TORN BETWEEN THE TWO

Scripture for the day: 1 Kings 11:4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

Thought for the day: Isn’t it interesting that David is always held up as the example of a man “after God’s own heart,” which the Lord Himself calls him? Did the Lord forget that this same David was also an adulterer, a murderer, a liar and disloyal to those he was supposedly serving? Because David’s heart was loyal to God, did that mean all the rest of these transgressions meant nothing? I don’t think so. No, God never overlooked the sins of David – in fact He sent the prophet Nathan to confront him personally concerning his adultery and murder scheme. David’s sins weren’t overlooked, they were forgiven in response to his honest repentance and pleas for God’s mercy. In spite of his obvious shortfalls, David truly wanted to follow the Lord all his life.

Now Solomon, on the other hand, had an entirely different problem. As far as we know, he never committed adultery (with 700 wives, what would be the point?). As far as we know he never had anyone killed to cover up other crimes he’d committed. In all outward appearances Solomon was much more upright than his father had been. If that’s true, then why did the Lord tear the kingdom from him? What was the great sin Solomon committed that would make the Lord so angry? Simply this; he’d left his first love.

Oh, he didn’t mean to; Solomon had always been a devout follower of the Lord God of Israel. After all, the Lord Himself had spoken directly to his heart on more than one occasion. He’d promised Solomon wisdom, wealth and fame beyond belief because Solomon had desired only to follow Him. He’d made good on His promises and there never was a king like Solomon, either before or after his reign. But there’s something about the daily grind of life, even for a king, that tends to draw us away from the exalted position next to God that we enjoyed when we first made our peace with Him. Solomon was wise; Solomon was good; Solomon was sincere. He took wives from many other lands, probably to solidify treaties with their rulers, and, because of his compassion for them, allowed them to continue in the customs they’d known from their homelands. Perhaps he reasoned that it didn’t really matter if his wife from Sidon worshiped Astoreth as she’d always done, as long as he didn’t join her. And the wife he had from Ammon; what difference did it make if she still clung to the god Milcom, as long as Solomon still worshiped the Lord God of Israel? In his attempts to please his wives, and perhaps demonstrate his sense of tolerance to their fathers, he even had worship centers built where they could practice their religions.

And that’s all it took; Solomon had sealed his doom, not because he’d yet done anything blasphemous or sinful but because he’d taken the first small step toward removing the Lord from the throne of his heart. By allowing these foreign gods to occupy a place in his life, he began to move toward letting them in his heart. Through it all, I don’t think Solomon ever really abandoned the Lord. God was still supreme for him; the problem was God wasn’t the only one. Solomon, once the first tiny steps had been taken, quickly found himself with a divided heart. He loved God but he loved the things of the world as well. He was loyal to God even as he tried to accommodate other gods in his life and the life of his family. He might have been able to write that hit song of the 70’s, “Torn Between Two Lovers.” Do you remember how it went?

Torn between two lovers;

Feeling like a fool.

Loving you both

Is breaking all the rules.