Written by Alina Stout, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Oklahoma
We chose to commit our hearts to God. Good! Now, are we guarding our hearts from whatever might try to take it from God?
Let us think about Solomon, a man who was faithful in his earlier years of life but who turned his heart away from God as he grew older.
Solomon was born because of God’s mercy. His father was David, and his mother was Bathsheba. David had Bathsheba’s husband killed after having an affair with her. As a consequence, God did not allow their first child to live (2Sa 11-12). However, once David repented (2Sa 12:13, Ps 51), God allowed them to have a second child named Solomon (2Sa 12:24).
God loved Solomon, and Solomon loved God (2Sa 12, 1 Ki 3:3). God appeared to Solomon one night in a dream to encourage him to ask for a gift. Solomon, out of humility, asked for a wise and discerning heart. God granted him this and much more, including wealth and honor (1 Ki 3:5-15).
God gave Solomon one condition: “If you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life” (1Ki 3:14, NIV).
Solomon built the temple of God (1Ki 5-6). Out of humility, he prayed that God would let His Name dwell there. God answered and rested His Name on the temple. (1Ki 9, 2Ch 7).
God reiterates to Solomon His one condition: “If you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart…I will establish your royal throne over Israel…But if you…serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them” (1Ki 9:4-7).
We expect Solomon to be thankful for God’s blessings and to glorify God. But something changed. Solomon, despite having a discerning heart, made a mistake that would turn his heart away from God.
As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. (1Ki 11:4)
Solomon married 700 women of royal birth and had 300 concubines. Some of these women were Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. He allowed his wives to worship their own gods and began to worship their gods, too (1Ki 11:1-3).
Three gods are mentioned by name: 1-Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, was a god of war who would grant victory in battle to those who sacrificed to him (Jdg 11). 2-Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, was also called the Queen of Heaven. She was a goddess of fertility and was Baal’s wife (Jer 44). 3-Molek, the god of the Ammonites, was worshiped through child sacrifice (Lev 18:21). Solomon’s devotion to his wives became a devotion to success, fertility, and child sacrifice. Once Solomon introduced these gods to Israel, Israel continued to worship them for generations (1Ki 11:33).
Solomon is an example of someone whose heart was committed to God but whose commitment became divided. He did not guard his heart, and both he and Israel would face the consequences of their actions. If only Solomon had listened to his own wisdom in Proverbs: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Pr 4:23).
God was angry with Solomon, and He told him that the kingdom of Israel would be torn in two (1Ki 11:9-11). Unlike his father David, Solomon did not repent. In a sad irony, David’s repentance allowed Solomon to live, but Solomon’s lack of repentance led to the downfall of the entire nation of Israel.
Despite Solomon’s actions, God mercifully promised to save one tribe of Israel and Jerusalem (1Ki 11:12-13). That tribe, Judah, is the tribe that Jesus was from.
There are two lessons that can be learned from Solomon’s life.
1. Guard your heart for God from anyone or anything else that might try to steal it.
2. God’s heart is committed to you.
In order to keep our hearts committed to God, we need to frequently evaluate our own lives to see whether we are letting anything else lead our hearts astray. Lean on your Iron Rose Sisters through this process.
What do you need to let go of so that you can let God have your whole heart?