1 King 4-6 - Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon’s Officials

1Ki 4:5 LSB - [5] and Azariah the son of Nathan [was] over the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, [was] the king's friend;

Solomon’s Wealth and Wisdom

1Ki 4:20 LSB - [20] Judah and Israel [were] as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; [they] were eating and drinking and being glad.

1Ki 4:28 ESV - [28] Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

“In Solomon’s court all his officers had a service to carry out, ‘every man according to his charge.’ It is exactly so in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are truly his, he has called us to some work and office, and he wills us to discharge that office diligently. We are not to be gentlemen-at-ease, but men-at-arms; not loiterers, but laborers; not glittering spangles, but burning and shining lights.” (Spurgeon)

“Many a servant girl gives her fourpenny-piece to the offering, and if the same proportion were carried out among those who are wealthy, gold would not be so rare a metal in the LORD’s treasury. A tithe may be too much for some, but a half might not be enough for another. Let it be, ‘Every man according to his charge,’ as to measure as well as to matter.” (Spurgeon)

Spurgeon concluded the message on a high note: “Everything for Jesus, the glorious Solomon of our hearts, the Beloved of our souls! Life for Jesus! Death for Jesus! Time for Jesus! Eternity for Jesus! Hand and heart for Jesus! Brain and tongue for Jesus! Night and day for Jesus! Sickness or health for Jesus! Honor or dishonor for Jesus! Shame or glory for Jesus! Everything for Jesus, ‘Every man according to his charge.’ So may it be! Amen.”

1Ki 4:29 LSB - [29] And God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of [understanding] in [his] heart, like the sand that is on the seashore.

1Ki 4:32 LSB - [32] He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.

1Ki 4:34 LSB - [34] And men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Covenant with Hiram King of Tyre

1Ki 5:15-17 LSB - [15] And Solomon had 70,000 who carried loads, and 80,000 hewers [of stone] in the mountains, [16] besides Solomon's 3,300 chief deputies who [were] over the project [and] who ruled over the people who were doing the work. [17] Then the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, precious stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones.

This speaks to the way we should work for God. We don’t work for appearance only, but also to excel in the deep and hidden things. “I want, dear friends, to urge that all our work for God should be done thoroughly, and especially that part of it which lies lowest, and is least observed of men” (Spurgeon).

This speaks to the way God works in us. He works in the deep and hidden things when others are concerned with mere appearances. “We have been the subjects of a great deal of secret, unseen, underground work. The LORD has spent upon us a world of care. My brother, you would not like to unveil those great searchings of heart of which you have been the subject. You have been honored in public; and, if so, you have had many a whipping behind the door lest you should glory in your flesh… All those chastenings, humblings, and searchings of heart have been a private laying of foundations for higher things” (Spurgeon).

This speaks to the way God builds the church. He wants to do a work of deep, strong foundations instead of a work a mile wide but an inch deep. “To maintain solid truth you need solid people. Vital godliness is therefore to be aimed at. Twenty thousand people, all merely professing faith, but having no energetic life, may not have grace enough among them to make twenty solid believers. Poor, sickly believers turn the church into an hospital, rather than a camp” (Spurgeon).

Solomon Builds the Temple

1Ki 6:7 LSB - [7] The house, while it was being built, was built of stone prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built.

1Ki 6:11-13 LSB - [11] And the word of Yahweh came to Solomon saying, [12] "[Concerning] this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and do My judgments and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will establish My word with you which I spoke to David your father. [13] "And I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel."