“He Got Something Right”

Fast Facts on Solomon:

° He was the son of King David and of Bathsheba.

° Was favored and loved by God.

° He was twenty years old when be became king.

° He ruled Israel for forty years and died around age sixty.

° He spoke 3,000 proverbs (wise sayings) and wrote 1,005 songs.

° He wrote two Psalms (72 and 127). He also wrote most of Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes.

Fast Facts on Solomon:

° He was the wisest man of his time and in all of history.

° He was the richest king on the earth.- The weight of gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon.

II Chronicles 9:13-14- King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth!

II Chronicles 9:22

Fast Facts on Solomon:

° He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses.

° He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines.

° God chose him to build the Temple.

° God manifested himself to Solomon and all Israel in the Temple.

° God spoke personally to Solomon twice.- The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor such as no king over Israel ever had before.

II Chronicles 29:25

What Did He Get Right?

- Solomon cleaned up Adonijah’s rebellion against the kingdom.

What Did He Get Right?

Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith (Haggith was one of David’s wives) put himself forward and said, “I will be king.”

1 Kings 1:5

- Solomon cleaned up Adonijah’s rebellion against the kingdom.

What Did He Get Right?

“If he shows himself to be a worthy man, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.”

1 Kings 1:52

- Solomon cleaned up Adonijah’s rebellion against the kingdom.

What Did He Get Right?

- He carried out his father’s orders, showing loyalty to God’s succession plan.

What Did He Get Right?

- He carried out his father’s orders, showing loyalty to God’s succession plan.

“You have made your servant king in place of my father David, but I am only a little child, and I don’t know how to carry out my duties!”

1 Kings 3:7

What Did He Get Right?

- He carried out his father’s orders, showing loyalty to God’s succession plan.

“Now, do not consider (Joab) innocent. Your are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his grey head down to the grave in blood.”

1 Kings 2:9

What Did He Get Right?

- He humbled himself before the Lord.

What Did He Get Right?

- He humbled himself before the Lord.

“You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David.”

What Did He Get Right?

- He humbled himself before the Lord.

“But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

1 Kings 3:6-9

What Did He Get Right?

- Recognized the Goodness of God AND the character traits of his father, David.

What Did He Get Right?

- acknowledged that his father David’s God was also HIS GOD.

What Did He Get Right?

- asked for a discerning heart to govern the people and the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

What Did He Get Right?

- asked for a discerning heart to govern the people and the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.”

I Chronicles 28:9

What Did He Get Right?

- asked for a discerning heart to govern the people and the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” David said. “So be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go . . . ”

I Kings 2:2-3

What Did He Get Right?

- asked for a discerning heart to govern the people and the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

Proverbs 4:23

What Did He Get Right?

- asked for a discerning heart to govern the people and the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

“The heart is essentially the whole man, with all his attributes, physical, intellectual and psychological, of which the Hebrew thought and spoke, and the heart was conceived of as the governing center for all of these. It is the heart which makes a man . . . what he is, and governs all his actions. Character, personality, will, mind are modern terms which all reflect something of the meaning of ‘heart’ in its biblical usage.”

New Bible Dictionary

What Did He Get Right?

- asked for a discerning heart to govern the people and the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

“Solomon wanted a ‘hearing heart.’ True understanding comes from hearing what God has to say, and to the Old Testament Jew, ‘hearing’ meant ‘obeying.’”

Warren Wiersbe Commentary

Questions to Consider:

Where’s your heart today?

Have you ever prayed to have a “hearing heart?”

Do you want to listen to God’s Word in order to guard your life — your words, your actions, attitudes, obedience?

Are you “getting it right?”