Whenever I consider Solomon, I am faced with the question of how a man of such great wisdom and discernment could end his life so far from the Lord.
He had 700 wives, and 300 concubines. His wives turned away his heart so that it was not wholly true to the Lord his God. Solomon’s heart was at first
divided between women and God, but it soon turned away altogether.
This is terrifying, is it not? A man with the wisdom of Solomon, a man who had had the Lord appear to him twice and who had heard the Lord command him not to turn after other Gods, still turned away. Though a wise man, the Lord told him “you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you.” How could this happen?
It seems to me that the key to Solomon’s downfall is found in one of his own proverbs. In Proverbs 19:27 we read “Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.” Those who cease to listen to wise instruction, instruction based on the fear of the Lord, will quickly stray. While we cannot know for certain, I am increasingly convinced that this is what happened to Solomon. When he was only a boy, but still a king, he called out to God in what seems to be a healthy apprehension of the difficulties he would face as king. God was pleased to hear, pleased to answer, and pleased to give to Solomon far more than he asked. Solomon asked for discernment, but was also given great wisdom, great wealth, and great power. God lavished gifts upon him.
But as Solomon grew older, I believe he began to depend less on God. I believe he began to depend on his own wisdom and to stray ever-further from God’s instruction. Where there was once humble dependence on God, there was now dependence on himself. In so doing, he strayed from words of knowledge, and strayed from God Himself. Solomon preferred his wisdom to God’s wisdom, his ways to God’s ways. The whole earth once “sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.” But I believe Solomon soon allowed his own earthly wisdom to overtake his mind. He ceased hearing instruction and strayed from words of knowledge. He strayed from wisdom. He strayed from God.
If Solomon could stray so far from the Lord, I know that I could too. This is a sobering thought. This is even a terrifying thought. Thankfully, the solution to avoiding the folly of Solomon is clear. I need to ensure that I never cease to hear instruction. I must live constantly focused on God’s Word, never believing that I have learned enough. I must know that from this day to the day I die, I need to maintain a humble dependence on God. I must trust that His words of instruction will continue to edify and strengthen me, protecting me from straying from the words of knowledge, those words that I trust to keep me on the straight and the narrow path.
(TIM CHALLIES)