All of history is his story. And I always like to keep that in mind and look at it that way. Especially what's found in the Word of God. This is what all history centers around. All focuses around this. And so everything that's happened in the past, everything that's happening now, and everything that's going to happen in the future, centers around the history that we have recorded in the Word of God. And if we don't want to make the same mistakes that others have made, we should study their history. Thank you. And if we want to learn things that we can benefit from to practice, then we should also look at their history and see how things work for them. So when you look at this, you'll notice that the title of the lesson this morning is Solomon's Politics, His Prayer, and practice. So it's politics, prayer, and practice. The first thing I think of when I look at that is, wow, I wish there was, in politics, there was more prayer and the right kind of practice. If people would, if our politicians, that's the politics, government, if our government officials, our politicians would would practice more real prayer and have the right basis for prayer and seek God's face, it would certainly improve a lot of practice, wouldn't it? Solomon did some things well and he did some things that weren't so well. And you'll notice there in your outline, I've got a little bit more, of course, to add to this, but you'll notice that Solomon sacrificed the future on the altar of the present. He did it several times, and a lot of people do. If there's one thing that we really need to learn from history, and this history, and that is do not sacrifice the future on the altar of the present. Now, how do we do that? Well, let's look and see what Solomon did. We do it all the time, as a matter of fact. We do things that are convenient for now. We're not looking down the road to see where is this going to lead? What is this teaching others to do? When people see what we're doing, what does it teach them to do? When we start this process, when we start this foundation for things, what's going to be built on this foundation? It's done all the time. And Solomon did it as far as his kingdom and as far as his personal life is concerned. He did what was convenient for the present. It seemed to be the expedient thing to do, and it was the common thing to do in his day. So you could say he did what kings did. Now that, I hear people tell me something like this all the time. Well, you got to understand. You know, you mentioned something about the president going over to, which I haven't seen one do this for a little while, but used to, quite often, presidents go over and make sure they make contact with the Pope and kiss his ring and what have you. That's a huge mistake. And it's inconsistent, really, with a lot of things, but it's certainly, I think, a huge mistake. And the answer, though, a lot of times is, well, that's what That's a smart thing to do for a president. I wouldn't want my pastor to do that, and I'm not going to do that, but it's a good thing for a president to do because of the international politics. My answer to that is, no, it's not. It may seem convenient for the time, but it's not the convenient thing to do, and it's disastrous for the future. made a marriage. It says that Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. This is a political move. First of all, he doesn't need to make affinity with Egypt. Why would he need to make affinity with Egypt? Well, it's a politically expedient thing to do. We want to have good relationships with our neighbors. All right, well then have good relationship with your neighbor, but as Israel is concerned, God said not to do this. They're supposed to trust Him, not make affinity with other nations. Being friendly, if you will, is one thing, not making affinity. So what did he do? Well, he took Pharaoh, Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about. There's some important information in there that will help us keep things straight a little bit and understand some other things that go on. But I want you to notice that you'll notice there's a verse there, Exodus 34 and verses 15 through 17. Exodus 34 and verses 15 through 17. God said through Moses, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land. They're not supposed to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land. And they go a-whoring after their gods. That is, Israel does, because they have made a covenant with them. So now they're living in agreement with them, in accord, and what's going to be the result? They're going to start following their gods. And do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice. We have a covenant together. We're going to have a religious service. I want you to come to our religious service. That's always a mistake. It's always a mistake. In my devotional, I mentioned what is the pillar and the ground of the truth. Well, I believe that. Unless I'm going to verify something that I want to verify, I'm not interested in a church that's not the Lord's church. When my church is having regular services, that's where I and my house are going to be, as long as they're under my roof, and do sacrifice unto their God. And one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice. Now they're following idolatrous practices. And thou take of their daughters. So it gets even closer. It take of their daughters unto thy sons. And their daughters go a-whoring. That Israel's daughters go a-whoring after their gods. That is, pagan gods. And make thy sons go a-whoring after their gods. because you've married your sons and you've married your daughters, and so both your sons and your daughters go whoring after other gods. Religious whoredom. Now, we look at that in the natural realm, and we say that's despicable. Yes, it is. It is in the religious realm. Thou shalt make thee no other, no molten gods. We'll see that's what happens. It's this step, and then there's another step, and then there's another step. And you end up with your children and grandchildren not believing anything, going to churches that don't believe anything. If a church is having some kind of Religious celebration, I don't care what holiday it is and I don't care what my grandkids are doing in it if they're in it because they shouldn't be in it. I'm not going. I'm not going there on the Lord's Day. This is what