, Colossians 1:13-14, 1 John 1:9) and eternal life (John 3:16-18, Romans 6:23, 1 John 5:11).

    Solomon had asked for an ability to discern between good and evil when he was young and it pleased God, but he disregarded it when he was old, and worldly influence turned his heart from God. He stopped heeding God and even his own wise advice – let’s not make the same mistake. Fear God and keep His commandments, all the days of our lives.

You can do it! So can I!!