August 1927
512
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
The greatest inheritance which can come to any child is a heritage of the in fluence of a godly home around the fam ily altar and the Word of God. To be devout is not to close one’s eyes and to accept, religion traditionally. The religion of Christ and the Bible challenges the greatest intellects of all ages. Some of the. greatest -statesmen, philosophers and scientists, with uncovered heads have bowed and do bow in holy reverence to the God and Christ of the sacred Scrip tures. On the night following the sacrifice, God appeared to Solomon in a dream and told him to make any request of Him, to which invitation Solomon replied that God had been gracious to his father, ac cording as he (David) had walked before Him in truth and righteousness and in uprightness of heart, and that God had been gracious in seating him upon the throne. Hé, with his father, recognized that the establishment of the kingdom to them was an act of grace on the part of God (Psa. 30:7). , “And now, 0 Jehovah, my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead o f David my fa th er: and I am but ct little child; I know not how to go out or to come in.” The greatness of a person is measured by his real, genuine humility. These sentiments remind one of Jere miah’s attitude when the Lord called him to service (Jer. 1:6 ). “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble” (Jas. 4 :6 ). “Blessed are the poor in spirit: fo r theirs is the kingdom o f heaven.” It is one thing to be poor in spirit and an other thing to be spiritually poor. An il lustration of the two characters men tioned in the above ■ sentence is that of the case of the proud Pharisee and the humble publican (Luke 18:9-14). Christ withholds the deep spiritual things—the real values of liféjjfcfrom the wise and understanding, but reveals these spiritual facts and truths to the humble (Matt. 11 : 25, 26), Solomon realized, furthermore, that he was unable to cope with the responsibil ities which devolved upon him as a leader of God’s people. Oh, that all men whom God places in positions of prominence and responsibility might realize the; same re sponsibility, both to God and to those whom they are serving 1 The Lord placed Israel in Palestine, the bridge of the nations, committing to them His o r -. acles and the true spiritual worship in order that the nations in their intercourse one with the. other might have thé priv ilege of learning His truth, to the end that they might turn from their sins and serve Him. Doubtless Solomon realized this call of God to Israel, and realizing it he felt unequal to the occasion. It was in his hands to shape and to guide the des-. tiny of this nation .which was to hold aloft the light of the true Gòd; hènce, he prayed, “Give Thy servant an understand ing heart to judge Thy people, that I, may discern between good and evil; fo r who is able to judge this Thy people?" God answered Solomon that because he had' been very unselfish and magnanimous in' his praying, having only the glory of God at heart, He would grant the request which he made, giving him “a wise and understanding h eart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after ¡thee shall any arise like unto thee.” Man by his research may accumulate ’ a vast amount of facts, truths and princi ples, but the acquisition of the same does
teaches people how they should live. “Solomon loved Jehovah.” Religion, to Solomon, was a personal matter; it is the personal relationship of the individual to his- God, upon Whom he is dependent for life, strength and all blessings (Acts 17: 28). The religion .which lays the major emphasis upon rites, ceremonies and rit- - ualism, obscures this personal relation ship and hinders very materially the growth and development of the spiritual nature of man and deprives him of much comfort and many blessings through life. “No longer do 1 c a ll’you servants; the servant knoweth not what his L ord do eth : but I have called you frien d s; fo r all things that I heard from my father I have made known unto you” (John IS: IS). “F o r I know Him Vfhom I have be lieved, and I am persuaded that H e is able to guard that which I have com mitted unto H im against that day” .