God gave Solomon everything He needed to be a great Leader

1 Kings 4: 20-34

April 20, 2021

 

 Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy.   Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Solomon's provision for one day was thirty corp^] of fine flour and sixty cors of meal,  ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.   For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him.   And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.   Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots and 12,000 horsemen.   And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking.   Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

 

And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore,  so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.   For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.   He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.   He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.  And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

 

If you wonder what a man might have the ability to be and do, one only has to look at Solomon.  But then will it help if we study all that he did, but God’s hand is not on us?  Have you heard the saying, ladder against the wrong wall?  Solomon was the earth suit, but it was God who gave him riches, and wisdom, and when you have a man who is following God’s will, and not his own, you will find a man who walks in this life full of peace and contentment.   We have many people who have gained wealth, power, and even authority, but have no understanding of what it is like to have an understanding of the ways of God, they seek peace, and they would pay any amount to have peace, but they have no room for the giver of peace and contentment.

 

Solomon understood this, I must look to and obey God’s will if I am to lead such a people as Israel.  He was a young child when He believed in God, and sought Him, and guess what Jesus said, we must come to the Father with the faith of a child, if we desire mercy and grace, if we want to live at peace with God and men.  What value do you put on living at peace with God and man?

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice