PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: 2 Chronicles 9-10
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings.” (2 Chronicles 9:22)
These words are exactly the same as what we find in 1 Kings 10:23.
Remember that 1-2 Chronicles is a parallel version of Israel’s story with 1-2 Kings.
We also read about Solomon’s greatness, and the kingdom split in 1 Kings 10-12.
But there is one very significant difference; Chronicles only remembers the positive.
1 Kings 11 tells how Solomon turned away from God because of money, sex and power.
This is why God allows Israel to separate into the northern and southern kingdoms.
These chronicles were written to inspire discouraged Jews returning from captivity.
David and Solomon represent the glory days, what the Jews can hope for if they seek God.
This message is true, but it is very dangerous if we become selective in our memories.
Similarly we like to remember the nice and positive things Jesus said and did.
They inspire and encourage us, and give us hope for the future.
But Jesus also warned how money, sex and power can undermine our ‘greatness’.
Am I choosing to forget the Jesus’s warnings, and only dwelling on the positive?
Am I risking a future crisis by being morally arrogant or foolish?
PRAYER
Lord, grace is not an excuse to stop taking sin seriously. Help me to listen to where the Spirit is warning me about the moral risks and compromises that are threatening my relationship with you.
I wonder where Rehoboam was when the Queen of Sheba said this: “Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you” – did Rehoboam not learn that it was the Lord from whom his father had received the blessing? Did he along with his age group not understand – when they thought they could demand obedience and submissiveness from the people because they held the whip. Today we see that in Myanmar and even Hong Kong. Can authoritative rule last? My strength is in my weakness before God – I have to admit my own undeserving and submit to God’s leading – if I am to be strong. Rehoboam had to learn the hard way. I sometimes do too!
Power.
Ruling the people with their own desires. Being in control. Having it their own way. And where is the Lord God in all of this? His Way will come to pass in His time. Whose advice do I listen to? I need to walk with my Lord daily having open ears to do His will.
Lead me, guide me along the way,
For if you lead me I cannot stray.
Lord let me walk each day with Thee.
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.
VERSE 2:
Help me tread in the paths of righteousness.
Be my aid when Satan and sin oppress.
I am putting all my trust in Thee:
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.