1 Kings 4

Discussion Questions

1. What is the purpose of a chapter like this, full of lists, names and details? Why is it important that we read/study it carefully? What can we learn from it?
2. Are we stewarding our resources and gifts wisely? Do we acknowledge that all provisions and abilities come from God? How do we keep ourselves from drifting into dependance on self?
3. When we experience a season of abundance and comfort, do we forget that God provided it to us? When things are going well in our lives, how can we safeguard against a divided heart and a shifting trust?
4. Throughout history, God has been faithful over and over. His promises are always fulfilled, and his record is perfect. Are we trusting him to fulfill his promises? Why is it important to remind ourselves of his faithfulness again and again?
5. Solomon ruled wisely, yet dismissed or simply neglected to follow some of God’s commands along the way. Are we fully following the instructions laid out for us in the scriptures, or do we tend to pick and choose what we want to hear? Are there things that we are conveniently ignoring, dismissing or neglecting?

Transcript

We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel. If you’d like a paper copy, just lift your hand and someone will bring one along to you. And I would especially recommend having a paper copy your device this morning; if you like spreadsheets, this chapter is the one for you. You really want to have the text in front of you.

By the way, if this is your first time here, we’re so glad you’re with us. You’ll hear us say that every week. We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel and glad you’re here to worship. Also, those who are worshiping with us online, glad you’re here. The same spirit that’s dwelling here among us is also with you and I pray that He moves in and through you wherever you might be today.

We are continuing our study of the book of 1 and 2 Kings, and we’re calling this entire study “The King of Redemption History” because we believe that there is indeed one. We just sang of Him—One who rules, governs, and orders all of history. That should give us great comfort this morning. And as we look carefully at the historical narrative of First and Second Kings (or sometimes we just might call it Kings; we think it’s probably one book), for those with eyes open as we’re reading this history, for those with eyes open and ears open, we can trace the hand of God, as Spurgeon is attributed to say, trace the hand of God even through some of the most perplexing stories that we’ll read and survey in our study over the coming weeks.

Now, our Lord is the King of history, that is true, but He’s not simply the King of history, is He? The King of redemption history. The purpose of His work on earth and in history is to redeem His people from the power of sin. We just read it in our confession of faith: to restore and to save lost rebels, to repair a disordered creation. That is His work in history through His people. And He is kind, you’ll notice that in the text. He’s also strong and He’s good—His promises, His covenants. And another way of saying covenant, by the way, is His commitment that He has made to his people. All of those promises and commitments, they spring from an inexhaustible love for His people. That should put us at rest this morning, give us a sturdier place to stand and I pray that we see that as we study this historical narrative.

You may have already noticed in the text we’ve studied—and it’ll only become more apparent as we continue reading this narrative—that the leaders, the prophets, the sages, the priests that we’ll meet and will encounter share the same human fallenness, the same human fragility, frailty that we see in the mirror, that you might see at work, that we see when we look at the news. I was looking at some of the global news headlines, I don’t know if you go to your favorite news site and you click on global, some of those could actually be headlines from the ancient Near East around 970 BC, what we’re reading here today, the global headlines from today.

Now, it’s true that there are roughly 3,000 years of cultural differences that we have to work hard at bridging when we come to a study like this, but at the root of many of these stories are real people. Kim mentioned this earlier, real people. Real groups of people who trust the Lord and they demonstrate that trust imperfectly but faithfully, or those who put their deepest trusts elsewhere. And then there’s some in the middle, in between, what the Old Testament would call a divided heart, or the New Testament would call a lukewarm heart. We’ll see all of that. And what we often see in the Scriptures in our own day-to-day living is what I might call a battle of trust. Where is my deepest trust found? Is there a battle being fought in your own heart and your own life, perhaps, this week or even this morning?

A battle of trust. Wealth or work, security, certainty, health, strength, power, pleasure, reputation, position. So, if you were candid with yourself this morning, if I was candid with myself, where is my deepest trust found? It’s often revealed in the things that keep us up at night—battle of trusts.

