ODB: Six Words from Solomon
January 29, 2011
Obedience to God is the key to a life of blessing.
READ: 1 Kings 10:23; 11:1-10
Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. —Ecclesiastes 12:13
SMITH magazine, an online community that “celebrates the joy of storytelling,” invited readers to submit six-word memoirs that describe their lives. Thousands responded with brief biographies ranging from the light-hearted “Sweet wife, good sons—I’m rich” to the painful “Sixty. Still haven’t forgiven my parents.”
Based on Scripture, I tried to imagine how King Solomon might have summed up his life in six words. As a young man, he could have written: God has given me great wisdom. But in his later years, he might have said: Should have practiced what I preached.
During a reign distinguished by peace and prosperity, Solomon developed spiritual heart problems. When he was old, “his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David” (1 Kings 11:4). The result was God’s displeasure and a sad end to a previously exemplary life (v.9).
The multiple times Solomon used the word vanity (or meaningless) in Ecclesiastes may indicate his disillusionment about life. This once-wise king who had it all, lost it all, and pondered it all, ended the book with this final conclusion: “Fear God and keep His commandments” (12:13).
Those are six words worth heeding.
— David C. McCasland
Source: Our Daily Bread
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may the Most High help us to remember all these words in our hearts.
The grace to obey his commandment God please by your mercy grant it on to us. Amen
What happened to Solomon in the end?