What Do You Seek?
The Book of Kings picks up where the Book of Samuel ends. King
David has unified the tribes of Israel into a kingdom, and God promised that
from his line would come a messianic king who would establish God's Kingdom
over the nations and fulfill the promises made to Abraham (2
Samuel 7). The Book of Kings tells the story of the long line of kings that
came after David, and none of them lived up to that promise. In the words of
the Bible Project, they run the nation of
Israel right into the ground. You can watch the full overview of 1 & 2
Kings by clicking on the title below.
The beginning of 1 Kings focuses on King David’s son,
Solomon. If you want to dig deeper into King Solomon’s story, check out the
Bible Project blog article linked below. These materials will be used for our
Pastor’s Bible Study on Wednesday, March 30.
Solomon is one of the more complicated characters we find in
the Bible. Unlike his father, King David, who waited patiently and trusted in
God as events unfolded leading him to the throne of Israel, Solomon is involved
in conspiracies and assassinations to ensure he is the new king with
consolidated political power and influence.
Quite the inauspicious start.
And yet, in the very next story, King Solomon makes a momentous
decision. In what is perhaps the most-well known story from Solomon’s life, God
came to him in a dream and said, “Ask
whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.” (1
Kings 3:5-15)
As you know from this story, Solomon does not choose any of
the obvious things that might first come to mind – wealth, power, and fame or a
solution to an urgent but ultimately temporary problem. Solomon responds with
humility and shows a desire to lead his people faithfully. 1 Kings 3:9, Solomon
says, “Please give your servant a
discerning mind in order to govern your people and to distinguish good from
evil, because no one is able to govern this important people of yours without
your help.”
In other words, Solomon asked for wisdom.
Wisdom helps us discern what is really important and lasting
verses what is fleeting and insignificant. Wisdom is about knowing what leads
to a life well-lived, regardless of the inevitable ups and downs that come
along. Wisdom is knowing the difference between what is good, moral, gentle,
peaceful, and hopeful and what is fear-filled, harmful and futile. Wisdom gives
the perspective we need to see what really matters.
God does indeed bless Solomon is countless ways. Israel enjoys
a long period of peace and prosperity and Solomon’s fame as a wise ruler
spreads far and wide. But remember,
Solomon’s story is complicated. Even as things are going well outwardly, Solomon
becomes more and more self-serving and prideful.
Way back in Deuteronomy
17:14-20, God lays out the requirements for the future kings of Israel: 1)
the king must not acquire too many horses; 2) the king must not take numerous
wives; and 3) the king must not acquire too much silver and gold.
What does Solomon do? He hits the trifecta! In 1
Kings 10:23-11:3 we read about his horses, wives, and wealth. Why does that
really matter? Because each represents self-reliance
rather than reliance on God. They represent pride and greed. And more than
anything, they turn his heart and his kingdom away from God’s covenant. His turning away from God has lasting
consequences for Israel. (1
Kings 11:11-13)
In my sermon on Sunday (March 27), I wondered how we might
respond if God came to us in a dream saying, “Ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”
The question is, of course, hypothetical because God isn’t a
genie in a bottle granting us wishes, or a vending machine where we offer our
prayers and get out whatever we want. Indeed, God has already given us all we could ever need in the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ. Even
so, we still make choices about the kind of life we will lead. What will we
pursue? On what will we focus our time, energy, and effort? And like Solomon,
the choices we make reveal where we have placed our ultimate trust and faith.
I am reminded of Jesus words in Matthew
6:25-33, “Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these."
Jesus concludes: Instead, seek first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Somewhere along the way, Solomon lost sight of what it means
to live faithfully. Have you? When was
the last time you made the intention to seek first and foremost God’s kingdom and
righteousness? When have you last
experienced the freedom to live a life truly free from anxiety and fear, one
that reflects God as your creator, savior, and friend?
What is it that you need
to ask of God? What is it that you seek?
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