Kings David & Solomon
Notes
Transcript
Today we are continuing our Faith Foundations series, looking at the big picture of the scriptures by following the historical line of God working with mankind.
We have been seeing common themes about God and about man.
Today, there are a couple main thoughts from the lives of King David and King Solomon that I want to look at with you.
God
Loves and Reaches out
Blesses
Promises
Condemns sin
God forgives and declares righteous the one who repents
Gives Consequences for sin
God giving consequences to train us and others is something we will look at today.
Another concept I want us to see is, once again, the centrality of our hearts.
Man has for God
No heart
Whole-heart
Half-heart
Jesus, quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5, said this is the greatest command:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.
“If you love me, keep my commands.
No Heart - Pride | filled with self
No Heart - Pride | filled with self
Over the past few weeks, we have seen King Saul and King David.
In both King Saul and King David, we saw God reaching out in grace and mercy. We saw God choosing men, and revealing himself to them. We saw God communicating with them and giving them direction.
In King Saul we saw the pride of man, which is natural to all of us. Pride that leads us to disobeying God, blaming others, and trying to look good before people.
A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.
Saul suffered consequences from his sin for the rest of his life. An evil spirit that tormented him, and the Lord would not answer him.
Whole Heart - Loves and obeys God
Whole Heart - Loves and obeys God
In King David we saw pride that leads to disobedience, and how we try to hide our sin.
Through them, we once again saw how God acts justly. He sends warnings to them through the prophets who reveal their sin.
Both men, when confronted, cried, “I have sinned.”
But one received only condemnation, the other received mercy. Why?
Did anyone look up the Proverb I mentioned last Sunday?
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
King Saul, because of his pride, said he was a sinner, but still covered his sin by blaming others. He would not repent and confess his sin. He only received God’s righteous punishment.
King David, because of his repentance, confession, and humility before God found mercy. Because he loved God with his whole heart, he trusted and obeyed the Lord. When he did sin, and God confronted him, he repented and confessed.
Through his example we see the source of hope: God granting forgiveness and giving righteousness to those who in humility repent and confess.
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
King Saul still had deceit in his spirit. He wanted Samuel to honor him before the people so everything would be good, so he would look good before others. King Saul balked at the judgment against him, and tore Samuel’s robe.
King David confessed openly, “my transgressions… my iniquity… my sin.” David agreed with the judgment against him. “You are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.”
Hope: God grants forgiveness and righteousness
Hope: God grants forgiveness and righteousness
From this, we see the hope that we all have: forgiveness and righteousness through repentance, confession, and faith. David fully believed when God said he was forgiven. That is why he celebrated his forgiveness and righteousness in Psalm 32.
And that is what we will be celebrating later in the service as we celebrate communion!
But for now, we are going to pick up where we left off with David.
We are going to look at the life and David, and the life of Solomon, to see what else we need to learn about how God will deal with us and our sin.
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.
Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.
You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ”
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.
But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
Consequences for Sin
Consequences for Sin
David was absolutely forgiven and given righteousness. That means God viewed him as completely righteous. There was nothing to separate him from God. God would not condemn him for this sin, or bring it up again.
However, though he was righteous, he still had to suffer ongoing consequences for his sin. Consequences which lasted for the rest of David’s life.
The Sword in David’s House
The Sword in David’s House
If you read the rest of the account of David’s life in 2 Samuel, you will see that there was a lot of turmoil within David’s family.
His son Amnon raped his half-sister, Tamar.
Tamar’s full brother, Absolom, later killed Amnon.
Absalom plotted to get back into Jerusalem with Joab, his cousin/David’s nephew.
Absalom later led a coup to take the throne from David, and fulfilled the prophecy that one would sleep with David’s wives, by doing it on a rooftop for all to see.
And at the end of David’s life, his son Adonijah tried to take the throne with the help of Joab and Abiathar (the last priest in the family line of Eli).
This consequence lasted for the rest of David’s life, about 20 years.
Death of the Son
Death of the Son
The other more immediate consequence David faced was the death of his son. The boy became ill, and died seven days later. David mourned and pleaded with God for those seven days because he knew that God is merciful and gracious. However, this was a decreed consequence for David’s sin, and the boy did die.
What does this show us? Though David was forgiven, though David was righteous, he still faced consequences for his sin. And, others were impacted by this sin. All of the repercussions from sin remained.
Sin Impacts Everyone
Sin Impacts Everyone
Sin does not just affect the individual, sin affects all that are around the individual. David’s one son died. David’s other sons abused power like David had. The nation went through the turmoil of Absalom’s insurrection. The nation went through the fighting and loss of life because of these intrigues in David’s family. Sin’s effects ripple outward and impact many.
Consequences Remain for Discipline
Consequences Remain for Discipline
The consequences of sin must be faced. The consequences of sin are the discipline we need to remind us to always follow the Lord. They are the discipline that show us, and all who observe them, that we all need to be diligent in our walk with the Lord.
