Articles
Solomon And His Heart
Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple is stunning. He is wise, humble, forward-looking, and thoughtful. He is precisely the type of leader we would all admire and be eager to follow. Most of all, though, he is clearly a deep believer in Jehovah God. He knows that God is too big to be contained in a building, and in simple humility asks for him to hear and forgive his people, maintaining relationship despite their weakness.
This beautiful prayer (in 1 Kings 8) is what makes one of the next chapters (1 Kings 11) so difficult to stomach. “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh…from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you,for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love”(1 Kings 11:1-2).
And God’s warning comes true in his case: “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”(1 Kings 11:4). The deep believer has turned into a polytheist—or perhaps an atheist—or maybe just a pragmatist.
What intrigues me about God’s warning is that he addresses the heart of the one who would marry a foreign wife. He is concerned that “they will turn away your heart after other gods.” It is not that idolatry is a virus that we “catch” if we get too close to it. God knows that when we are around people who practice sin as a lifestyle, it can make us want to live like them. We begin to think in their ways, to want what they want, and thenprogress to living how they live. Solomon’s wives made him want to serve other gods—and that is precisely why they were so dangerous to him.
The point to us is likewise about influences. We are not contaminated because we live elbow-to-elbow with the people of the world. The danger does not come because worldlypeople can show us how to do evil or think poorly or make bad decisions. For us, the danger is that they will lead us to want to do evil instead of doing right. And when we want to do evil, it is only a matter of time and opportunity before we do.
Our duty is to maintain relationships that will encourage us to keep a heart devoted to doing right, serving God, and living with righteous integrity. Let us learn from Solomon and his heart—and desire most of all to draw close to our God!
