Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Chronicles 1 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Psalm 72 … To study this Psalm, go to this link -
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Reference Passage: Reference passage for Today’s Bible Study: Deuteronomy 17: 14-20 … To study this passage go to this link -
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Highlight Passage : 2nd Chronicles 1: 7, 10, 12, 14-15 … 7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." … [Solomon’s reply] “10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?" … [God’s response] … “…12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have." … [Following God’s providence to Solomon] … 14 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones…
My Journal for Today: Today’s read from the chronological reading plan has me reading the parallel passage to what I studied yesterday from 1st Kings, chapters 3-4; … today from 2nd Chronicles 1, and I’m asking that any reader with me here take the time to read the copied verses from this chapter which I’ve provided for your study.
And in doing so, I was stricken by how Solomon, with the bestowing of God’s grace of wisdom, wealth, and power, chose to let his own pride get in the way of sound judgment, even going against his own written advice to his own son and to other believers in Proverbs 16: 18, where he wrote, [NIV] " Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."
You know, it is not uncommon, at least for this Christian, that our pride can take hold, especially when things are going well. Have you ever experienced the feeling that you are in control and can do no wrong when things are going really going well for you? I sure have! … And that is what apparently happened for Solomon. As you can read above, God really unloaded a pile of wondrous grace upon Solomon when the Lord noted that Solomon had humbly asked for wisdom rather than asking for wealth and power when he was given that opportunity by God. And so, what did Solomon do with all that God provided for him? He went out, and in his arrogance, he ignored the instructions (i.e., commands) that God had levied on kings in God’s Book of the Law.
Again, as I did yesterday, I’ve provided any reader with a link to the passage in Deuteronomy 17 where God gives His rules for the kingship of God’s people. And in these boundaries, we see God saying that no king will accumulate vast numbers of horses, gold/silver, and wives; and Solomon, as we can read in 1st Kings 3-4 and 2nd Chronicles 1, as well as from history, did all of these things, blatently mocking God with his kingly choices.
And as we also know from Solomon’s own writings (Proverbs 3: 34), God resists the mockery of pride and gives His grace only to the humble. So, as I wrote yesterday, when one reads the reflections of Solomon later in life in the book of Ecclesiastes, it is not surprising that Solomon would proclaim [go back and read Ecclesiastes, chapter 2] for others who would come after him that his life had become wracked and ruined by his own VANITY and pridefulness.
So, my friend, if things are really going well for you; and you are being given a lot of good things in life from God’s providence, … BEWARE! It is so easy to fall into the same trap in which Solomon did, letting pride go before a fall.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to avoid my own deceit-ridden heart and to continue to see You in all things and at all times, even when I am being given so much by Your grace. Amen
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