The other morning, I was reading in the book of 1 Kings, where Solomon begins his rule and how that God allows him to build the House of the Lord.
In 1 Kings 3 :5-15, God said unto Solomon, “Ask what I shall give thee.” Solomon asked for an understanding heart to discern judgment.
1 Kings 4:30 “And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.”
I Kings 6:11-13, “And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:Â And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
Then in 1 Kings 8 Solomon blesses the Lord, and blesses the newly built house of the Lord.
I Kings 9:2-7, “That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:”
As I was reading this, I began to think about how Solomon was considered such a wise king… but his wisdom didn’t save him, or even keep him from making wrong choices in his own life. Twice, God appeared to him to let him know that He (God) would bless His house and the children of Israel… if they would only do as He asked. You would think that in all that wisdom, he would have understood that. But after reading chapter 11, verse 4 … you see that there is a vital difference between him and his father, David. “The heart.”
1 Kings 11:4, “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”
I think at times we become so caught up in finding wisdom in situations that we get to the point where we loose our “Heart.” We focus so much on the next step and the direction we are supposed to be heading, that we don’t enjoy the moment we are in, and praise God for what He is doing, and has already done. We don’t just magnify and glorify God for who He is!
This last weekend has been another building block in my life. We had our Michigan Matters Ministry Training Conference, and I found some answers to questions that had been taunting my mind. I found a renewed certainty… God is with me.
Seeing such a anointing of God in our services, and the desire that Michigan has for reaching souls… and then we attended the “How Sweet The Sound” Finale in Detroit, where there was a spectacular outpouring of the anointing of God. To the point where I stopped, raised my hands and felt my soul cry out… “This is MY God! This is Who I serve, There is NO Doubt!”  It was such an amazing experience, to see the FIRE from Heaven fall in that arena, that my soul cried out to magnify and glorify HIM. My feelings were not to disregard someone else’s faith in God, but to affirm my own.
Wisdom is needed, knowledge is needed… but it has to be hand and hand with Heart. And if I had one without the other, I would want the Heart after God…because my faith in Him would bring about direction. I don’t want to be like Solomon, where I had so much wisdom, but couldn’t follow after God. He built the House of the Lord, but also built temples for other gods for his many wives.
How do we get there? How do we get from building the House of the Lord (our temple – given to God) to a point where we settle for building other temples here and there…. pushing down the walls of the once sacred and holy place in our life? We all want knowledge and understanding, but what good will they do if our “Heart” is not fixed upon God.
When Solomon blessed the House of the Lord, his heart could very well have been in tune with God. I believe that it probably was, but I also see that God warned him of the choices that stood before him. That there would probably come a time when there would be a choice… Every day, we need to take time to acknowledge God’s place in our heart. The longer we take between those moments, the farther we get from Him… is that how Solomon found himself building houses for other gods? He began to spend more time with all his wives and their gods, that he eventually pushed the ONE TRUE God out of his life completely?
I don’t know about you, but I want to make the right choices. I want to have wisdom in my dealings … and I believe that will come with having a “Heart” like the Heart of David… one that is perfect with the Lord!