King Solomon was king of all Israel (1 Kings 4:1), and “Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea; they ate and drank and were happy” (4:20). We might mark this as the high water mark for the kingdom of Israel, both in terms of geographic extension and in terms of the sense of happiness among all the citizens. King Solomon was blessed (2:45), and all the people of Judah and Israel were blessed, “all of them under their vines and fig trees” (4:25).

But all this blessedness came at a price: a price paid not by the people of Israel, but by the other nations that Israel had conquered. “Solomon was sovereign over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life” (4:21). That is, part of the reason the people of Israel could enjoy life so much was this: all the taxes were being paid by people from other nations. Moreover, in the listing of all of Solomon’s high officials there’s a brief note that reveals that there was a division of forced labor, with Adoniram son of Abda in charge of it (4:6). So again, part of the reason life was good for the citizens was that the heavy lifting was being done by slaves.

Solomon had prayed for wisdom, and God had granted that request (3:7-12), so much so that Solomon easily won the Who’s Who of wisdom (4:29-34). And Solomon loved the Lord (3:3). Yet, as we shall see, this wisest and most devout man also had his blind spots, already hinted at in today’s reading: he was marrying princesses from foreign lands (3:1), worshiping as seemed best to himself (3:3-4), and gathering up a lot of horses (4:26) – though the Torah had warned against these items as precisely the sort of thing that would draw the heart of the king away from the Lord (Deuteronomy 17:14-17).

This forms such an obvious parable for ourselves, in our present culture. Like the people of Israel, we want a good life for ourselves, even if it comes at severe cost to others. Like Solomon, we want power and freedom and pleasure for ourselves, even if that might lead us away from God.

* * * * *

We need your wisdom, Lord, wisdom to see the truth despite our blind spots. Teach us repentance. Teach us humility. We are so quickly led astray by the way we want all those good things for ourselves. Teach us to depend on you: for you alone are the Lord.