For Where Your Treasure Is...

"Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, 'Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son'" (1 Kings 11:11-12). What sad words for a king to hear! His kingdom would be wrested from the hands of his son and given to another. How had things come to this?

At the beginning of his reign, Solomon loved God and obeyed Him. In fact, God had personally appeared to Solomon - not just once, but twice! The first time God appeared to Solomon, God told him that He would give him whatever he wanted - all Solomon had to do was name it. Instead of requesting riches or power or honor, Solomon asked for wisdom. God was pleased with Solomon. The second time God appeared to Solomon was right after Solomon finished building the Temple of Jerusalem. God told Solomon that He chose to put His Name in Jerusalem and in the new temple, and, if Solomon would steadfastly serve God, "'then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father'" (1 Kings 9:5).

Solomon was truly blessed by God. His reign was the safest, most prosperous reign Israel ever saw. The citizens were safe and secure (1 Kings 4:24-25), silver was so plentiful that it was counted as nothing (2 Chron. 9:20), and Solomon was renowned by many nations as a wise ruler (2 Chron. 9:22-23). God had brought the nation of Israel a long way since the days when they were shepherds without a country!

One day the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon to see if the lavish reports she had heard of him were really true. The Queen had traveled long and far and brought with her expensive gifts. After asking Solomon hard questions and telling him everything that was on her mind, she also saw much of his wealth. After seeing so much extravagance, "there was no more breath in her" (1 Kings 10:5). Truly Solomon was at the height of his fame and wealth. All his cups were made of gold. His throne - made of ivory and covered with pure gold - had six steps and was decorated with twelve lions built onto it. Silver was as common as stone (1 Kings 10:27). He had 1400 chariots and 4000 stalls for horses. 2 Chronicles 9:22-23 says it best: "Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind." The Queen of Sheba found the reports were true.

But something happened not long after the time of the Queen's visit, when Solomon's fame and riches were at their height. Solomon turned away from serving God and began to worship false gods. Solomon had been given so much - wisdom, riches, fame, honor - how could he have abandoned the God who gave it to him? It started simply enough. In 1 Kings 10, we read of Solomon's great wealth and prosperity. Right after that, in 1 Kings 11, we read, "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, 'You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.' Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart" (1 Kings 11:1-3). Soon Solomon started worshipping the foreign gods of his foreign wives. "[H]is heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God" (1 Kings 11:4). God saw Solomon's fall into idol worship. He was not pleased with Solomon anymore.

It's easy for us to see Solomon's fall coming in the chapters before 1 Kings 11 and not understand how someone so wise could fall so far - and fast, in our mind. But the reality is that it is easier than we think. For example, what have we been given? First of all, we have the Truth - not everyone has access to a Bible and godly teaching, but we are blessed here in America to have all we could ever need at our fingertips. Additionally, as Americans, we are some of the most materially blessed people in the world. Do we even realize how much we've been given? With all of our benefits and blessings in mind, what do we think about most, and talk about most? Is it entertainment or social circles? Is it gossip? Maybe it is our own image and reputation. Whatever "it" is, do we love it more than Christ? Oh, it is so easy to fall into loving something else more. It is very common to find Christians who love this world more than Christ. It is easier than we think. Every day our hearts seek something else. We can truly sympathize with Robert Robinson, who wrote "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing": "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love..." As we look back on Solomon's life, his fall seemed to take place very quickly. But it was a slow progress (or, should I say, regress); one decision at a time.

"Above all else, guard your heart," Solomon wrote to his sons (Proverbs 4:23). One wonders if he wrote this before or after his own heart strayed after other gods. I don't know when he wrote it; either he knew this truth from painful regret or he forgot it himself to follow his own desires. Robert Robinson's hymn and prayer continues: "Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above." "'For where your treasure is," Jesus Himself counseled His disciples about what is truly important, "'there your heart will also be'" (Matthew 6:21). While I am not sure when in his life Solomon penned Proverbs, we can imagine him sitting, gray-headed and wondering what is most important to tell his sons. "Above all else," he cautions as his mind wanders over his own experiences, "guard your heart..."