June 27, 2024 | Be God's Light
Solomon Builds His Palace
Scripture: 1 Kings 7:1-12; 9:1-9 (NIV)
1 It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. 2 He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. 3 It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. 4 Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. 5 All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.
6 He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof.
7 He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. 8 And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.
9 All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces. 10 The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits and some eight. 11 Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. 12 The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the Lord with its portico.
1 When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2 the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him:
“I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’”
Devotional
One of my favorite places to visit is Washington, D.C. Spread throughout our nation’s capital are memorials to World Wars I and II, Korea, and Viet Nam (where my cousin’s name is etched on the wall). Monuments to presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Kennedy dot the landscape. Our three branches of government are encased in the White House, Capitol Building, and Supreme Court. Vast buildings and complexes dedicated to our country’s history, art, military, fallen heroes, and religious roots are everywhere.
Solomon’s palace complex was meant to be that kind of spread. Think of it like a combination armory, assembly hall, courthouse, royal residence, and housing development for Solomon’s harem. Once the temple and palace were completed, everything seemed set for a tremendously blessed future.
Then God made some “IF” statements.
IF you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness…
IF you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them…
The results of fulfilling the first IF would be a never-ending throne.
The results of living into the second IF would be a destroyed temple and a ridiculed people.
Knowing this in advance, why do you think Solomon allowed his multiple wives to influence him to follow false gods? And why would so many of the future kings have done the same thing? Did they think God was lying or kidding? Did they think they could get away with it?
What about you? Are there any IF statements of God where your life is on the wrong side of the equation? What is the Lord challenging you to do about it?
Read Proverbs 1, written by Solomon. How does this inform the topic addressed in this devotion?
Poem
Building Blocks
We would be building a family, a home
A house full of comforts, a life of shalom
Companions and friendships, great things to pursue
Great building blocks stacking, accomplishments true
Yet in this pursuit of great things here on earth--
Employment, commitments, days full marked with mirth--
It’s good to remember short days on this sod
Beware of the building blocks thwarting our God
The temples or homes which we build here today
Are hearts fully open to Jesus’ way
With fire burning brightly, Christ, our corner stone
The Word of God paving the path to God’s throne
