Solomon... Wandering Heart (1 Kings 11:1-13) When you think about the human body, the heart is a pretty amazing organ. Itʼs a workhorse that beats about 72 times every minute, which means 2.5 billion times in the average life. All this beating moves needed blood around the body which brings nutrients in and removes waste. And it does this at the rate of 10L every minute, equalling about a million liters over the course of your life. Very impressive. And so we all know donʼt we, that a healthy working heart is critical to a healthy working body. If the heart fails, then the body dies. For a long time now, heart disease has topped the list of major causes of death. In Australia, heart disease kills someone every 10 minutes. And the figures are even higher in the US. Itʼs been reported that it claims someoneʼs life every 34 seconds. When the heart goes bad, the cost is pretty high. And thatʼs true whether youʼre talking about the physical heart, as we just mentioned, or the Bibleʼs idea of heart. See, in Scripture, particularly the Old Testament, people understood heart in a different way. To the Israelite, someoneʼs heart reflected who they were at the core. It was about their character, their mind, and their will. We still sort of use heart like this when we talk about someone not being completely dedicated to something. We say, Oh their heart wasnʼt in it. Well, here in this account of King Solomon, we see that he had a very serious heart condition. Rather than being healthy and devoted to God, his heart was unhealthy and turned away. So this morning weʼre going to explore what happens when someoneʼs heart isnʼt completely devoted to God. One thing that happens is that the person begins to make compromises. If you have a Bible open, please read verses 1-2: King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter -- Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods. Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. King Solomon was the son of King David, who we looked at last week. The first ten chapters of 1 Kings, for the most part, give an impressive account of his time as king. God spoke with him and gave him great wisdom, Solomon built a temple for God, and his reign was a time of prosperity for Israel. But here in chapter 11, we take a look at Solomon later in life. It starts off with a big ʻhoweverʼ. However, despite Solomonʼs greatness, all wasnʼt well. We see right away, that Solomon had made compromises. He disobeyed Godʼs clear commands that were given to the people even before they entered the promised land. Youʼre my chosen people, Iʼm your only God. When you get into the land, donʼt marry the foreigners, because they worship other gods and youʼll be led astray. But as it says here, nevertheless, Solomon married lots of foreign women, hundreds of them, and he was led astray. When your heart doesnʼt fully belong to God, itʼs easy to Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 29 Mar 09 page 1 of 5
make choices that donʼt please Him. Itʼs easy to start explaining away your actions. Maybe Solomon started thinking he could justify the first marriage to Pharaohʼs daughter. Maybe he said, Well, itʼs for the good of the country, itʼs a political marriage. Iʼm not doing it to deliberately disobey God, but to get in Egyptʼs good books. And thatʼll work out great for Godʼs people. Who knows? Whatever his reasons, Solomonʼs heart wasnʼt fully Godʼs, so he was able to make choices that didnʼt please God. The next thing that can happen when someone isnʼt fully devoted to God is that these little compromises can become habit. And then a personʼs heart wanders further and further from God, until itʼs in a pretty bad state. Solomonʼs situation grew worse over his life, to the point where he actually worshipped other gods. Have a look at verses 4-6: As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. Itʼs a pretty dark path that Solomon travelled, isnʼt it? He moved from the one true God, to Ashtoreth, a goddess of fertility, and Molech, a god that people sacrificed their children to. Solomonʼs divided heart led him further and further from God. The tragic thing is that back in chapter 3, even though there were some hints of sin, it says that Solomon showed his love for God by obeying Him. It says that Solomon pleased God. But look at the shift here, it says that Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD. See, a divided heart will wander. Solomonʼs one foreign wife led to another and another until he had a gigantic harem, with each marriage a sin before God. And I bet each time it became easier and easier. Solomon built an impressive temple for God - it took 7 years. That sounds good, until we read that he then took 13 years to build his own palace, which was even bigger. He began with being blessed with wealth from God, but he became obsessed with it, eventually becoming filthy rich through bad agreements with other nations. But you know, none of this happened overnight. Solomon reigned for 40 years, and little by little, each compromise moved him further from God. So we have to ask, what compromises do we make? Sometimes itʼs our priorities. Sometimes weʼre not willing to give God a little time out of our week. We decide not to come to church, because weʼve got something else on. And thatʼs okay if it happens now and then. But this can become a habit, and it can get easier to choose not to come. And sometimes people eventually only come when itʼs convenient, or maybe not at all. Look around you. Are there people missing from this service, who used to come every week? Or sometimes itʼs the music we listen to, or the movies we watch. Itʼs a dodgy TV show, but Iʼm tired and thereʼs nothing else on and I just want some mindless TV to wind down with. Watch enough questionable stuff, and one day youʼll find yourself desensitised. Or sometimes the internet leads you to improper websites, and you decide to look around for a bit. The next time you go there deliberately. The next time you bookmark the page. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 29 Mar 09 page 2 of 5
