HEART OF WISDOM

SERIES: MY CUP OVERFLOWS.

TEXT: 1st KING 3:1-15; 2nd COR. 9:8.

God granted King Solomon a heart of wisdom as he desired but in his later years Solomon let his heart wander away from God and had to face the consequences for the same. Today we have some precious lessons we can learn on how we can guard our hearts and keep it focused on God.

We read in 2nd Cor. 9:8, “and God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause.”

Today, we look at one more important principle that we need to follow in order to retain the abundant blessings that God desires to pour on us and not lose out on them.

Adam had everything in overflowing abundance in the garden of Eden. Everything that Adam desired was readily available for him at his disposal. The other person in the Bible who had such an abundance was King Solomon.

Let us notice:-

KING SOLOMON WAS FULLY ESTABLISHED.

1. King Solomon was seated on the throne.

• 1st Kings 1:46, “Solomon is now seated on the royal throne.”
• Though King David had many sons, God granted the throne to Solomon only.
• The first ten chapters of 1st Kings describes the life and fears of King Solomon.
• 1st Kings 1:28-31 (30) “today I declare I decree that your son Solomon will be the next king and will seat on my throne, just as I swore to you before the Lord the God of Israel.”

1. Solomon’s throne was firmly established-1st Kings 2:46, “Solomon’s power as king was now firmly established.”

• As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we too have the entitlement and honor to be called the sons and daughters of God.
• We are special and have the privilege to be part of the church which is the family of God.

1. Solomon sacrificed to the Lord.

• 1st Kings 3:3, Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the instructions of his father David except that Solomon sacrificed and burned incense at the local altars.”

1. Solomon had peace all around-1st Kings 4:24, “He controlled all the territory west of the Euphrates River from Tipsah to Gaza and all the neighboring countries.”

• Solomon was in such serene place where God so blessed him so that he had peace with all his neighboring countries.

1. God gave Solomon unlimited wisdom and insight.

• 1st Kings 4:20, “God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding and knowledge too vast to be measured-Vs. 29-34.

1. Solomon was blessed beyond measure-1st Kings 10:21, “All Solomon’s cups were gold and all the utensils for the hall which he called the rest of Lebanon were fine gold, nothing was silver because it wasn’t considered valuable in Solomon’s time.”

• During the reign of Solomon silver was like nothing-only pure gold.

ALL WAS WELL FOR KING SOLOMON UNTIL THE TENTH CHAPTER.

• We too must be cautious about every chapter of our lives.
• If we lived ten chapters of our lives well and then if we messed up one we would have lost all.
• We must maintain our testimony and witness right to the end of our lives.
• God has given us so much our families, children, parents, our work, income and all of it we should value and retain these blessings.

1. Solomon went astray in his old age.

• “In his old age his wives tempted him to follow other gods. He was no longer committed to the Lord his God as his father David had been”-1st Kings 11:4.
• The wives of King Solomon made his heart lean towards other gods.
• Leaning is something that does not happen overnight, but it is a gradual process.
• For a while everything seemed normal although King Solomon had maintained many heathen wives.
• This change happened so slowly that Solomon did not even realize that his heart had turned away from the living God.
• God never stopped King Solomon from marrying heathen women.
• Solomon knew the commandments of God which clearly mentioned that the children of Israel were not to intermarry with heathen women around them.
• As Solomon began to do what God forbid him to, the consequence was that his heart turned away from God.
• This man who was the recipient of God’s abundant blessings was suddenly the object of God’s wrath.

1. What are the things that draw us away from God?

• For Solomon it was wives, but each one of us has something that would easily draw us away from the living God.
• For some it is laziness. These are those who want to wake up late in the morning and rush to work. Since they are late they will have no time for quiet time (Q.T) with God.
• They make a deal with God to meet in the evening, but because of tiredness they are overtaken. This state of affairs goes on for months until the believer drifts from God.
• To others, they have loads of friends, but their friends draw them away from the Living God.
• We should not get addicted to any habit that draws us away from the living God.
• For many people cellphone and the internet.
• We must know which apps to install and which person’s to delete and blacklist so they don’t become and hindrance.

1. God was angry with Solomon-1st Kings 11:9-10.

“So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. God had given him commands about this. He told him not to follow other gods, but Solomon did not obey God’s command.”

• In verse 4, we read that Solomon’s wives tempted him to follow other gods.
• In verse 9, we read that Solomon’s heart too turned away from God.
• If we follow the wrong people in our lives, they will lose nothing, but we will have lost our time, purpose, direction and our relationship and fellowship with God.
• Like King Solomon we may consider ourselves wise and may have all the blessings of God, but if we are not watchful we can lose all of it.

GUARD YOUR HEART-Proverbs 4:23.

“Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it.”

• These words were written by King David when he was young.
• If we want to maintain the abundance of God’s blessings in our lives, we must:-

1. Guard our hearts. All decisions and choices we make there will be consequences.

• Wrong decisions have serious consequences.

1. Live in close fellowship with the living God.

• The secret to Solomon’s glory, abundance and overflow was:-

1. Solomon honored his father and mother-1st Kings 1:17; Eph. 6:1-3.

• Bethsheba the wife of King David requested that the throne be passed on to her son.
• Solomon must have been a very obedient son to his mother and father.
• Solomon had many sons, some were more handsome than Solomon.
• Adonijah the son of David was a very handsome young man. He was more handsome than David.
• Solomon had patience to wait for God’s timing, but Adonijah crowned himself king.

1. Solomon desired a heart of wisdom-1st Kings 3:5.

• Some desire lands, houses, cars, clothes, Solomon desired wisdom.
• Solomon desired understanding and knowledge of people-1st Kings 3:9.
• A “heart of wisdom” is a “listening heart,” a heart that discerns between good and evil.
• If Adam and Eve had desired a heart that discern between good and evil they would not have sinned.
• Eve only knew how to pluck it and have it.

1. God was pleased with Solomon-1st Kings 3:10.

“The lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.”

• 1st Kings 3:13, “I will also give you what you have not asked for; all your life you will have wealth and honor, more than that of any other king.”
• God was so pleased with this request from Solomon that God gave him long life in addition, wealth, honor and blessings more than any other king who reigned during his time.

CONCLUSION

• Remember, guard your heart-it is the seat of all our desires.
• If we have hearts that please God and seek after the things that are acceptable to Him, the Lord will give us everything else to overflowing levels.
• Let us ask for a heart of wisdom, so we can experience everything else in abundance.
• Let us walk in daily obedience to God and we will experience everything else in abundance blessings of God for sure.