that He may incline our hearts to Himself

hi friends, and merry Christmas!  let's get right to the bible study. my last post was a response to chapter three in first kings, and i'm going to pick up there.

verse 16 begins solomon's judgment between the two women who were fighting over a baby. each had an infant near the same time and one died. this is the story in which the one claimed the living baby to be hers, and solomon told them that he would "divide the living child in two, giving half to the one and half to the other," and of course, the real mom said "no!"  i believe this story was recorded as an example of solomon's wisdom and of his discernment into the heart of the accused and the accuser and the wounded and the manipulator. he knew the true mother would speak up when it came down to it. blessed discernment. sad sad story. i cringe that this really happened.

chapter four records the officials in solomon's administration and the abundance of his wealth and wisdom which i wrote about last time. :) then, in chapter 5...the beginning of temple-building preparations. solomon ruled during a peaceful time and could take on this task. he made a friendship/alliance with hiram king of tyre, and he commissioned men to begin work gathering stone for the temple. 480 years after the sons of israel came out of egypt, they began to build. chapter 6 records the dimensions of the temple and details of construction and  a promise (verse 12). it took seven years to build the temple. then, in 7, we read about solomon's palace. another thirteen years of building, and it was pretty unreal.  we read of bronze and decorative cherubim and pillars and decorative pomegranates.  (this reminds me of my sister's and cousin's standing joke...one Christmas, i gave them each a fake squash. we call it the "decorative squash," lol. it's sparkly. yeah. sparkly decorative squash. ha.) but, in their culture, the pomegranates were special. and we read of hand-hewn furniture and gold and silver utensils and extravagance. evidence of solomon's great wealth.

the ark is brought into the temple, and chapter 8 records how a cloud filled up the house of the Lord...His presence. solomon prayed  a prayer of dedication. i completely love what he said to the people when he stood (v. 58), "may the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself." (italics mine). this verse stuck out to me when i read it months ago (and actually mentioned it in another post more than a year ago). and it still jumps off the page, because it's my desire. i know nothing else can satisfy. unrest and discontent in my spirit is never resolved without  Him. i want my heart to be inclined to Him...when it is, peace dissolves the angst and discontent. my soul rests in Him. 


first kings to be continued and completed soon. bless you...