Rev. Don Campbell
1 Chronicles 26-29, Psalm 127
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, May 27, 2019
“GUESS WHO MOVED”
David prayed for Solomon: “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision” (1 Chronicles 29:18-19). Solomon sang,
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate (Psalm 127:1-5).
Solomon’s reign is described in 1 Kings 10 and summed up with these words: “Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year” (vv.23-25).
David’s prayer, Solomon’s song, and Solomon’s success all become hollow when we read, “For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods” (1 Kings 11:6-8).
The young king who was close to God in his youth (2 Chronicles 1:7-13) was far from him in his old age. Guess who moved.
CONNECTIONS
1. Godly parents will pray for their children not only as they grow to maturity but will pray that they will not, as did Solomon, turn their hearts away from God in their old age. What will godly parents pray if their children have already departed from the faith?
2. Solomon’s many wives turned his heart away from God. Can one wife or one husband turn their mates’ heart away from God?