I’ll invite you to turn to 1 Kings 4 with me. In the middle, close to the middle of the Bible, 1 Kings 4 as we learn together from the Word of God for us today.  Now, the text we’ll study this morning is, I think, describing the height of the kingdom of Israel up to this point in redemption history. Sinclair Ferguson, he would call this the punctuation mark in the flow of redemption history up to this point.

So, anytime we come to the study of the Bible, we should keep our eyes and ears open to the ways that the author, through the Spirit, is sometimes helping us to peer underneath the surface, pointing forward to the promises of God that He’ll continue to fulfill but also paying attention to how the author, perhaps, is revealing the hearts of those in the story, sometimes subtly. Their deepest longings, deepest trusts, sometimes a heart divided or distracted or maybe even deceived. But perhaps, as we read, it might shine a light on the areas of our own lives that need the work of the Holy Spirit to apply a fresh measure of grace, a renewed trust in the Lord of history that we just sang about, the ancient of days. Whenever you say that, that’s what we’re talking about; He’s the Lord of all our days.

So, let me pray for us and then we’ll learn together from 1 Kings. Father, Your word is before us, may Your spirit open it to us, tune our hearts so that we might hear it and lead us to Jesus. And we all said this morning, amen.

Alright, 1 Kings 4:1: Now, King Solomon was king over all Israel. So, if you’ve been with us in our study so far, chapter 1, 2 and 3, this is essentially the end of the transition from David to Solomon and the author is saying, ‘Okay, Solomon is now fully king and now he’s going to show us how this administration is going to work out. He’s going to illustrate how his wisdom.’ If you remember, the wisdom that God granted him, ‘is being worked out as he brilliantly puts together this kingdom.’

“King Solomon was king over all Israel and these were his high officials” (or, you could say, his cabinet). Now, I’m going to go through a bunch of names and I’m going to ask you ahead of time to forgive me for trying to attempt to say a bunch of these names. I’m also going to put some visual aids up on the screen. I asked them to make the text a little bit smaller than we normally would do it so you can see it all here. This is just his cabinet or high officials and so, as I read these names, I’ve tried to give them a little summary of what they actually do in the categories that they serve in whether religious or military, economic, administrative. So, for those who like visual aids, I think you’ll find that helpful.

So, these were his high officials, this is who Solomon placed in his cabinet. “Azariah, the son of Zadok, was the priest.” Son could also be grandson, more likely he was the grandson of Zadok and Azariah is the high priest under Solomon. “Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were secretaries.” Secretaries would be more than a receptionist at the front of the palace gate. These folks, some commentators will actually say they’re more like secretaries of state, they deal with things international. It also could just be that they work on the documents of Solomon and the King’s Palace, very important job here.

“Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder.” And this is the same Jehoshaphat that David had on his own cabinet. So, we see a little bit of continuity between these kingdoms. Jehoshaphat Ahilud was a recorder, he was essentially the historian. He may have even been the one that wrote down many of Solomon’s proverbs that we read in the book of Proverbs or in Ecclesiastes or the Song of Songs so I think we have a lot to give thanks for. Verse four. “Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was in command of the army.” Do you remember, under David Solomon’s father, Joab was the one who was in charge of the army and, now, Benaiah was essentially a part of the Secret Service, if you will, of David and now he’s been appointed the one that’s in charge of the army.

“Zadok and Abiathar were priests.” Zadok was the high priest, and he’s no longer the high priest perhaps because of his age or his stage. Interesting thing about Abiathar, if you remember in our story in 1 Kings, Adonijah, one of David’s sons, was trying to take over the kingdom and it said that Abiathar was with him and that he was sent away. And now, Solomon is king and it’s interesting that Abiathar is listed here under Solomon’s reign perhaps as a sign of grace or perhaps Solomon is wise in bringing in some continuity here as well. Verse 5, “Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over the officers.” The officers, we’ll see here in a moment, there are 12 economic districts that Solomon is setting up, different than the tribal allotments that we know under Joshua. He sets up new distinct economic districts and he puts one above all of those 12 different districts.