We are still reading today about David’s sin, and the ramifications of that sin. We see the impact those consequences had on not just David, but his family, and the whole nation. The higher the position of the sinner, the more people who are impacted! But it is still true for all of us. Our sins impact others.
And the consequences of those sins act as a warning for us all.
Paul writes about the sins of the people in the Old Testament in 1 Corinthians 10.6
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.
and
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
David is a good warning for us. As is the next king, Solomon.
Solomon - a good start
Solomon - a good start
We do not have a full chronological account of Solomon’s life, like we do of David’s life. Instead, we have glimpses into his life and his accomplishments and failures.
First we see his birth:
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him;
and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.
God loved Solomon!! What a great start!
The next event in Solomon’s life we see is when David sets Solomon on the throne at the end of David’s life. Solomon is said to be young and inexperienced, but it is estimated that he about 20 years old.
Solomon is anointed by Nathan the prophet, and Zadok the priest.
Then David gives a good charge to Solomon in 1 Kings 2.2-4
“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man,
and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go
and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
Solomon: half-heart
Solomon: half-heart
Then, we see Solomon make the first of his mistakes in 1 Kings 3.1
Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem.
Why would he have to make an alliance with Egypt? Why marry a foreign woman?
It seemed good to Solomon. But it was not what God wanted. God did not want the people going back to, or having relations with Egypt. But even though Solomon did this, God still came to him revealed Himself to him.
The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.
Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,
I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.
And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
Solomon receives a blessing
Solomon receives a blessing
From here we see examples of Solomon’s wisdom, and how God did provide wealth and honor for him.
Then we see Solomon building a temple for the Lord in seven years.
When the temple was completed, he led the dedication for the temple, and prayed a fantastic prayer of dedication, found in 1 Kings 8.22-53 and 2 Chronicles 6.12-40.
God again speaks to Solomon in a dream.
The Lord said to him: “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
“As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,
I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
“But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’ ”
Solomon receives a promise and a warning
Solomon receives a promise and a warning
What do we see about God?
He communicates
He blesses
He warns
But what happens with Solomon?
Solomon: Half-Hearted, Pride
Solomon: Half-Hearted, Pride
Solomon becomes famous, as God had said he would do for him. But, he apparently led pride get the best of him.
We find that Solomon took 13 years for his own house. 1 Kings 10 tells of how he began to accumulate more and more wealth for himself, and make things for himself.
It speaks of him getting horses from Egypt, and chariots.
What’s so bad about getting horses from Egypt, and all of the wealth?
When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”
be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite.
The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”
He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests.
It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees
and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
The scriptures speaking about him amassing wealth, and getting horses from Egypt are there to show us how Solomon took the blessing of the Lord, and gave in to pride. He started to do the very things God said he should not do.
This was not acting in faith-trusting and obeying God. It was acting in pride, I can make a great army. It was the opposite of what David said,
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
It was not what God taught him in wisdom:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
And it didn’t stop with gold, silver and horses.
Solomon: Half-Hearted, Foreign Wives
Solomon: Half-Hearted, Foreign Wives
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.
So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.
He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.
So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.
Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
Solomon Receives Condemnation
Solomon Receives Condemnation
God told Solomon that he was going to lose the kingdom, but gave grace because of David.
Not only does our sin impact others, but our faith-trusting and obeying God-can also impact others. For David’s sake, God was not going to take the kingdom away from Solomon and his family line during his lifetime, nor forever.
Solomon Receives Consequences
Solomon Receives Consequences
However, there were ongoing consequences for Solomon’s sin.
1 Kings 11 tells of how God raised up adversaries for Solomon who threatened his rule and his kingdom for the rest of his life.
Hadad the Edomite, who Solomon’s ally, Pharaoh king of Egypt treated like royalty.
Rezon who ruled in Aram.
Jeroboam, who God chose to give 10 tribes to upon Solomon’s death.
Did Solomon accept God’s judgment and the consequences? Solomon tried to put Jeroboam to death.
I wish I could point to a scripture that speaks of Solomon repenting and confessing. I wish I could point to some scripture that shows him receiving forgiveness and righteousness like David did. However, this is all we have. This is how the story of Solomon ends. The story of King Solomon - a man with a divided heart.
Three kings: Saul, David, Solomon.
Three examples of men:
Saul - no heart
David - whole heart
Solomon - divided heart
What did we see with each?
God
Reached out
Blessed
Promised
Condemned sin
Gave Consequences for sin
God Forgave and gave Righteousness to the Repentant
God Forgave and gave Righteousness to the Repentant
These are warnings for us, and where we see hope.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
God has reached out to us, revealing himself to us.
God has blessed us.
God has given us promises, a future.
God condemns our sin.
God forgave us and gave us righteousness.
God also puts consequences in place to teach us, and instruct us and others in righteousness.
God is faithful.
Let us be faithful. Remember the importance of the heart.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them.
For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
Let us receive God’s condemnation and correction.
Let us learn from the consequences.
Let us turn to him in repentance.
Let us love him whole-heartedly.
Let us exalt him and rejoice in forgiveness and righteousness!