it leads to. We see God's people out of convenience marrying the lost. That's wrong. It's just wrong. And there's always a consequence to that. We need to learn from other people's mistakes. He also taught Israel. Now he's a king. So not only is it his family that's involved, it's his nation that's involved. In Isaiah 31 and verse 1. You can look at that verse also. Isaiah 31 and verse 1. He's describing later, a long time after Solomon, but he's describing what Solomon did. He says, Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses, that is, trust, lean on them, and stay on horses and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen, because they are very strong. but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord." Again, to stay means to trust. God warned against it. Why? Because God's people are not to trust in the things the world trusts in. We're to trust God. And when you make compromise like Solomon did, he went down to Egypt, made affinity, And then we find later that he went and got their horses. If you look in your Bible, you find at that time, horses in Egypt were a big thing. In other words, Egypt was kind of like, as a nation, they were kind of like the Kentucky of America. As a matter of fact, maybe the Kentucky of the world, because we got people from all over the world that want to keep their horses here. Well, that's the way Egypt was. They were noted for their horses. If you wanted good, military, strong horses, go to Egypt. Go get their armament. Nothing's changed with Israel, has it? One of these days, they're going to have to learn. But they won't learn until they receive their Messiah. One of these days they're going to learn that they can just trust God. So Deuteronomy 17 and verse 16. It's an extra verse you don't have in your notes there, but it's a good one for us to look at. God warned them about this. Deuteronomy 17 and verse 16. When they get a king, is what it's talking about, he shall not multiply horses to himself nor cause the people to return to Egypt. Well, that's what Solomon's doing. He made affinity for the present convenience. This is the smart thing to do. This is what kings do. You don't have to worry about Egypt attacking you because his daughter is here. That's exactly why they did it. He shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses. For as much as the Lord has said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Don't go down into Egypt. What did he do? He went down into Egypt, whether personally or he sent an ambassador down there, whatever. But anyway, he went to Egypt to get a wife. It's going to the world is what it is. They'd been redeemed out of Egypt. They had been redeemed out of the world. The same thing is true with us. So I want you to notice something. I think sometimes we may miss. It'd be easy to do. But she was not his first wife. In 1 Kings chapter 14 and verse 21. 1 Kings chapter 14 and verse 21. This is kind of like adding two and two together. And you realize, hmm. So she was not his first wife. I think a lot of times I did for years. I just said, well, because it's stated here like that and brings it out. The first one that's mentioned, well, that must have been his first wife, and that's not true. In 1 Kings 14 and verse 21, it says, in Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign. And he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen, and so forth. He was how old? 41 years when he began to reign. How long did Solomon reign? Forty years. Solomon reigned 40 years, and that's in 1 Kings 11 and verse 42. He had married Naamah and had Rehoboam before he became a king, and she was an Ammonite. As a matter of fact, It says, and his mother's name, there in the verses we're looking at, notice what it says, and his mother's name was Nehemiah and Ammonitus. So he married her first. As a matter of fact, verse, what is it? I got the wrong chapter here. Chapter 11. Go back to chapter 11 and verse 42. There it says, in the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. So Rehoboam was born a year before he began to reign. So he had married an Ammonitess before he went down into Egypt to get his queen, if you will, and make affinity with Egypt. So the building of her house in 1 Kings chapter 7 verses 1 through verse 1, 1 Kings chapter 7 and verse 1, it tells us that Solomon was building his own house 13 years and he finished all his house. And then the temple in chapter 6 and verse 37, just up before that, it says, in the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid in the month Ziph. And in the 11th year, the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof. And according to all the fashion of it, so he was seven years in building it. So it was four years before he began to build these. So he took her to be his wife four years after he started raining. But Rehoboam was 41 years old when he started rain. So there's about five years difference there. So it's not his first wife. So there's more than one mistake he made here. all sacrificing the future on the altar of the present. Prime example of why it's a bad idea to do that. Think about if it's not the right thing to do, it may seem small now, it may seem the politically correct thing to do, the politically expedient thing to do, or for whatever reason it may seem expedient to us, But it's going to have bad consequences down the road. And Solomon is sowing some seed here at the very beginning in his politics for political expediency that's going to be a disaster. But you do notice this. It says of Solomon that he loved the Lord. You come down through here. Let me get back to chapter 3. It says, he brought her into the city of David in verse 1 until he had made an end of building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about. He was dedicated unto sacrifices unto God, verse 2. It says only the people sacrificed in high places because there was no house built in the name of the Lord until those days that Solomon loved the Lord, verse 3. He loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David, his father. That is the thing that David had outlined for him as to how the kingdom should be run. That's the way he operated the kingdom. And of course, David did that. It was all according to the word of the Lord. So he loved the Lord. It tells us in chapter 11, verses 11 to 13, and I just You can write those verses