Rev. Don Campbell

1 Kings 3-4; 2 Chronicles 1, Psalm 72

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, May 31, 2019

“WHEN SOLOMON’S WISDOM FAILED”

The name of Solomon is synonymous with wisdom: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:29-34).

Solomon had the wisdom to control everything except himself as seen in chapter 11:1-8j which tells of his heart being turned from God by his marriage to many foreign wives, in disobedience to God’s word given to Israel when they entered the promised land (11:2 & Deuteronomy 7:3-4). This is the same man who warned: “For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life her ways wander, and she does not know it” (Proverbs 5:3-6). Now, multiply this by 700 wives.

CONNECTIONS

1. Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:27-29). Does the word “gaze” as seen in Job help define what it means to look with lust?

2. Literally gouging one’s eye out would not remove lust from the heart, so what does Jesus mean?