(2 Tim. 2:12). Solomon walked “in the statutes o f IJavid his fa th er: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.” Enoch walked with God by faith and was not, for God took him. The life of the child of God is uniformly through out the Scriptures represented as a walk ing or a running, but never as hopping, skipping or jumping (Isa. 40:30, 31; Eph. 4:1-3). David walked with his God as a rule but, as was seen in last Lord’s Day’s /lesson, he fell on one occasion, which fall was. the occasion of a series o f ' sinful att’s. Otherwise his life was a great tes timony to the children of men as to how they should walk with God. Solomon, ac cording to this statement, followed in the steps of his father, with the exception that ha “sacrificed and burnt incense in the_ high places.” Doubtless the high places referred to here are the old places of worship where the Canaanites wor shipped foreign gods. Upon Israel’s en tering the land, these places of false wor ship had become sanctuaries to Jehovah, the God of Israel. Gibeon was one of such places. It seems to the writer that God, during that transitional period be fore-; the. establishment of a strong cen tralized g/overnment, tolerated worship in these places though Moses had distinctly forbidden the same (Deut. 12:1-7). God may tolerate men’s doing certain things which are positively contrary to His will, but in their so doing they are depriving themselves of the richest blessings, which God is eager to shower upon them. Let no* child of God be satisfied with a second plan of life, but let each one in full submission, at all times, humbly, in faith, ask for God’S' highest and holiest will concerning all things of life. “And the king went to Gibeon to sacri fice there; fo r that wa_s the great high p la ce: a thousand burnt offerings did Sol omon offer upon that altar.” It is proper and fitting •that all kings and rulers should acknowledg-e and worship God publicly, setting the example for the na tion. Notable examples of leaders of our country in the past who put God first, are George Washington and Abraham Lin coln. Any country whose sovereign does not recognize, both in his public and pri vate life, his God, is. doomed sooner or later to pass from the stage of action. Solomon was reared in a godly home and was taught devotion and consecra tion from childhood. “A s a twig is bent the tree is inclined'." This proverb as a rule holds good even though temporarily one may be deflected from the right way.
Does God often treat believers today as He did Solomon? (V . 13; cp. Eph. 3:20.) What is a great secret of procuring from God all necessary things ? (Matt. 6 : 33.) -—o—• G olden T ext I llustration “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understànding’’ (Prov. 3:13). --O-- ; A Sunday School teacher had been tell ing‘her class o-f boys about the crowns, or heavenly rewards, promised to Chris tians. To sum up, she asked: “Who do you think, now, will get the biggest crown?” After a silence, one lad piped up : “The feller with the biggest head.” This is the notion that many men have, but the Word of God tells us that the true wisdom which brings'., eternal hap piness is laid up for thosé who hâve the child heart. “I called upon God,” says Solomon,:Snd the Spirit of Wisdom came to me,” and again, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” ..Ù—o— " CEVERAL years intervened between the events connected with David’s sin against Uriah, his attempts to cover the same, his repentance and restoration, and Day. Though one obtains forgiveness, sinning always is a great hindrance to him in his work for God. “F o r he that doeth wrong shall receive again fo r the wrong which he hath done : and there is no respect o f persons" (Col. 3:21). “F o r whom the L ord loveth H e chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb. 12:6). It is quite possible, hu manly speaking, had David not fallen into sin, the Lord would have permitted him “who should do all My will" to erect the temple. This fact reminds one of Moses’ failure to honor God at the waters of Meribah, which sin barred him from en tering the Promised Land. It is doubt less true that wrong-doing on the part of Christians makes it necessary for God to use them, not in the highest and holiest sense, but in a lower and less honorable way. Upon David’s death Solomon was by appointment of God established upon the throne, the throne of Jehovah. . “Then Solomon sat on the throne o f Jehovah as king instead o f David his fa th er; and all Israel obeyed him” (2 Chron. 29:23). In the early and tender years of his life Sol omon walked humbly and reverently be fore his God. One of the first duties falling upon the new king was to remove objectionable persons from the positions of rank and power, to segregate to special districts certain ones for political reasons, formulate a definite policy for thé new regime, and to appoint those who fitted into this policy to the positions of influ ence. “And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes o f David his father.” This statement is a wonderful one because it the events connected with our lesson for today. Toward the end of his r e i g n , David, though pro hibited from building the housé; of God, made vast prepara tions for its construc tion, as seen in the. lesson of last Lord’s
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