Solomon and James
Tonight’s Old Testament reading from the 1st Book of Kings (3:1-15) gives us a wonderful picture of Solomon. Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba and when David died, Solomon became the King of Israel. The name ‘Solomon’ is believed to come from the Hebrew word for peace – and this was particularly appropriate, considering that Israel did indeed enjoy relatively high security and prosperity during his reign. He was born approximately 1030 B.C., the tenth son of King David, and the second son of his mother Bathsheba.
Solomon was the first king of Israel born to a reigning king. He turned out to be the third (after David and Saul) and last king of the united kingdom of Israel - the ruler of all 12 tribes. David chose Solomon as his successor over all of his older sons and his reign of 40 years was generally a great success.
On his deathbed, David gave parting instructions and encouragements to his son (1 Kings 2:1-9, 1 Chronicles 22:7-16). It certainly seemed to help - Solomon, with God's help, lost no time in making the former slave nation and wanderers of the desert into the most powerful nation in the region.
Solomon even made an alliance with Egypt and married the daughter of Pharaoh (1 Kings 3:1) - one of many political marriages that eventually contributed greatly to his downfall. He also entered into an alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, who proved to be a powerful ally of Israel.
Solomon is perhaps most famous for building the original Temple of God in Jerusalem.David had made extensive preparations for the building (1 Chronicles 29:6-9, 2 Chronicles 2:3-7), but God declared that Solomon would be the builder (1 Chronicles 22:8).
After The Temple was completed, Solomon engaged in numerous other great projects throughout Jerusalem and Israel. The magnificence and splendour of the kingdom was unrivalled anywhere. Trade was carried on overland with Tyre, Egypt and Arabia, and by sea with Spain, India and the coasts of Africa, and as a result, Solomon accumulated vast wealth from many nations (1 Kings 9:26-28, 10:11-12, 2 Chronicles 8:17-18, 9:21).
All this success and blessing came after Solomon had prayed as we heard this evening – when asked by God to pray for something he wanted, Solomon prayed a wonderful prayer – first he offered God praise for the gifts he had received, and then he spoke humbly before God, recognising his unworthiness before him and finally he made a request to God not for himself, but for the wisdom to understand his people and discernment between right and wrong.
It was a wonderful prayer because Solomon ignored all of the material things he could have asked for – he didn’t ask for power or for wealth or long life, but for wisdom. By worldly standards Solomon had every right to believe he could be self sufficient. Born into wealth and privilege and into a position of power, he could have believed himself to have needed nobody else, but he recognised his need for God.
And from this prayer, as I have said already, God blessed Solomon and his reign for many years. But sadly, the story doesn’t end there – in the week at the service in Mawdlam we thought about how the mighty fall and I quoted the example of Sven Goran Ericson, the former England Football Manager and a man who has managed some of the most successful and richest clubs in the world, and yet this week he was appointed as Director of Football at Notts County – a team who finished 87th in a league of 92 at the end of last year. And yet it is not this that represents his fall most – in spite of his successes as a manager many people will remember him best for some rather complicated personal relationships which made the front pages rather than the back pages of the papers.
The mighty can fall a long way, and that was what Solomon found as well. As his reign went on he became tied up with lots of schemes and projects, and he began to follow advice from some of his wives – now following advice from your wife is generally not a bad thing to do ! But with Solomon he followed wives who led him into turning away from God and got him entangled in bitter rows, eventually leading to the break up of the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Today we celebrate the Feast of St James, and as we think about James we can learn also vital lessons from Solomon. James was by no means perfect. His attitude and behaviour as one of the followers of Jesus earned him the title, along with his brother John as one of the ‘Sons of Thunder’. He let his mother ask for a good place in heaven, he suggested that people could be destroyed because they didn’t listen to Jesus – in short, he was by no means perfect.
Like most of Jesus’ other followers, he was nowhere to be seen at the crucifixion – presumably hiding in fear. And yet in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we find that James hadn’t deserted Jesus – inspired by the resurrection, he began a new life of devotion to him, a new life that eventually led to him being martyred.
Solomon began his reign well – he sought the wisdom of God, recognising that as being necessary, but he forgot, and he became distracted, and this led to a huge downfall. James, on the other hand, was not perfect at all. There were many faults, and I’m sure fears and doubts, but he remained faithful to Jesus – faithful enough that he was prepared to die for him.
His faith led him to trust God through thick and thin, knowing that ultimately the victory over death had already been won, and he could rejoice that his place in heaven was secure.
The lessons we learn from Solomon and from James are that we must never be distracted from our primary aim of enjoying a relationship with God, and sharing that relationship with others. For over 500 years this Church has stood as a place drawing all kinds of people to Jesus, people with different backgrounds and different needs, but people who wanted to see Jesus more closely.
