Pastor John,
I am hesitant to write this email, but I feel I must, as there’s something askew in my spirit. The only way I know to fix it is to expose it.
Lately, when I read the Solomon’s Wisdom excerpts, I feel he was like Christians of today, thinking he can do whatever he wants and still be blessed by God: 700 wives, 300 concubines, and wealth beyond belief. Jim and Tammy Fay Baker comes to mind as I am reading: air conditioned dog house, lavish life style.
Many Christians claim to be able to commit any sin and God will still bless them because they are “saved”. And some of them are still receiving His blessings, growing in fame and fortune. It causes my flesh to protest, “If God is blessing that, then what am I doing?” is the feeling.
Are we to celebrate Solomon’s lifestyle, or Jim and Tammy’s? How should I feel about this? How could anyone have 1000 women and treat them right while still being right with God? Is Solomon’s life a lesson of how anyone can go wrong? I know he started out right with God, but where was he with God at that time?
Or is it me? Am I jealous, feeling left out? I pray not. I don’t want wealth, or many women. I will be honest, a companion would be nice, but not more than one, and a godly one. So if it is me, please pray whatever it is will be exposed so I can get rid of it.
I don’t like what I am feeling as I read these excerpts from Solomon, so I find myself not reading them every day anymore, and I do miss the blessings I was getting from them. I think it is my lack of understanding holding me back.
These feelings have caused me to sing a new jingle:
I want what God wants me to want (3times)
I want what God wants me to want all day long
I think what God wants me to think x3
I think what God wants me to think all day long
I feel what God wants me to feel x3
I feel what God wants me to feel all day long.
I love what God wants me to love x3
I love what God wants me to love all day long
I hate what God wants me to hate x3
I hate what God wants me to hate, all day long
I pray you can bring understanding and peace to me over this.
Mark
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Hi Mark.
The short answer is that Solomon was wise when he was young, that is, when he wrote the excerpts you have been reading, but that he became foolish as he grew older. He even constructed an altar to the heathen god Molech for his Moabite wife, which was a god to which the Moabites and Ammonites sacrificed their children (1Kgs. 11:7–8). And that altar remained in use on the top of the Mount of Olives for centuries before young king Josiah tore it down (2Kgs. 23:13).
It is true that before he died, Solomon greatly displeased God, but don’t let that sad fact deter you from enjoying the wisdom God gave him when he was young.
Thank you for writing. This life is a spiritual battleground, isn’t it? Keep singing your song.
Jdc