And right here, Azariah, the son of Nathan (perhaps Nathan, the prophet, we don’t know) but Azariah was now essentially the chief of staff, the chief of all of these officers, very important job. “Zabud, the son of Nathan, was priest and king’s friend.” This could be an advisor, an intimate advisor. David had Hushai, if you remember him. King’s needed these close intimate advisors and I’m so glad that Solomon had this bud, if you will, for himself. Thanks for laughing, Emily, appreciate that. Verse six. “Ahishar was in charge of the palace and Adoniram, the son of Abda, was in charge of the forced labor.” Essentially the labor secretary. We’re not sure if it’s the labor force of the entire country or just of the palace or perhaps the countries that they oversaw but he had a big job there, nonetheless. So, that is Solomon’s cabinet.

Now, verse 7, “Solomon had 12 officers, I mentioned those earlier, over all Israel who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year and these were their names.” Now, I’m going to give you another visual aid just so you can follow along, this one actually has a map, and you can see the 12 different districts. Now, this is an interesting part in the history of Israel and something to take note of, especially as we look ahead to our study, because we all know that the kingdom begins to break up, not yet at this point. But the kingdom will begin to break up and a lot of those fracture lines often happen in these economic districts that Solomon sets up. He doesn’t use the tribal allotments, he creates these, perhaps, more efficient to make the tax revenues flow, to make the food flow across the country. He makes these new economic districts and he sets people on top of them.

You’ll notice though, and you might make a note of this, that Judah, the tribe of Judah that Solomon is a part of, is excluded from this list. The tribe of Judah doesn’t have to bring the allotment to King David once a month for every year or King Solomon rather. So, let me read these and you can see on there, spatially, where they might be. “And these are their names Ben-Hur in the hill country of Ephraim, so that’s right there in the middle, that’s district one. Ben-Deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh and Elon Bethhanan. Verse 10, Ben-Hesed in Arubboth, to him belong Sokoh in all the land of Hepher. Ben-Abinadab in all Naphoth Dor, he had Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, as his wife.” And so, now, we have a family business. Just as intriguing as some of the most popular streaming TV shows, I think, right now!

Verse 12: “Baana, the son of Ahilud in Taanach, Megiddo in all of Beth Shan that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel and from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam.” Now, two little things I want to point out here, Megiddo and Beth Shan. If you’ve been to Israel with us, you have been to those sites or some of you have been to some of those sites and here’s a picture. This is actually a dig at Megiddo, this is one of Solomon’s gates dated to the time of Solomon. This could have been a gate that would’ve been like a royal court, if you will, like a courthouse down in Franklin or Columbia, something like that or it could be like a horse stall, and we’ll see more about his horses later. But it’s wonderful when we get to see things like this in Israel, in the land today that reminds us that the Lord is the Lord of history; He is working in real places with real people. This isn’t just a list of names; I kidded about it being a spreadsheet, but these are real people in a real place in a real time and the Lord’s working through them.

Verse 13: “Ben-Geber in Ramoth Gilead, he had the villages of Jair, the son of Manasseh which are in Gilead and he had the region of Argob which is in Bashan, 60 great cities with walls and bronze bars. Ahinadab, the son of Iddo in Mahanaim. Ahimaaz in Naphtali, he had taken Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, as his wife.” Another one in the family business. “Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth. Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah”, this is a different Jehoshaphat. There are at least six in the Bible so this is not describing the king, the portly king that we’ll read later, this is a different Jehoshaphat, “the son of Paruah in Issachar.”