May we, through our prayer, our praise and worship and through our lives, be inspired to follow Jesus ever more closely that his name may be glorified in all places. AMEN
Solomon was the first king of Israel born to a reigning king. He turned out to be the third (after David and Saul) and last king of the united kingdom of Israel - the ruler of all 12 tribes. David chose Solomon as his successor over all of his older sons and his reign of 40 years was generally a great success.
On his deathbed, David gave parting instructions and encouragements to his son (1 Kings 2:1-9, 1 Chronicles 22:7-16). It certainly seemed to help - Solomon, with God's help, lost no time in making the former slave nation and wanderers of the desert into the most powerful nation in the region.
Solomon even made an alliance with Egypt and married the daughter of Pharaoh (1 Kings 3:1) - one of many political marriages that eventually contributed greatly to his downfall. He also entered into an alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, who proved to be a powerful ally of Israel.
Solomon is perhaps most famous for building the original Temple of God in Jerusalem.David had made extensive preparations for the building (1 Chronicles 29:6-9, 2 Chronicles 2:3-7), but God declared that Solomon would be the builder (1 Chronicles 22:8).
After The Temple was completed, Solomon engaged in numerous other great projects throughout Jerusalem and Israel. The magnificence and splendour of the kingdom was unrivalled anywhere. Trade was carried on overland with Tyre, Egypt and Arabia, and by sea with Spain, India and the coasts of Africa, and as a result, Solomon accumulated vast wealth from many nations (1 Kings 9:26-28, 10:11-12, 2 Chronicles 8:17-18, 9:21).
All this success and blessing came after Solomon had prayed as we heard this evening – when asked by God to pray for something he wanted, Solomon prayed a wonderful prayer – first he offered God praise for the gifts he had received, and then he spoke humbly before God, recognising his unworthiness before him and finally he made a request to God not for himself, but for the wisdom to understand his people and discernment between right and wrong.
It was a wonderful prayer because Solomon ignored all of the material things he could have asked for – he didn’t ask for power or for wealth or long life, but for wisdom. By worldly standards Solomon had every right to believe he could be self sufficient. Born into wealth and privilege and into a position of power, he could have believed himself to have needed nobody else, but he recognised his need for God.
And from this prayer, as I have said already, God blessed Solomon and his reign for many years. But sadly, the story doesn’t end there – in the week at the service in Mawdlam we thought about how the mighty fall and I quoted the example of Sven Goran Ericson, the former England Football Manager and a man who has managed some of the most successful and richest clubs in the world, and yet this week he was appointed as Director of Football at Notts County – a team who finished 87th in a league of 92 at the end of last year. And yet it is not this that represents his fall most – in spite of his successes as a manager many people will remember him best for some rather complicated personal relationships which made the front pages rather than the back pages of the papers.
The mighty can fall a long way, and that was what Solomon found as well. As his reign went on he became tied up with lots of schemes and projects, and he began to follow advice from some of his wives – now following advice from your wife is generally not a bad thing to do ! But with Solomon he followed wives who led him into turning away from God and got him entangled in bitter rows, eventually leading to the break up of the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Today we celebrate the Feast of St James, and as we think about James we can learn also vital lessons from Solomon. James was by no means perfect. His attitude and behaviour as one of the followers of Jesus earned him the title, along with his brother John as one of the ‘Sons of Thunder’. He let his mother ask for a good place in heaven, he suggested that people could be destroyed because they didn’t listen to Jesus – in short, he was by no means perfect.
Like most of Jesus’ other followers, he was nowhere to be seen at the crucifixion – presumably hiding in fear. And yet in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we find that James hadn’t deserted Jesus – inspired by the resurrection, he began a new life of devotion to him, a new life that eventually led to him being martyred.
Solomon began his reign well – he sought the wisdom of God, recognising that as being necessary, but he forgot, and he became distracted, and this led to a huge downfall. James, on the other hand, was not perfect at all. There were many faults, and I’m sure fears and doubts, but he remained faithful to Jesus – faithful enough that he was prepared to die for him.
His faith led him to trust God through thick and thin, knowing that ultimately the victory over death had already been won, and he could rejoice that his place in heaven was secure.
The lessons we learn from Solomon and from James are that we must never be distracted from our primary aim of enjoying a relationship with God, and sharing that relationship with others. For over 500 years this Church has stood as a place drawing all kinds of people to Jesus, people with different backgrounds and different needs, but people who wanted to see Jesus more closely.
May we, through our prayer, our praise and worship and through our lives, be inspired to follow Jesus ever more closely that his name may be glorified in all places. AMEN
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