Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


12.16.2005  

Wisely Obedient

In reading through 2 Samuel and 1 Kings, the stories of David and Solomon stand out next to and in comparison to one another. The comparison is inevitable; the nation of Israel knew no greater glory than when they ruled, and so much of God's redemptive hand in history focuses on these relatively few moments of time.

David was known as a man after God's own heart, a man whom God appointed to lead His own nation and from whose line the Messiah would come. Solomon was granted by God wisdom and riches and more. In looking at the entirety of their lives, I was struck by those two characteristics: David's heart, and Solomon's wisdom.

David's life put on display over and over and over again words and actions that reflected a heart in full submission to the sovereign, gracious hand of the living God, the Holy One of Israel. When he was ousted from his throne by his own son Absolom, David was more concerned with the glory of the Lord than he was with "his" throne. He was very much aware that it is the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away. Much to the praise of God's grace, David's actions reflected that truth. David's heart reminds me of Christ's heart in the garden where He prayed that the Father's will be done, not His own.

Solomon's life was marked with renowned, God-given wisdom. Scripture makes much of this wisdom, and it is clear that Solomon's wisdom was unsurpassed. Yet, what did this wisdom gain him? One is disturbed by the lack of humility and purity in Solomon's actions, as many things he did were idolatrous and sinful toward the Lord. He married foreign wives, participated in pagan sacrifices, and allowed worship to stray away from the Lord, He whose name is Jealous. Such great wisdom, yet such great waste.

What, then, are we to do with these two biblical characters? I find it disconcerting that someone such as Solomon, someone blessed with not only great wisdom but also resources beyond my imagination, was so disobedient. Where was the heart that sought after the Lord? Where was the heart that claimed naught but He who first claimed him? Where was the humble obedience that so marked the life of his father, David? Shouldn't wisdom such as his lead to a life lived in a passionate embrace of all that is righteous and true, of that which is pleasing to the Lord?

I told Gary last night that I see in myself how I am so prone to be like Solomon. I told Dan this afternoon that if I'm honest with myself, I can see that the Lord has graciously blessed me with a certain degree of wisdom and discernment. But I also told him that I do things that spit right in the face of wisdom, sinning grievously against the Spirit time and time again.

*Sigh*...true wisdom finds its beginning in the fear of God. Part of that fear, or reverence, is the realization that I am a finite being, and God is not. It is a wise thing to know that my own apprehension and comprehension of life, of myself, and of God has an end, whereas God's does not. There are points that I come to in life where I often must say, "I don't know the answer to that." There is never, however, a point in life where I must say, "I cannot be obedient to the Lord in that."

I'm grateful to the Lord that He is sovereign, that Christ sits enthroned above, and that I have already been redeemed from my sin. I'm grateful that Christ was obedient, even unto death, and that in Him, I too might now be obedient, for Christ has already died the death I was to die. I'm grateful that I am still being taught these things in this world, and that the difficult and arduous learning process is to the glory of God, for one day I shall be able to say I am utterly free from such light, momentary afflictions.

posted by Bolo | 11:34 PM
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