Verse 18: “Shimei, the son of Ela in Benjamin. Geber, the son of Uri in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon, king of the Amorites and of Og, king of Bashan and there was one governor who was over the land.” And some of your translations will put that last sentence a little differently, I think what they’re referring to here is, if you remember at verse 5, Azariah was in charge of the officers. He’s essentially the chief of staff and he’s saying here are all the people that he supervised. So, there is the reading of the names. (Yeah! “Bravo.” Nice. Thank you, Chip…)

Real people, real places where the Lord is working His purposes. Verse 20, “Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea.” Underline that, if you would. There are two things I want to point out here and we’re going to come back to this in a little bit. Judah and Israel, the author is very careful here, both Judah and Israel, the united kingdom is here flourishing under the administration of Solomon. And by the way, this is not a single snapshot, likely, in the time of Solomon or during his reign, this is a summary, most likely, of the entirety of his flourishing kingdom. But the author here is saying that Judah and Israel were united for most of Solomon’s reign, as many as the sand by the sea. Underline that, we’ll come back to that in a minute.

“The people ate and drank and were happy,” their needs were being met, they were flourishing. “Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines to the border of Egypt,” essentially from east to west is what they’re saying there. “They brought tribute and serve Solomon all the days of his life.” Now, Solomon’s provision for one day, so now we’re going to see with the royal palace, how they ate. “Solomon’s provision for one day was 30 cors of fine flour and 60 cors of meal.” So, roughly, the best estimate I could get here is essentially 800 gallons of flour, 1,600 gallons of meal.

So, this could have been for the palace, could have been for Solomon’s household. I think it probably refers to, maybe, the whole military complex as well but that is a lot of food. You can see how much abundance is going on in Israel at this time.

Verse 23: “ten fat oxen.” So, a lot of carbs and now we’re adding some beef and some other stuff. “Twenty pasture fed cattle,” organic, I’m sure. “A hundred sheep besides deer, gazelle’s, roebucks and fattened fowl. For he (Solomon) had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates and he had peace on all sides around him.” And you might underline verse 24, we’re going to come back to that in a moment.

But I’m going to put up one more visual aid for us where it says here at verse 24, “he had dominion from Euphrates, Tiphsah to Gaza.” You can see here, on the right-hand side, I know it’s really small, but this is the whole scope of the kingdom that Solomon had inherited from David. And all the way at the top, you can see at the call out there, the Euphrates River. Tiphsah, all the way down, if you trace it all the way down to Gaza, which is where the Gaza strip, around that same spot. Essentially what the author is saying is here is this flourishing kingdom from north to south. It’d be like if we said from Los Angeles to New York City or from Miami to Seattle, it’s the entirety of this flourishing kingdom. So, a lot of good happening here in this kingdom. He had peace all around him. Solomon, Shlomo in Hebrew, is likely derived from the word shalom, “peace.” Solomon was the king of peace, at least up to this point.

Verse 25: “And Judah and Israel, again, lived in safety from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree.” This is an expression that said the place was flourishing. A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, if you’ve heard that phrase before. “All the days of Solomon. Now, Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots and 12,000 horsemen.” Some manuscripts say 4,000 stalls of horses, either way, it’s a lot of horses, that’s the point. “And those officers, the ones that we read before, supplied provisions for King Solomon. So, a lot is flowing into Judah from all these economic districts. They let nothing be lacking. Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds. So, even the animals ate well. They brought to the place where it was required each according to his duty.”

Verse 29: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore.” Circle, underline, highlight, if you want to, “God gave.” It is so critical to this. This is a gift from God.

Verse 30: “So that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt, so east to west. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite,” and we know him from one of the psalms, Psalm 89, “I will sing of the Lord and His redemption.” “Heman and Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol.” We don’t know these people, they could have been from their history like us saying he’s as smart as Einstein or as smart as Galileo. The sons of Mahol might’ve been a family, also might’ve been a guild of some kind like Mensa. What the author is saying is that Solomon was wiser than all these men, extraordinary. “His fame was in all the surrounding nations.” So, not only there in the country, but also his influence internationally is rising and we’ll see that play out as we continue to read the story in the next chapters.

