Week 10, Chapter 13: The King Who Had It All
Associated Scripture: 1 Kings 1-8; 10-11; 2 Chronicles
5-7; Proverbs 1-3; 6; 20-21
This session is the first session I taught. My very first time leading a study group…sigh. To be honest, I don’t remember a THING. It was a great study session; thank you
ladies.
I made Michelle (sorry girl—the vomit was a-building up) open in prayer and I closed and I felt as
though my prayer was lame. Ok—this is an
honest feeling-nothing wrong with that.
But deep down, I felt great. I
felt as though I mumbled through this session but God was with me. He was there; thank you God. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. To be honest, I was so worried about presenting
that I didn’t write a single note. Feel
free to add any of this blog discussion via the comment below. To honor the discussion questions in the
book, I wanted to share with you a site that I found, after I realized I took
no notes as the leader. It is a great
read to the questions. But first, let’s watch
a review video of this week’s chapter 13:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVGeWzMA1-8
Discussion Questions:
1.
Why was Solomon’s request for wisdom and
discernment so pleasing to the Lord?
2.
How is wisdom different from mere knowledge and
intellect?
3.
Why is it vital to become wise?
4.
What can you do to gain more wisdom?
5.
How did pride and lust contribute to Solomon’s
fall?
6.
What can you do to guard yourself against these
sins?
Video Discussion:
1)
Our
culture can be a little like the kettle and we can become the frogs plopped
into the water..if we are not careful.
Name some examples of dangerous and incremental changes happening around
us that we can fail to notice. What can we do to wake up, notice and resist
these changes?
For me, let’s look at the
schools. Public schools no longer are
the same as when I was in school. WE are
so careful not to offend anyone. I never
thought of school as offensive. I
specifically remember learning evolution and not being offended…Evolution is
just that; growth. Heck, I have
certainly evolved as a Christian woman…with that said, I also remember learning
big bang and the biblical versions too.
I was in public school. You know,
where you once got punished for saying ugly things and feared the
principal. The place where I learned to
be a person who was forgiving rather than expecting…I wish society would notice
that some of the very proverbs in the bible are natural good vs evil; right vs.
wrong and just take a stand. Yeah, that
may mean a paddle in the hallway but heck, if you were good you didn’t have to
receive a paddling. Soap box.
2)
As David neared the end of his life, he gave a
charge to his son Solomon. What were his
specific exhortations and how do these words reflect what David and learned
from his personal choices in life?
Do not idolize any other
Gods. The importance he placed on his
many wives were considered his “other Gods” which his focus away from the one and only God. As I remember this, I think personally back
to the same thought. As soon as I worry
about something that really I have spent too much time worrying on—I have just
idolized that “thing.” I need to place
my worry in God’s hands and things will get better.
3)
God appeared to Solomon in a dream and engaged
him in the “If you could have anything you want” conversation. What did Solomon ask for and what did he
refrain from asking for? What can we
learn about prayer from this account in Solomon’s life? Wow is all I can say. He asked for wisdom. He did not ask for money. He did not ask for materialistic things. He asked for things that would glorify God
through him. What a great and self-less
request.
4)
As Solomon’s wisdom grew, the Holy Spirit
inspired him to write and collect wise sayings.
According to Proverbs 1: 1-7, what is the purpose and value of the
proverbs and why are they needed just as much today as they were in ancient
times? If you want to lead a disciplined
and successful life—follow these proverbs.
Enough said.
5)
The Story includes many examples of
proverbs. Respond to one of the
questions below about this collection of wise sayings:
a. What
do they teach us about fearing God?
b. What
do they teach us about God-honoring relationships?
c. What
do they teach us about how to handle our finances wisely?
d. What
do they teach us about how we use our words?
You can look up each one. For this post, I decided to mention the “God
Fearing” by selecting Proverbs 4:10 and 11: My child, listen to me and do as I
say, and you will have a long, good life.
I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths.” This is the same as with our own children. We, as parents, give them the wisdom they
will need to do as we say as parents and be: parent-fearing. If you mind me, all will be well because I am
your teaching and all you have to do is as I say. God is the same. He has his book to tell us how to be God
fearing and if we mind—we will be most fruitful.
6)
As the temple was dedicated, Solomon prayed and
spoke to the people of Israel. What do
his words teach us about God? What does
he ask for himself and for the people and how can his prayer inform the way we
speak to God? This prayer is below. You
will know the answer when you read it yourself.
Read the passage. Answer the
question.
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22 Then Solomon stood before the
altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his
hands toward heaven 23 and said:
“Lord, the God of Israel, there
is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant
of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have
kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have
promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.
25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel,
keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you
said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne
of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before
me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that
you promised your servant David my father come true.
27 “But will God really dwell on
earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less
this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and
his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant
is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this
temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’
so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear
the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray
toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear,
forgive.
31 “When anyone wrongs their
neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath
before your altar in this temple, 32 then hear from heaven and act. Judge
between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads
what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in
accordance with their innocence.
33 “When your people Israel have
been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they
turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication
to you in this temple, 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your
people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.
35 “When the heavens are shut up
and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they
pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin
because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin
of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and
send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
37 “When famine or plague comes
to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy
besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38
and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being
aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands
toward this temple— 39 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and
act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts
(for you alone know every human heart), 40 so that they will fear you all the
time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
41 “As for the foreigner who
does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because
of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and
your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear
from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so
that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your
own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
44 “When your people go to war
against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord
toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45
then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.
46 “When they sin against
you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and
give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far
away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are
held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and
say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48 and if
they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their
enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their
ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your
Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their
plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned
against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and
cause their captors to show them mercy; 51 for they are your people and your
inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.
52 “May your eyes be open to
your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen
to them whenever they cry out to you. 53 For you singled them out from all the
nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through
your servant Moses when you, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of
Egypt.”
54 When Solomon had finished all
these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the
Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He
stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:
56 “Praise be to the Lord, who
has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has
failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the
Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor
forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and
keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these
words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God
day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his
people Israel according to each day’s need, 60 so that all the peoples of the
earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. 61 And may your
hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey
his commands, as at this time.”
7)
After Solomon’s prayer and charge to the people,
God spoke. What promises did God give
the people? How did these promises give
both hope and sober awareness of their need to follow God closely? Just read the passages to sober you:
1 Kings 9 New International
Version (NIV)
The Lord Appears to Solomon
9 When Solomon had finished
building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he
had desired to do, 2 the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared
to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him:
“I have heard the prayer and
plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have
built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be
there.
4 “As for you, if you walk before
me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father
did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish
your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I
said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you[a] or your
descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I
have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I
will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple
I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object
of ridicule among all peoples. 8 This temple will become a heap of rubble.
All[c] who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord
done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9 People will answer,
‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out
of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why
the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’”
8)
At the end of his life, the wise King Solomon
did some very foolish things. What did
he do and what were some of the consequences?
How can we avoid fishing poorly? “Since
this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I
commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it
to one of your subordinates.” Solomon’s
weakness was women. He really began trying
to please the many women that he had.
This became idolatry and took away Solomon from the Lord even after many
warnings from God. He was such a good
leader and still he failed in the end.
He finished poorly. We can each
prevent this. WE can. Remember the Proverbs. Follow these rules. Pray and have the relationship with God—and listen
to what He has to say.
