THY WORD IS TRUTH
JOHN 17:17
“Give Me Wisdom!”
Today is the fourth Sunday after Easter and the subject of the sermon today is on the monarchy of Israel in keeping with the seventh most important event of the bible which is the establishment of the monarchy of Israel.
The bible fast forward class created to give our two congregations Hopedale and Annapolis an over view of the 12 most important events of the bible leading up to the cross and the resurrection.
This bible class gives us the 12 events that were the reasons for the sacrifice of God’s son to pay for the idolatry and sin of human beings and his resurrection to life and his glorification as the eternal king, high priest and judge.
Last Sunday we considered the contrast between the first king of Israel, Saul and the second King of Israel David. And it is a study of the fate of two groups of people who are called by God. Both groups are born into sin and fall just like Adam and Eve into sin but one group insists that they are righteous and the other group not only acknowledges their sin but repents of the sin and asks for forgiveness.
King Saul in his weakness and pride never confessed his sin before God but arrogantly insistes that he was right and that he followed Gods commands completely and he insisted that he had obeyed and wanted to worship God by sacrificing the animals of the Canaanites that God had commanded him to destroy.
King Saul in his weakness and cowardess gave into the men of his army and spared the king of the Amalikites, Agag, and did not kill him as he was commanded to do.
Samuel had to execute Agag himself in order that God’s command might be obeyed.
And so we have those groups of people who do not explicitly obey Gods commands and those who repent and obey after they come to their senses like King David.
And the contrast between David and Saul should be an example to us all.
And modern Christianity is equally slow to acknowledge out sin and repent as the people of David’s time.
Christ first words of his ministry are “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”.
And those who go blithely on the way sinning and insisting that they are righteous will eventually be called to Justice when Christ comes back to judge the quick and the dead.
For the implications of the contrast between Saul and David is that unrepentant sin is not forgiven.
But repentant sin is forgiven and to an amazing extent.
David not only committed adultery and made Bathseba pregnant with his child when she was still married to Uriah but he compounded that sin and tried to cover it up by putting Uriah in the front line of battle and secretly commanding his officers to withdraw and let Uriah die in battle with out any support. So David premeditates Uriah’s death and becomes a murderer.
But David’s repentant prayer of Psalm 51 should be a model for our own prayers of repentance.
And why is grace and forgiveness so amazing?
It is amazing because God offers his Amazing grace to those who would repent and turn to him. Grace is given to those who repent and sin no more.
Grace is due to God’s forbearance and mercy to those who will turn towards him and forsake their evil ways.
God’s grace is no different that the grace periods given in the market place today. It is that period of time where punishment is withheld until till performance can be done.
It is that time period that the landlord gives to the tenant to pay rent after the due date of the rent before they are asked to leave the property for unpaid rent!
God gives his grace on expectation that people like David will see their sin and repentant.
Is God gracious in his forgiveness of David?
Is King David only partially restored. NO!
David is completely restored and competely forgiven and sits on his thrown as “A Man After God’s Heart”.
And the marriage of David to Bathsheba is restored also and not only restored but blessed as well. For after the child of their adultery dies shortly after birth and David repents.
God’s promise that King David would have a descendant after him whose kingdom would have not end.
God blesses the formerly adulterous marriage of Bathsheba and David with another son and his name was Solomon.
David had other wives but the offspring from those wives are not in the genealogy of Christ.
Only Solomon is in an ancestor of Christ. Solomon becomes the son who will build the house for the Lord, the temple.
Solomon is the greatest king of Israel except for one and He is the eternal king Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the covenent God made with King David!
And we heard in the Old Testament reading today that Solomon was put on David’s throne after David’s death.
Solomon builds a house for the LORD and God took up residence in that temple confirming his promise to David.
And the glory of the LORD was the light of the temple both day and night until it was destroyed in 536 BC by Nebuchazessar.
But what does Solomon ask for when he was made king of Israel.
Solomon says. “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
And what was Gods response to Solomon? God says, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life…, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given to you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you and none after you will have. And then Solomon reigns over Israel.
End of story right! Not exactly!
For Solomon did in his youth ruled with wisdom. And we all remember the account of Solomon who was presented with the problem of two women who claimed to be the mother of the same baby. And to determine who was the birth mother, Solomon give the order to cut the baby in half and give both women their half of the baby. And of course the real mother gives up her claim to the baby not wanting the baby to be harmed and she in Solomon’s wisdom is rewarded by having the baby returned to it’s real mother.
And we have the Queen of Sheba comes to Solomon to witness for herself the wisdom of King Solomon.
But all is not well with Solomon. For all of the wisdom, wealth and power did not satisfy him or prevent him from falling. For Solomon made treaties with all the nations of the world at that time and as a act of making peace and ratifying and confirming those treaties by Solomon marrying those pagan king’s daughters.
And so Solomon late in life is unhappy. And although his wisdom is written recorded on the book of Proverbs and it is gift of God there is also recorded in Solomon’s writings distraught to the point of despair. For the riches and power of this world given to Solomon more than any king of this earth did not satisfy him.
For Solomon also wrote of his dissatisfaction of his life in the book of Ecclesiastes. The opening lines of the book of Ecclesiastes let us know what Solomon thinks of his life. And I quote from the New American Standard to get the word by word confession of Solomon.
1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher,
"Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." These are the opening lines but later verse 12 we have this statement of Solomon,
12 I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. 14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. 15What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. 16I said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge." 17And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. 18Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”
For with all Solomon’s knowledge and wisdom he did not do what God had commanded Moses and Joshua and especially king Saul not to do!
And we heard God’s words to this effect just last Sunday.
What were the words to King Saul just one generation previous to the first king of Israel?
Here are the words of God to Saul which were a reiteration ot the commands to Moses and Joshua of Deuteronomy chapter 7. “Utterly destroy these people.” Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.
Did Solomon with all his wisdom and knowledge follow the commands of the LORD given to Moses, Joshua and a recently as king Saul. The answer is NO he did not!
Solomon made treaties and took wives of every nation of the worlds and to please the thousand wives he built high places of worship of their idols and Israel will pay the price for Solomon’s idolatry.
The monarchy of Israel will last for only three generations. The monarchy will be divided to the kingdom of Israel to the north and the kingdom of Judah containing Solomon’s temple to the south.
God hates idolatry.
Let me close in prayer: Eternal God we should remember Solomon and take the example you give us from his life. We should member all the teaching of our savior that we should store up riches in heaven where neither rust nor moth can destroy or thief can come and steal. We should remember his example that the wealth of this world no matter how much does not satisfy the soul and is in Solomon’s words “striving after the wind” and the “vanity of vanities”. Help us to understand the example if Solomon and the vast difference between the world knowledge and the knowledge that comes from God.
Help us to understand the difference between wisdom and intelligence because the most intelligent of men can do the most foolish acts and lead others into disaster. Amen.
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