Verse 32: “Solomon also spoke 3,000 proverbs and his songs were 1,005.” About 25% of those proverbs we have in the book of Proverbs. We also have the Song of Songs and, of course, Ecclesiastes and other places.

“He spoke of trees from the cedar that’s in Lebanon, so he was an arborist, hyssop that grows out of the wall”—horticulture, he enjoyed that. “He spoke also of the beast and the birds, of reptiles and fish (Maybe he was an angler) 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.” Well, this is the reading of God’s Word.

So, anytime we approach the scriptures in corporate worship or in Bible study in our homes, I think it’s good to be in a habit of asking questions of the text.

• Why is this text in the scripture in the first place?
• What is it that we learn about God in this text?
• What is it that we learn about what’s revealed about our humanity, about myself, about my fragility, my fallenness, my frailty?
• What kind of response of faith or trust might I be calling for and how might it be pointing forward to Jesus?

Did you notice there in the last section, verse 34, “that people of all nations came to hear him?” Does that ring a bell? Revelation 7!

A passage like this is certainly reporting to us the way that things were during Solomon’s reign. His wisdom and his knowledge, his might, are illustrated throughout the text, and this was a gift of God, we see that there in verse 29. “and God gave Solomon wisdom”. And those gifts bless, not only him (of course they did), but they also blessed the kingdom that he served and even the kingdoms around him. Did you notice that? Blessings are never just for ourselves, it’s also for those in our sphere of influence. Perhaps, more than simply reporting though, I think the author is also giving us a glimpse of some other things that are going on under the surface. He’s weaving threads, he’s tracing the hand of God at work through history and showing us, perhaps, the dangers of a human heart that might be divided, neglecting the hand of God. I’d love to pull on a few of these threads here this morning.

First, if you would set your eyes on a couple of the texts that we just read, verse 20, I asked you to underline this. Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. Verse 24, “for he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates,” we saw it on the map, “from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates.” So, those two texts there. If you’re a student of the Bible or even have a working knowledge of the Scriptures, that language should sound familiar. It should be a pebble in your shoe. Where have I heard that language before? The great story of God’s work in history, revealed in the Bible, about a thousand years prior to Solomon, God had made a promise, a covenant (or a commitment) with Abraham that his descendants would be numerous in a promised land that was flourishing and expansive and here we see, at least in part, a fulfillment of that promise.

If we go all the way back to the early parts of the Bible, we can see the beginning of the thread of God’s promise woven out, and I think that’s what the author here is doing. We can trace the hand of God in history—that’s so good for our souls. I’m going to put this up on the screen but, if you want to turn to Genesis 22:17 just for a moment, we’re going to sit there because I think it’s so good for us to see our Bible in its full scope here. Genesis 22:17. We’ll put it on the screen as well. This is God speaking to Abraham. “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of the heaven, as the sand that is on the seashore and your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed My voice.”

If you go back even a little bit further, Genesis 15:18, we’ll put that on the screen. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying, “To your offspring, I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.” Roughly, a thousand years prior to Solomon, Abraham had been called out. Do you remember the story? He’d been called out of a pagan nation chosen to start a family, found a nation, a people that would continue the Lord’s work of redemption history on the earth, setting things right. God’s gracious initiative and Abraham’s faithful response and we’re seeing fruits of that even in this story here today.

There was a radical trust, if you remember, on the part of Abraham because he and his wife Sarah were childless until old age. They had been promised descendants as many as the sand on the seashore yet no child until the Lord provided in His timing. He keeps His promises. Tracing the hand of God, we conceive through Abraham, through Moses, through David and now Solomon that God’s commandments, or commitments rather, are being kept, His purposes will not be thwarted. God’s work, His gift of grace.