down, but the Word of God tells us that God loved David and Solomon, and He loved Judah. It doesn't mean He agreed with everything they did, but He loved them. God had a purpose for them. As a result, He was extremely merciful and gracious to them, long-suffering. because he wouldn't forsake his covenant. He was faithful to his covenant. He loved them in relationship to that covenant, and he was faithful to them. Now, one thing I think we always have to keep in mind when we look at things like this is that, first of all, we live in our day and they lived in their day. None of us here is going to go take a wife for political expediency probably. I don't think anybody here planned on being a politician. But we sure do a lot of other things out of expediency. So we should be honest with what Solomon and David did, but at the same time realize that overall Solomon departed much more in his later life than David. You look at David's life, when you look at it overall, there's a pattern of David's life in being faithful to God, loving the Lord, worshiping the Lord according to His truth. David was quick to confess his sin, repent of his sin, and confess it, forsake it. So yes, we can see a lot of faults in his life, but we can also see a man with a tender heart when it came to recognizing and acknowledging his sin. Now when you look at his at his piety and his devotion. In practice, verses two through four that we just read, Solomon demonstrated his love for the Lord by his worship. Solomon, at this point in his life, he's making some mistakes. He's doing some things in disobedience to the Word of God because he's looking at circumstances instead of strictly following the Word of God. But at the same time, the Word of God shows us that in his worship, he demonstrated that he loved the Lord. He offered what the Word of God says in verse four, and the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. The tabernacle at this time was being moved from place to place. Some think that the tabernacle was at Gibeon there. I don't find that in the Word of God. Jews may have written that or said that, I don't know. But if it was, whether or not it was or not, it was considered the chief high place. Solomon went to the place that the most recognized and all of that. You look at what Abraham did. Abraham worshiped God in groves. But keep in mind, and I'm saying that because I want you to think about something. Yes, he did. But there was never a tabernacle in his time, was there? The answer is no. These people had a tabernacle. It was just convenient to worship on their housetops. Sometimes that's what the high places were. Or out on a hillside at an elevated place and beautify that, set that apart for the worship of God. Was there, now listen to this, was there examples of that in their history? Well, if you go back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yes. If you go back before when they were in Egypt, yes. But not since God established worship in the tabernacle. When God establishes a house of witness, he expects us to use it. Solomon's making a big mistake as well as Israel, and he's just doing what the rest of Israel's doing. It never turns out well when people ignore God's house of witness. That never produces good things. There may be some good things that we can look at and say come out of that, but overall, the end result of that is not going to be good. Now, the third thing you notice is his prayer and dedication In 1 Kings 3, verses 5-15, it says, And in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee. And thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne. as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father, and I am but a little child. I know not how to go out or to come in. I want to look at some of those things just a little bit before we go any further. First of all, notice this about Solomon. And these are the positive things about Solomon at this time. He recognized the mercy and the kindness of God in putting him in the position that he was in. And he goes back and he recognizes, first of all, the mercy and kindness that God showed to David, his father. So King Solomon recognized the truth of God as far as God's covenant promise is concerned, and he realized and wholly embraced the reality that his father didn't deserve it and he didn't deserve it. He wasn't proud at that time. David worshiped God. In verse 6, he's saying this. Thou hast showed unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth. He walked before thee in truth. What does that mean? He walked according to the truth that God had revealed to him. He didn't have the New Testament that we have. He didn't have any of the Old Testament prophets. But he had the law, and God revealed truth to him in the Psalms that he wrote. He had some of the history of Israel. And he trusted God and believed God. He believed the truth of God. And as a whole, he followed the truth of God. The Word of God. He kept the ordinances of divine worship that God had established. You will never find David falling into idolatry. Of all the sins that you realize that David did, he did not. There's not an instance where David fell into idolatry. So he walked in the truth of God. He was upright before God. It says, and in righteousness and uprightness of heart with thee. David wasn't perfect in righteousness, but the overall tenor of his life was that he desired to be righteous before God. And that's why when he was rebuked for his sin, it struck him at his core. You look at every time when he was rebuked for his sin, David repented in his heart. There was great sorrow. As much as there was great sin sometimes, there was also great sorrow for his sin. So he was upright before God. He wasn't without sin. It doesn't mean that. But he was upright before God. In spite of the many failures, He still desired to be right with God. He had great reverence for God. He trusted God. He openly acknowledged his sins. Now Solomon recognized that he was king, but he also recognized it wasn't by his own merit or worthiness. There is a false humility that you look back at Solomon and you'll see, to me, very evident. What happened with Saul after God had anointed him and he was to be presented to the nation of Israel? Now, God had made it clear his purpose was for Saul to be king of Israel. But when it came time to present him to the nation, what did