...give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your statues, and to do them all, and to build the temple (literally, "palace")for which I have made provision.
Solomon is a great disappointment and discouragement to me, every time, all over again, each time I read the story. He started out so well, full of promise and potential. He had parental favor. He had political favor. And, above everything, he had divine favor. His father, David, had set him up for success. The people were ready to follow. And God blessed him with unparalleled wisdom and riches. Yet, with all of this, he messed up. What happened? One thing. Just one thing. Solomon didn't maintain the "perfect heart" that David prayed for. O dear one, let this be a lesson to all of us. The "perfect heart", or the heart that is full or complete toward God, is not something anyone will do for us; and especially God. The "perfect heart" begins and ends with something David spoke of earlier in this context, as he admonished his son: "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind (literally, 'soul')," I Chronicles 28:9a. At any point our heart and soul part from wholeness and willingness, we are on a path leading to our own spiritual death. And God knows when we've taken it, "for", as David added, "the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts," 28:9b). This is serious business my friend. God help us! And that's what David is praying: "O LORD, help Solomon! Give him what it takes to go all the way!" It's a great prayer, but God won't do in us what we won't will to be done. This sovereign God will not usurp our God created will, not because He can't but because He won't. The will is His sovereign release. So it becomes our sacred obligation. Sobering? You bet it is. This is the most sobering thing about us as human beings. Here's how David put it: "If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever," 28:9c. So, is our spiritual life always in jeopardy? No! Not if we seek Him first, fully and finally. Is that too much to ask? Is that too difficult? I'd hate to think what my wife, Sarah, would think if I told her it was impossible and, in fact, intolerable, to give her 100% all the time. Come on, my friend, we aren't serving some stupid, senseless, insensitive and half-hearted God here. He gives all and He demands all! Give Him all, all the time! You mean 100% faithfulness, purity and love? Well, who in the world would want anything less and call it a holy union? Solomon, in all his knowledge and wisdom, missed it here. That's why he messed up. It doesn't take brains to do better than this. It takes heart! All our heart! This is what thrills me about God. He's all heart, all the time, and He expects the same from me. I like this God! And, better still, He likes you and me, and "if you seek Him, He will let you find Him." Amazing!
Solomon is a great disappointment and discouragement to me, every time, all over again, each time I read the story. He started out so well, full of promise and potential. He had parental favor. He had political favor. And, above everything, he had divine favor. His father, David, had set him up for success. The people were ready to follow. And God blessed him with unparalleled wisdom and riches. Yet, with all of this, he messed up. What happened? One thing. Just one thing. Solomon didn't maintain the "perfect heart" that David prayed for. O dear one, let this be a lesson to all of us. The "perfect heart", or the heart that is full or complete toward God, is not something anyone will do for us; and especially God. The "perfect heart" begins and ends with something David spoke of earlier in this context, as he admonished his son: "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind (literally, 'soul')," I Chronicles 28:9a. At any point our heart and soul part from wholeness and willingness, we are on a path leading to our own spiritual death. And God knows when we've taken it, "for", as David added, "the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts," 28:9b). This is serious business my friend. God help us! And that's what David is praying: "O LORD, help Solomon! Give him what it takes to go all the way!" It's a great prayer, but God won't do in us what we won't will to be done. This sovereign God will not usurp our God created will, not because He can't but because He won't. The will is His sovereign release. So it becomes our sacred obligation. Sobering? You bet it is. This is the most sobering thing about us as human beings. Here's how David put it: "If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever," 28:9c. So, is our spiritual life always in jeopardy? No! Not if we seek Him first, fully and finally. Is that too much to ask? Is that too difficult? I'd hate to think what my wife, Sarah, would think if I told her it was impossible and, in fact, intolerable, to give her 100% all the time. Come on, my friend, we aren't serving some stupid, senseless, insensitive and half-hearted God here. He gives all and He demands all! Give Him all, all the time! You mean 100% faithfulness, purity and love? Well, who in the world would want anything less and call it a holy union? Solomon, in all his knowledge and wisdom, missed it here. That's why he messed up. It doesn't take brains to do better than this. It takes heart! All our heart! This is what thrills me about God. He's all heart, all the time, and He expects the same from me. I like this God! And, better still, He likes you and me, and "if you seek Him, He will let you find Him." Amazing!
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