Look, you and I have no hope apart from a promise-keeping God—no hope. A God who is really there, who is working out His purposes through space and time, yes, in history. Who has spoken in His Word and He’s calling us, He’s calling you, He’s calling me to respond and faith and in trust. It’s as if the author of Kings is reminding the original readers and us today, ‘If God has been true to His Word over and over and over again, and I’m highlighting it here, should we not trust Him today?’ The answer is yes. Trust that His Word is sure and steady, it’s something we can rely on, we can live on, we can stand on, as we sang about earlier, the solid rock.

Listen, our trust in institutions and leaders in our present moment plummeted in the last few years. I saw a stat this week from Pew Research that said 60 to 75% of US adults have no confidence at all in business or government leaders in the U.S. No confidence at all; it’s poverty of trust. But we were designed to trust, to be dependent. And so, we look to new businesses and new government leaders to right the ship. But King David, the poet, once said, “Some trust in horses and some trust in chariots.” He recognized the futility of trusting solely in those institutions. One of my most cherished psalms is Psalm 31:14. Actually, we sang this one too in the song Ancient of Days, it’s likely familiar to you. “But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, ‘You are my God, my times are in Your hands.’”

David wrote that psalm. He also wrote many other psalms like Psalm 19 that says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” One of the beauties of the Christian faith, indeed, the gospel, is the truth that our Lord is both the King of history, He’s transcendent, He’s holy, that’s true, He’s other yet also personal. My times, our times are in His hands. All of time is but so are mine and so are yours. So, do you see it? Do you see the thread the author is pulling through this text? It would’ve been a comfort to the original readers, likely who are in exile, as they’re reading this story. Tracing the hand of God in history reminds us afresh of His trustworthiness today.

There’s another thread though, I think, the author is revealing to us in our text this morning. It’s perhaps the beginning of a heart tempted towards distractions. It’s the beginning of spiritual decline, if you will. Years prior to Solomon’s reign, God had laid out plainly the duties and responsibilities of a new king. And you can go back and read it, we’re not going to read it in full today, on Deuteronomy 17. But here’s a summary of the regulation for Israel’s new kings. This is very plain; everyone would’ve known these. “He must not acquire many horses for himself, he shall not acquire many wives for himself.” And you remember last week’s study, he already began by marrying an Egyptian woman. “He shall not acquire many wives for himself nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.”

Now, this is a beautiful one. When he sits on the throne of the kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book, this is the first thing you should do, write for yourself in a book a copy of this law and it shall be with him, he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God. This is what you’re supposed to do when you are king. And it’s interesting to note that, although Solomon appoints priests to the high official cabinet there, there was no mention of a prophet anywhere in that text or elsewhere. In fact, we won’t even see a prophet until chapter 11 when the kingdom begins to break apart. The prophet was the one who spoke the word to the king and to the people.

David had the prophet Nathan but no one with a prophetic voice, both officially or unofficially, is mentioned for Solomon. I think there’s something there. The Lord was clear about what a new king should do: immerse himself in the Word of God. Write it down, keep it near you so that you might continue to learn and fear the Lord, but we see no mention of that. Not only that, but God also explicitly warns that the king should not acquire many horses nor many wives or silver or gold and we’ll see more of that later on. Our text this morning, though, emphasizes the horses, military might, if you will. Strength, power Solomon accumulates for himself, a direct violation or a neglect of this command and we’ll see him break others along the way.

The kingdom of Solomon looks strong on the outside, and it is for a season, and I think the author wants to see that too and I think we should marvel at it. But seeds of spiritual decline can often be planted in seasons of plenty. Seeds of spiritual decline can be planted in seasons of plenty. Solomon loved the Lord. Do you remember that from our study last week? It tells us that he loved the Lord. But as we see the story of Solomon continue to unfold, we’ll see a divided heart. These seeds will continue to grow, a dismissal of God’s Word, a neglect of God’s promise and provision and provision is an important one. Who gave him the throne? Who gave him wisdom and knowledge? But his trust shifts, a battle of trust, if you will, and he starts to trust his own perceived strength and power and wealth and might.

