The Difference Between Solomon and David
Today it
appears to be judgment time. I don’t
want to be too harsh on Solomon, but there is a need for a simple truth. We know David was loved by the Lord because
David was the Lord’s servant. Yes, he
screwed up and sinned. But David
repented and confessed in his error. And
the reality is that we don’t hear God coming back to David and reminding him
“if you remain in my ways.”
But we do
repeatedly hear God coming back to Solomon and reminding Solomon of the
agreement. We hear God say it through
David in chapter 2, through prayer in chapter 3, through prayer in chapter 6,
through his own confession in chapter 8, through prayer in chapter 9, and in
judgment in chapter 11.
As I read
through these first nine verses I can really get a sense that God is unsure
about Solomon. God presents His case to
Solomon as if Solomon is still on the fence.
Of course, one could say that God knows where Solomon will end up so God
is actually quite sure about Solomon and doesn’t like it at all. I think God knows here that Solomon has not
given his heart to God as David had done.
I think
that we really need to dwell on this topic.
I know I’ve been pushing it hard the last few days, but I really want to
be ready for the final analysis of Solomon.
I think we need to spend some time thinking about it because this is so
vitally applicable to most Christians – and especially pseudo-Christians –
today. The question that begs to be
asked is:
- whether I (or you) am like David who has fully given his heart to God yet occasionally makes mistakes and repents of them, or
- whether I (or you) am like Solomon who can go through the motions and know all the right things to say but when push comes to shove is still sitting on the fence.
Let’s face
it. That is one of the core issues
facing mainstream Christianity today. Am
I really sold out for Jesus Christ and willing to do what God asks me to do or
am I simply following God because that’s how I was brought up? Am I willing to lay my life before the Lord,
bear everything, and humble myself in confession when I see just how much I
have screwed up? Or am I more interested
in putting on a good show to convince myself and the people around me just how
righteous I think I am? Am I willing to
sacrifice everything for God’s ways or am I interested in building my kingdom
the way I think God wants it built?
I think I
am getting to a real truth here in ministry. You see, God came to David several times
through various people and convicted David of his sin. But that process worked because David fully bought
into what God was selling. David was
fully vested in God. David was willing
to knock himself to the floor in repentance before he would ever think that
God’s ways were wrong and not worth following.
But
Solomon is a different beast. I don’t
think Solomon has fully bought into God’s ways because God has to keep coming
to him and reminding him that he still needs to choose whether or not he is
going to follow God’s ways of the ways of the world. It’s much harder to go before a person who is
living like this and convict them of their sinful behavior. How does anyone convict another person of
sinfulness if they are not fully bought into the full and complete authority of
God’s Word?
Spiritual Community
There. I think I finally said what it has taken me five
paragraphs to get out. If we want to
experience a true community of God’s people, we need to be fully vested in
God’s ways and the authority of God. If
we live as though we are sitting on the fence, then we can’t expect true godly
community or even godly results!
If we live
in such a way as to make excuses for sin and sinners, or if we live in ways
that tell other people that God’s Word is not the sole authority in our life,
or if we live in ways that indicate to others that we are not willing to put
ourselves under the authority of God’s Word and repent when necessary then
there will be no community of godly people.
There will instead be a community of people who get along as long as
everyone agrees on what they think God wants.
And that is far different than living in a community that is centered on
what God actually wants. We need to vest
ourselves in God’s ways and live like it.
Evidence
To show
how Solomon was not vested in the Lord, we see him begin to make alliances in
the end of this chapter. These alliances
show a growing desire to be self-reliant and to go against God’s Word. Solomon gains an alliance with Hiram and
deals unfairly with Hiram in the process by giving him worthless cities in
exchange! Solomon gains an alliance with
Egypt through the Pharaoh and his daughter and goes against God’s specific
instructions for his people to not rely upon Egypt’s strength or to even go
back to Egypt! Solomon gains other
alliances as mentioned in this passage as well.
It appears
to me that Solomon is not vested in God.
Solomon is not living as though God is authoritative. In fact, as I read through this passage what
it sounds to me is that Solomon has a desire to stick his fingers in many “pots”
rather than committing to the “pot” of God.
He is demonstrating traits of pluralism – and polytheism, too! Solomon wants to make alliance with other
nations and value their ways (pluralism). This will lead to Solomon certainly desiring
to please the Hebrew God as well as the gods of his many wives (polytheism) –
many of which were products of these alliances.
Solomon’s pluralistic approach to life leads him straight away from the
monotheism that God desires. I really
believe that much of the issue is in Solomon’s lack of commitment to being
vested in God’s authority.
This is a
concept we should consider deeply. Am I
really vested in God? Am I really
willing to lay everything down should God require it? Am I really interested in doing whatever it
takes to be in a relationship with God?
Or am I in it for the easy stuff and the benefits, but I’m not really
vested? Am I interested in what God can
provide, but not really committed to doing things His way? These are deep questions that we should ponder
long and hard about throughout our whole lives.
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