Divided Heart

1 Kings 3:3
“And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.”

Throughout his life Solomon showed evidence of his love for the Lord. He wrote three thousand proverbs to instruct young men how to walk pleasing to the Lord. Although only a few remain, we are told he also wrote over one thousand songs. Because of the influence of his father, it is safe to say, most of these would have been songs of worship. Solomon also spent the early years of his reign building the Temple, so Israel would have a permanent structure in which to worship he Lord. All of this attests to the statement that, “Solomon loved The Lord.” The problem arises when we continue reading the verse and find, along with his love, he had what the text calls “an exception.” Solomon loved The Lord except…”

For Solomon, this exception was a divided heart. He loved God, but he also loved women, and married hundreds of them. Many of these women were foreigners, and in order to please them, he erected altars or even temples to their false gods. This double devotion led Solomon further and further away from the Lord, and sowed seeds that would ultimate cause the collapse of the nation. His life proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the truth of the Jesus’ words:

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other…”

It is important that we carefully examine our lives to determine whether we are dividing our devotion between the Lord and the things of the world. James reminds us, love for the things that God opposes, puts us at enmity with God (James 4:4). Instead of having Him on our side, helping us to become the person He designed us to be, we find ourselves constantly fighting against Him, in order to do things that He forbids.

The danger is, these exceptions will become the rule. What started out as a little compromise, became the defining element of Solomon’s life.

Pastor Jim