Charles Spurgeon, one of the great preachers from the UK, 19th century, said

“The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation.”

There’s a thread woven throughout redemption history that the author of 1 Kings would only have a hint of, of course, another son of David has come and he sits right now on the throne that has been established forever, another promise fulfilled. We have a promise that, one day, every nation will come to the throne of Jesus, we see that in Revelation 7 and 21, not simply to be amazed by his kingdom or his wealth or any of that, but to bow the knee in worship. That’s what we see. He’s a kind and gentle King who is also strong. Strong enough to save rebels like me, strong enough to set right the injustice and the corruption we see around us in the world but kind enough to invite me, a rebel, to invite you to respond in faith and trust to Him, to be a part of an unshakeable kingdom, a solid rock.

The author in our text this morning is tracing for us the hand of God, long before Solomon, and that thread points forward to a King Jesus who didn’t accumulate anything for himself but rather laid down everything so that we might be reconciled to God. Solomon is a wise and brilliant administrator, his kingdom is prosperous, but his trust begins to shift to his wealth and to his might. Wisdom is not enough; wisdom is not what the Lord asks of us. Intellect, strength, might is not what the Lord asks for us, but a heart bowed before God and trust and dependence in seasons of both want and plenty like we see here, in seasons of sorrow as well as joy.

Alan Redpath, another UK preacher, said,

“Before we can pray ‘Lord Thy kingdom come,’ we must be willing to pray ‘My kingdom go.’”

Listen, our anxieties often reveal our greatest trusts, don’t they? When you watch the news in the evening, does it leave you in fear, hoping in some political figure or movement? Or perhaps you find yourself striving after wealth or work or security or certainty or health or strength or power, pleasure, provision, position. Many of these must be attended to in some measure, of course, but when our ultimate trust is found in these things, we become slaves to them; they have a hold on us and we’ll see that more in the life of Solomon.

The battle over what I ultimately trust, it shapes the contours of my life. So, for example, if it’s wealth, I might sacrifice everything including my character, my relationships, my joy for one more sale. And when that one more sale doesn’t go through, I’m crushed. You see how wealth can turn itself on us? The grace of Jesus sets us free because our ultimate trust can be placed on a solid rock. No longer does my validation, my ultimate hope, my trust rest in myself or in others or in the never-ending demands of money, sex or power, my trust rests in the work of King Jesus and what He has done for me.

And that sets me free then to fight against sin that rages in my own heart, to identify and pull weeds that might be choking me in ways I’m not even aware of. It sets me free to tell others of the good news of the gospel. It sets me free to push back against injustice, to speak up for the vulnerable. It sets me free because my deepest trust is in the solid rock not any of those other things that can’t hold that weight.

So, where is your trust this morning? Where is my trust this morning? It’s a good question to ask. What keeps you up at night? What keeps you from doing what you know the Lord has called you to? There might be some things that you need to stop or start today, be attentive to that, be aware of that, awake to it. And as we trace the hand of God in the Scriptures, as we recognize His hand in our own lives and we see it most gloriously displayed in our Lord Jesus, every promise of God finds its fulfillment in Him. As we see that our times are in His hand, the Lord of history, may that ultimate reality lead us to a deeper trust, an undivided heart that finds rest in a God who makes promises, and He intends to keep them. Amen? Amen. Let’s pray.

Lord, we give You thanks for the ways You have worked throughout history and in my own life, in my family’s life. Open our eyes to see Your promises made and kept. And Lord, by Your Holy Spirit, I pray that You might shape the contours of my own trust, You might set me free from some of the things that are crushing me because I placed my trust fully on them. Lord, help me to trust You and You alone. Remind me that You are my God, that my times are in Your hands. Lord, be with us, shape us, mold us, fashion us into your image, set us free to serve You and others, in Jesus’ name, and we all said, amen.