he do? He hid, didn't he? Saul went and hid among stuff. That's a false humility. He wasn't submitted to God. If he would have had a humble heart, he would have been submitted to God. I'm not saying that he wasn't naturally the kind of person that would rather go hide in the stuff than be up in front of everybody. I don't know what he was otherwise. But I know this, when God said, I've anointed you to be my king, and it came time to be presented as king, he was disobedient. Godly humility is obedient to God. In essence, really, it's pride. It lifts us up, and we're more concerned about what people think and what people might do or say than we are willing to be submitted to God. King Solomon was not that way. And so when you look down here further, he says, thou has given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou has made thy servant king instead of David my father. And notice this. So I have the position, but I'm a little child. Now that's not a false humility. Does that sound like somebody else we know in the Word of God? What did Jeremiah say when God said he anointed him to be a prophet over Israel in Jeremiah chapter 1? He said, I'm but a child. That's what Jeremiah said. I'm but a child. He didn't mean he was a little kid. He didn't just mean that, well, I'm just a young man. No, he meant what Solomon's saying here. I'm lacking understanding like a little child. That's his humility. He said, I've got the position you put me here, but I am a king. Now Israel knew that he had behaved himself wisely up to this point, and we saw that in the last chapter. He took care of the problems that had remained over after David. He took care of those things as they came up, and he acted wisely in doing it. But there are some things he lacked. He took care of those things as far as judgment of known problems in the nation and eliminating the known problems in the nation. What is he talking about here, then, when he says, I'm a child? Well, I'm a child in understanding. Notice what he says. I know not how to go out or come in. That doesn't mean I don't know how to walk out of the house and come back in the house. That's not what that means. That's a figurative speech to say, I don't know how to come and go. I don't know how to do things. He knew how to do things as a man, as a person. He didn't know how to do things as a king. In other words, now I have to be a king I need to understand how to judge civil matters. He had taken care of national enemies, if you will, national problems. But how about just civil problems? Two people come and they have disagreement between them. How do I set things up so I can handle those things for the people and make wise decisions? There are going to be offenses. How do I administrate my office? As a king, you're an administrator. Matter of fact, as a king, you're the administrator. What does that mean? Well, that means you have leadership of the nation, government capacity. He knew he needed discernment to judge between good and bad, not just right and wrong principles. You can do that according to the law. But what about the people that are involved? When you're dealing with judging between people, and you're judging people in relationship to the law and to exercise judgment, in other words, what is the proper execution of judgment against crimes? And when people have civil matters, how do I determine those things? It requires superior ability beyond human ability to do what Solomon knew he needed to do, not just because he was the king of a nation. A lot of kings are kings over a nation. They hold the position. They make decisions. And there are people that can naturally have the ability to know how to organize things. I mean, there's people that can, in a short amount of time, they can build a corporation. They know how to set things up and have things divided, responsibilities divided up and set up different departments And sometimes that's a problem we get with some people running our government, because that's all they think about doing is building more and more departments. And what's that mean? That means government gets heavier and heavier. In business, it may be great. But in government, it's not. So he needed to know how to administer things, delegate to people responsibility. And when you look at his life and see what he did, we're going to see an example here. We're running out of time today. But we're going to see an example here of how he exercised in a civil matter. But we're also going to see how David set up the kingdom. He organized. Even the worship of the temple, David had started organizing it. He further developed that to the point where the Queen of Sheba came in and saw what he did and how he had things set up and how his servants were all happy. You know what? That is a miraculous feat, to have a kingdom with all of these huge number of servants that Solomon had, and she said, they're happy. Wow, now that is doing something. You think about that. That many people, and they're happy. That's a trick. And I say a trick. That took tremendous wisdom. It took wisdom he didn't have naturally. And God gave him that wisdom. And on top of that, he goes on to say this. Verse 8 says, thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou hast chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted but for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people. that I may discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?' And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing." He was asking for the right thing. In spite of the mistakes that he made in sacrificing the present or the future on the altar of the present, when it came to this, He still, at this time, had the humility to realize, I need something only God can give me. And God said, you've asked a good thing. That's exactly what God wanted him to ask. And that's the way we ought to look at some things, too. We ask for things. What would God have that we ask for? What would please God that we would ask for that? Here's what Solomon did. He sought first the betterment of his kingdom before himself. In other words, like the Lord Jesus Christ said, seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness first and all these things shall be added unto you. That's what Solomon did. Tremendous lesson we can learn from that. All right, let's take a few minutes before the service