For the first half of 2024, SIB KL had gone through an in-depth study of King David’s life. This month, after completion of that study, they embarked on a new series on David’s son, Solomon. In the inaugural sermon, Senior Pastor Isaac Ling delivered a profound and sobering message about a central lesson we can learn from the lives of both King David and King Solomon.
A Fable about King Solomon
King Solomon was renowned for his splendour and wisdom. A fable related the visit of another renowned ruler, the Queen of Sheba, to the kingdom of Israel during his time. The story goes that after seeing the splendour of the kingdom and possessions, she acknowledged the glory of Solomon’s physical possessions.
Nevertheless, she wanted to test the wisdom of the man that she has heard so much of. The challenge: inscribe on a gold ring just 4 words that could reduce a person at the heights of happiness to tears and also do the converse of lifting a person in the depths of despair to happiness. King Solomon whispered words into the ears of his court jeweller and the court jeweller went off to inscribe those words into the ring.
When the ring was returned to the Queen of Sheba, she was having the time of her life. She was surrounded by comfort and given treatment accorded to the highest rankings of VIPs. However, upon seeing the words on the ring, sure enough she broke down into tears. What were the words on the ring? “This too shall pass!”
This Too Shall Pass
Whatever our stage in life is today, wherever we are, situations will pass. Our riches, our glory and health, all these shall one day pass. The hard times we go through, they too shall pass. Pr Isaac shared that in all the funerals he has conducted, he has never seen anyone talk about the deceased’s possessions. It is always the lives that are remembered, but the thing about funerals is that it brought home the harsh reality that even our (earthly) lives shall one day pass.
There is only one thing in this world that will never pass. From the beginning to the end of time, this one thing will not pass. His name is Jesus Christ, the Word of God. Jesus will always be the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, forever and ever.
This assurance gives us hope and also perspective. Whatever we are going through, it will pass. Never place our highest priorities on the things of this world because they are temporal. We come from dust and will one day return to dust. The highest priority and authority should, have to, and must be Jesus Christ because that is the one thing that will never fail or pass.
Who was Solomon?
Most people know King Solomon for his splendour and wisdom. He was the richest man of his time. If evaluated in today’s currency, it is said that his net worth might be to the amount of USD 2.1 trillion. In addition, he was an Efficient Governor. He organised the kingdom and assigned the individual tribes to take care of specific areas of governance that they were best trained for. Solomon was also renowned as a Wise Ruler and Fair Judge. Though he had enough force to conquer the surrounding kingdoms, he was a Peaceful General who valued peace.
Solomon was a great builder, a Civil Engineer and an Architect. He made wise deals with people he transacted with, and was very savvy and shrewd. He led massive crowds in worship, and was an eloquent poet who wrote around 1500 songs. Famous as a paramour, Ecclesiastes 2: 4-6 also tells us that he was a superb horticulturist. Solomon was a man who experienced life to the full. He had the finest palace, finest army, finest women, finest property – a man who was gifted with remarkable wisdom, skills, and possession.
More than that, he was chosen by God to reign (1 Chronicles 28:5). Pr Isaac conveyed what it means for someone to know that God has chosen them for their profession. God named Solomon Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:25) which meant “Beloved of God”. There is great blessing and assurance in the name itself. God also spoke to Solomon twice in his dreams. On a memorable occasion, God even told Solomon, ‘Ask for whatever you want of Me and I will give it to you.’ In 2 Chronicles 7, God publicly approved of Solomon.
And yet despite all these blessings and achievements, Solomon ended up straying from God, and the kingdom was divided into two after his death. During the second time God spoke to him, God had said, “If you stay faithful to Me and obey My commandments, your kingdom will last from generation to generation.” The kingdom broke up during his son’s reign. It did not take long. Solomon never kept covenant with God and God had to judge Israel because of Solomon. If you look at the glory of Israel during Solomon’s reign, this is a very hard-hitting tragedy. What went wrong? What happened to Solomon?
A Central Lesson from Solomon’s Life
Pr Isaac conveyed that Solomon’s character could not carry his call. Solomon’s calling was not to be the wealthiest, wisest, or most successful man. God’s calling for Solomon was this: “Walk in My ways. Obey Me. Do not turn to the left or to the right and I will keep your kingdom from one generation to another”.
