wisest king - saddest fool

 

The wisest of men became the saddest of fools.

His judgement in the case of a paternal dispute is legendary (1 Kings 3:16-28). His sword provided the ‘DNA’ evidence for who was the real mother. His wisdom exceeded that of the wise men of the East early in his reign and with it he compiled many proverbs. Given the honour of building the first Israelite temple and being blessed by a promise by God, Solomon had it all.

But he blew it!

How? By failing to remember God’s requirements for a king who sits on the throne of Israel. In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 Moses recorded the Lord God’s expectations for those who rule over His people. They needed to have their own copy of the Law, and read from it every day. The reason was to learn to fear the Lord. Nor were they to hoard excessive wealth and marry numerous wives, a custom prevalent in surrounding cultures. Because the Almighty had promised to be the Nation’s defender, kings were forbidden to rely upon the army of Egypt or the power of horses and chariots. Added to that the king must not consider himself as superior to his people.

In 1 Kings 11 is the sad list of this wisest of men sliding down the moral and spiritual slope into spiritual stupidity and ignominy. I would suggest he stood on the top of the slippery slope when he ignored reading and obeying God’s word. This is evident by the fact he took to himself wives (probably politically expedient) from nations Yahweh had specifically said “no” too! The result was they turned his heart to pander to their idols, and more than likely to their loose morals. Solomon appears to have been a collector of horses, chariots and gold. He also knew how to tax his people. All of this would destroy his reputation, his spiritual life and damage the character of his son Rehoboam.

In his book ‘Bible Characters’, Alexander Whyte says of this king the saddest of statements. ‘There is no repentance anywhere in Solomon’. His father messed up big time but recognised his error and Psalm 51 is a beautiful and humble expression of repentance. No such psalm or comment can be found from the pen or mouth of Solomon. What a warning this is for us all. When we begin the slide downhill from the Lord’s calling, the way to get off is for the Lord to yank you out. Trouble is, He will not, cannot do it until you call out as a sign of repentance, “Lord help! Lord forgive! Lord have mercy!”

Solomon didn’t practice what he wrote. Consider: ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight’ (Proverbs 3:5). ‘The end of the matter; … Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.’ There is so much more that could be added here. Even that beautiful love poem ‘Song of Solomon’ is tainted. If he wrote it, did he have multiple copies made for his numerous wives? How terribly, terribly sad for the poem is so beautiful. Again there is a warning for us. What we write, what we say, may be lovely and true but its power and meaning will be lessened by personal insincerity and hypocrisy.

The apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 it isn’t how you start the race God calls

you to enter, but how you finish. That’s the danger in senior years. We can know God’s word and will, yet think we’ve enough ‘merit points’.  When we imagine there isn’t more to discover from God’s word, more reasons to serve and worship, more awareness of our spiritual weakness, we are hitting the slippery slope. When we do not fear the seductive power of the World or recognise we have taken the wrong track and therefore no need for repentance, the promised winner’s garland is fading.

Solomon is a warning best expressed in his father’s lament about King Saul, ‘How the mighty have fallen.’ Saul died most noble in battle. Solomon withered into a most ignoble departure into the presence of the Lord he had disappointed.

Lord, kick us, me, off the slippery slope! Keep me focused on the race set before us, before me! Let me not be a stumbling block to other runners, or would be runners! Lord, hear our - my plea. Amen!

Keep your eyes focused.

As 2017 opened its hours to welcome me aboard it also challenged me to have a motto. As I was reading the letter to the Corinthians the following verses impressed itself upon me. ‘Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love’ (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). There are 5 imperatives mentioned. Over the next five weeks I’d like to share some insights to each of these.

As this year unfolds Scripture urges us to keep an active lookout for our Christian life and witness. ‘Keep alert’ has both a negative and a positive aspect to it. We are warned to be on guard against the prowling, roaring and devouring intent of the Devil (1 Peter 5:8). To be honest, the ‘lion’ aspect doesn’t worry me so much. I can discern him. I can hear him. I can, by the grace of God and His word, run and hide. Where is my hiding place? In the company of the Lord Jesus and His word.

The danger which engulfs me is the enemy within. It is called the carnal or flesh nature. It is so cunning. It is so insidious. It is so hard to discern and resist. James 1:14 describes it as ‘one’s own desire.’ The KJV calls it ‘lust.’ Scripture goes into a lot of detail to spell out and warn us of this inner power. Check 1 John 2:16. Galatians 5:16-21.

As I live in a society addicted to ‘Lust’ it is so easy to be seduced. Standing within the shadows is the Devil casting a hypnotic power to hide the devastating and degrading consequences. How can I resist, especially when I don’t want too? By keeping alert and knowing the end of ‘Lust’ is moral, spiritual, relational death (romans 8:6).

The motivational aspect of ‘keep alert’ is to seize opportunities to honour the Lord and bless His people. So much of the New Testament is occupied with challenging us to be men and women with vision, vitality and virtuous. To do this requires an ever conscious commitment to our calling to walk worthy and to the fellowship of Communion. Sounds easy! Sounds noble! Trouble is the World, the Flesh and the Devil want to drown out that sound. Therefore ‘keep alert!’

In Revelation 31-6 is the story of the church in Sardis. It had a name for being alive – Jesus saw it as dead. He called upon it to ‘wake up and strengthen’ what was left but fading. Failure to respond would result in discipline which could build up to being severe. The Lord called upon the church to be a conqueror not conquered. One of the ways out of the mess of self-deception and the lethargy caused by self-confidence was to ‘remember!’ Remember what? Remember the things received, heard and obeyed at the beginning of their new life in Christ. When the Church did that the next word was ‘repent!’ That was the steps to becoming awake and back into a meaningful relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Sardis is an apt metaphor for many Christians. It has applied to me at times in my Christian life. I’m so glad the Lord didn’t leave me in that spiritually comatose state. He stepped in through various means to wake me up, some not too gentle either. Should He do it to you be thankful. The alternative is miserable.

So, as 2017 begins I want to take the words ‘Keep alert’ to heart. How about you?