Without question, Solomon was the wisest King in Israel’s history. God wanted to bless Solomon so he asked him to request anything he desired from God. Solomon requested wisdom. Since he didn’t ask for wealth or any other selfish thing, God blessed him with wisdom and with wealth. (Boy, did God bless him with wealth!)
His reign is remembered for amazing dignitaries from around the known-world with his incredible, supernatural ability to administrate, give sage counsel, and of course all his wealth. (My wife would be quick to make mention of his monkeys also lol) Recently, I was reading through 1 Kings and read of an ivory throne he had made; as if that ivory throne wasn’t beautiful enough, he covered the entire thing with gold! This man had some serious wealth!
It’s amazing to me that even though his reign was such an incredible duality of faith and wealth, we cannot serve two masters, we will eventually love one and hate the other.
Perhaps Solomon wouldn’t have described his marriages to women from foreign countries (from which God had forbidden His children to marry) as “hating God”, or sacrificing to idols as “hating God”, but that is precisely what sin amounts to; we can dress it up, call it a fancy name, explain our intentions, but at the end of the day it is treason.
“Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign” R.C. Sproul
The king who had worked so hard to make a kingdom for the children of the Most High God had personally been committing spiritual treason against the King of Kings!
Perhaps Solomon would have done well to taken a lesson from his daddy, King David who penned these words in Psalm 19:13, “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me.”
1.) David recognized his position in the kingdom of God – “your servant”
2.) That word “presumptuous”
What an interesting word, presumptuous. Here’s what the dictionary tells us about presumptuous:
-
(of a person or their behavior) failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate.
When David prayed about “presumptuous sins” he was referring to sins he committed because he hadn’t taken the time to consider whether he was sinning or not. Another way of phrasing the idea of “presumptuous sins” could be…
I don’t care if this is a sin or not, I’m going to do it!
Solomon presumed that God wouldn’t mind if he negotiated political alliances with neighboring countries, even if it was at the expense of God’s commands. Solomon wasn’t interested in what God thought, because God wasn’t at the center of Solomon’s life; Solomon was at the center of Solomon’s life.
Solomon presumed that God wouldn’t mind if offered worship to other gods to appease his wives, even if it was at the expense of God’s commands. Solomon wasn’t interested in what God thought about these wives because God wasn’t at the center of Solomon’s life; Solomon was at the center of Solomon’s life.
Solomon presumed that God would continue to honor him even when he was blatantly ignoring the command of God. Solomon wasn’t interested in what God thought about him worshipping other gods because God wasn’t at the center of Solomon’s life; Solomon was the center of Solomon’s life.
How often do we presume the same of God? Why are we presumptuous?
At the root of our presumptuous sins lies the sin of idolatry. When something or someone other than Jesus is at the center of our lives, we become presumptuous.
The end of Solomon’s story isn’t pretty, he is laid to rest with his fathers after years of rebellion and fighting. He didn’t finish well because he had made himself the center of his life. What started out as a man dependent on God turned into a man dependent on himself. Such a sad legacy Solomon left his children. Certainly, he is remembered as a man of wisdom, and a man of wealth, but his last years serve as a haunting reminder for us today; when presumptuous sins become habitual we can assume that we have misplaced our relationship with Jesus and we have become the center of our life.
Let’s choose today to make Jesus at the center of our lives, our work, our families, our church, our homes. Let every decision flow from that relationship! If we will do that, He will keep these servants from presumptuous sins.