Considering all of his gifts, why didn’t Solomon leave behind a legacy of strength to the kingdom? Not for the lack of wisdom but the lack of character. There is a difference between character and wisdom. The reason things happen in our lives is so that God can mould us, create a new thing out of us. Like the potter, He will break us and mould us into something beautiful. The main takeaway no matter where we are in life: God is training, moulding, refining our characters so that we can sustain and carry and contain the call of God in our lives.
The difference between wisdom and character is that Wisdom is the ability to discern and to know between right and wrong; to make the correct decision and action. Wisdom is important for us to navigate through life especially in today’s world that’s full of deception. But more important than wisdom is our Character. Character is knowing who we are, knowing our heart, the sum of our inherent qualities, of our thoughts, intentions, desires, and actions. Who we are inside, heart, desires, soul – the spirit we carry. Who we really are.
The world cannot touch our character. It is the confidence of knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and our identities in Him. No matter the circumstances of life, character does not change – “I know who I am in the Lord and that the Lord loves me”. We are not defined by the property we have and our property does not become our master.
The Difference Between King David and Solomon
King Solomon had wisdom but his father, David, had character (David was known as a man after God’s own heart). King David made many mistakes, many of them due to lack of wisdom, but he was a man who had integrity, and who sought after God. God communicated with David when he was awake, Solomon had to be put to sleep.
Solomon sought culture and civilization but he was not close to God. The Bible only recorded two explicit examples of him honouring God: once with a burnt offering at the beginning of his reign, and later in the dedication of the temple.
Life will test us all in our wisdom and our character, through pleasure and pain. David lived a life of pain but he was moulded by his pain. Solomon’s life was one of pleasure, and he ended up yielding to idols. Solomon never had the birth pains of building his character. It’s probably why he asked for wisdom, it could be he didn’t have the life experience to govern God’s people. Solomon knew he needed God to build that innateness within him.
“You cannot ask God for character, you can only ask God for wisdom,” Pr Isaac expressed. “Wisdom is a subset of character. Character is moulded by life experiences. God will use the circumstances of pain and pleasure in our lives to mould our characters.”
Our lives are not just tested by pain but also by pleasure. Pleasure has a danger of making us indolent and complacent. Our hunger for God grows cold, we take everything for granted. We lose our zeal for revival, and our passion for God.
Changing Our Perspective to an Eternal One
We sometimes fall but experiences like these change our perspectives. It builds understanding of the pain and pleasures of life and leads us to see life through a Godly viewpoint. We realise we need more of God and that we need His wisdom. That’s where often God picks us up. Ask God for His wisdom and for His help in moulding our character.
What produces wisdom? Solomon knew the answer.
Proverbs 9:10:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
We can learn from Solomon: if you want wisdom, fear God because God is the yardstick for right or wrong, of good and evil. If you have no fear of God, how can we know what is our true north?
There is increasing polarity and partisanship in the world because there is no more yardstick. We have departments and ministries set up because we don’t have the wisdom to discern fake news any more. When the enemy robs wisdom from us, the enemy robs our purpose and life. We are living in a world where one computer code can shut it down.
What is God saying to the Church?
The challenge: “Will you come back to the fear of the Lord Most High, will you revere Him or hunger after Him? Are we in awe of God any more or is worship just a good song? Have we lost our respect for God and treating Him like any common thing?”
The Lord says, “Fear Me and I will teach and guide you on the paths of your life, I will teach in your workplace – which deals to make and which not to make and where to invest, where to build your relationships on, how to live your life because you fear Me.” We can have confidence in Him because He is the same Lord God who blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and who also blessed Joseph with the position and wisdom to govern Egypt during times of hardship.
The moment we lose sight of God, we will begin to ask the question, “Is life meaningless?” Just like Solomon who lost his true north. As an old man, Solomon realised the folly of his earlier life. In Ecclesiastes, he wrote about having achieved it all only to find all his achievements to be vanity of vanities. There is only One that can give our lives meaning. One that will never change, One that gives life, who gave us purpose – who gave us the calling in our lives.
The Big Question: What is the calling that God has given in your life? This is the one thing that will leave an enduring legacy as long as we are faithful to God. God is calling us back to Him.
This is a coverage article on a sermon preached by Pr Isaac Ling at SIB KL on the 21st of July 2024, written from the lens of the impartation the writer has received from the sermon. It is an independent initiative and is not directly affiliated with SIB KL.
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