Or sometimes we make compromises with our money. I know this money could be used in a godly way, towards church, supporting a missionary, a donation, a gift for someone, but this time I just donʼt care about that and want it for me. Next time Iʼll give more to make up for it. I mean, yes, there are times when itʼs right to spend on yourself. But a series of choices like that can eventually lead to being tight-fisted, not being generous, and only giving if thereʼs a little left over when youʼve spent all you want on yourself. See, our choices reveal our heart. Solomon chose to disobey, and his heart went astray, until we hear Godʼs assessment. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely. But God wants us to follow Him completely. Heʼs not a compartment God. We donʼt put Him in one box, our money in another, our time in another, our pursuits in another. God is God over our whole lives. Jesus said this in a very clear way and with a practical example, when He said, No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. The Australian government is now promoting a health program called Measure Up. You may have seen the ads on TV. Its message is that if our waistlines are getting bigger, it can be a symptom of getting more and more unhealthy, and this can lead to serious medical problems, even chronic diseases. So they advise making better lifestyle choices so that weʼre not crippled with disease later. Let me quote their answer to the question, I am still young so why change now? The way you live your life now, even when youʼre young, will impact on your future health. Evidence shows that improving your diet and being more physically active can help prevent or delay the onset of such chronic diseases. You will find that the changes you make to your diet and physical activity now can greatly increase your energy, helps you sleep better, reduces the risk of depression and can help to prevent a range of chronic diseases. If our hearts are divided over many gods, and we settle for that, over a lifetime it can become severe. Making poor heart choices, or disobeying the one true God, can lead to the chronic disease of hardening of the heart. And the prognosis is tragic. Our final point this morning is that God will deal with this in judgment. Please read with me verse 9: The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. God had been patient with Solomon. He blessed Solomon greatly. Yet Solomon drifted further and further away. And because his heart was no longer given to God, God said, Enough is enough. Judgment is coming. And in this judgment we get the start of the rest of the Old Testament. Solomonʼs reign would be the last of Israelʼs glory days. After him, the kingdom would split and never be what it was. And if you read about this period in the rest of Scripture, the people eventually become more and more corrupt until they get exiled in judgment. They never go back to the glory days again. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 29 Mar 09 page 3 of 5
See, Solomon couldnʼt rest on the past highlights of his life. God is angry now. Solomon couldnʼt say, But you appeared to me. I built you a temple. You were pleased with me. You gave me wisdom. But God will answer, Thatʼs right, so whereʼs your heart now? We cannot live in the past. If weʼve had a vibrant relationship with God at one time, we canʼt cling to that to define who we are now. How would you answer if someone asked you, How are you walking with Jesus? Would you reply, Oh, I used to be passionate about my faith. When I was a young Christian, I spent a lot of time reading my Bible. I used to help out in ministry, and gave a lot of time to the church. But itʼs all different now. Iʼm older. Weʼre all very busy. You know how it is. Or would you say, You know, God keeps growing me as a Christian. Iʼm always thankful for the love and mercy shown to me by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. If God wants our full heart, then what answer do you think Heʼs looking for? Donʼt let all your glory days be in the past. God isnʼt looking for hearts that used to know Him, He wants hearts that know Him now. Recently, there was an elderly lady in Florida, named June Pearce, who received an interesting gift for her 84th birthday. One of her special memories was the excitement of riding on the back of a boyʼs motorcycle in the 1930s. So her daughter advertised on the internet, Come Give Granny A Ride On Your Hog. And a man who had lost his own mother to cancer decided to help out. He showed up on her birthday riding an electric blue Harley Davidson and gave this 84 year old a spin around the block a couple of times. Mrs Pearce didnʼt settle for past glory. She wanted to reclaim it now. She managed to relive her memory. Be like June Pearce, not King Solomon. For him, having a wholehearted walk with God was a distant past. Everyday he made a choice. I love my wives more than God. I love their gods more than God. I love my riches more. His heart was so far removed from God, that God stepped in, in judgment. If you really knew and loved Jesus at one point, donʼt let it be a dim memory. Donʼt be one of the people whoʼll say to Christ on the last day, Jesus, I did lots of stuff in your name, only to hear Him say, I never knew you. You never gave me your heart. Live out your faith in and relationship with Jesus right now. Say today, I love God most of all, and my whole life will be lived for Him. Go to Him and and say that youʼre sorry for all the other gods, and ask to know Him vibrantly again. And Heʼll answer that prayer. When you look at the story of Solomon in 1 Kings, itʼs all quite extreme. God commanded some pretty clear things about wealth, about how a king needs to walk in obedience, about foreign allegiances, about having foreign wives with foreign Gods. Solomon becomes king and He becomes the richest and wisest man. He builds the awesome temple. For a time, he brings prosperity and rest to the people. God speaks to Him directly. Yet all the great things about him become corrupted as he disobeys and his heart falls away. Women, power, wealth, they all become more like addictions than blessings from God. And his story is the start of the decline of Godʼs chosen people. At our last Bible study, someone asked a great question. Why is it written like this? Why so vivid, why the extreme life and extreme disobedience? I think itʼs because God is making it clear, that even with glorious kings, none of them is good enough. Solomon was not the answer for the people. This great man turned away from God, and the country went with Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 29 Mar 09 page 4 of 5
him. Our greatest need is to wholeheartedly know God as we were made for. Only a king who is eternally wholehearted towards God is enough to help us do that... Stay tuned for His coming next week as` we move into the New Testament. Letʼs pray about this and as we do letʼs continue to pray about the needs around us. If you would like to speak with Bern about this sermon, please feel free to contact him on (02) 6343 2013, or bernm@iinet.net.au. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 29 Mar 09 page 5 of 5