Arkansas State press., 1945-05-04

1923: 1i;+. IL.
GOLDEN TEXT-Blessed is the nation
whose God ID the Lord.-Psalm 33:l2,
Keeping up with the neighbors Is
not always a desirable thing, but
both men and nations do 1t. When
the last Judge. Samuel. had become
old, Israel began to demand king
Like the nations round about them.
Although the rejection OF His d.
rect rule over them through His cho-
sen men was a sad development
God permitted them to choose a
king. Saul. their first king, was evil
IDENTIFY selected for his appearance
and his physical superiority. He
began well, In dependence upon God.
but came to a tragic end because OF
sin.
David, who followed Saul, had his
failings, but was essentially man
after Gods own heart. He wanted
to build a temple for God, but be-
cause he was a man OF war, God
decreed that his son, Solomon, who
succeeded him, was to build it,
With the reign of Solomon. and
especially with the building of the
temple, the monarchy in Israel
reached its highest development
only, to go down to disaster,
Our lesson opens after the remark
ably fine prayer with which Solomon
dedicated the temple.
l. Dedication Accepted OLD.
God was pleased with Solomon's
intelligent and spiritual prayer and
the act Of dedication, and He hal
lowed the house of the Lord by put
ting His name or it and assuring
them of His continual presence.
1t is a delightful thing that God is
willing to accept at the hands of a
man the dedication of either himself
or his possessions for Gods glory.
The Lord is Maker Of heaven and
earth and surely has no need Of what
we have. And yet He does have
need of it, and is ready to use it as
we present 1t TO Him.
Our act of dedication results in His
act of acceptance and conservation
Of our talents, our time, our money,
or our goods for His glorious service,
But God expects His people to con-
tinue in devotion to Him if they are
to have His continued presence and
blessing.
II. Conservation Expected DAD.
The throne of David was to remain
in the lineage Of Solomon as long as
he and the people of Israel walked
uprightly before God. He expects
obedience to His commandments.
and apart from it He cannot give His
blessing.
Note the faithfulness Of God. No
man would ever have introduced
such q note Of solemn portent and
Of warning into an occasion which
seemed all gladness and light, Pros
perity was at its height. The king
was in favor with both God and man.
Into that picture Of success and
grandeur God paints with bold
strokes a great and striking IF"
1t is presumption to think that we
can coast along on past attainments
or former piety. If we are to be
used and blessed Of God tomorrow
and the day after, we must look to
our conservation to Him and our ODE
dience to His will.
Ill. Possessions Glori6ed (9;26;
l0:26-28).
We read in 1923 that King Solo
mon exceeded all kings of the earth
In riches and wisdom" He had
reached the pinnacle. The Chinese
have a proverb, The man who
stands on the pinnacle has nowhere
to step but Off"
II need not have been snare for
Solomon to be rich if he had main
tanned his simple faith in God, but
the temptations brought in by heath
en- wives whom he foolishly married,
coupled with the deceitfulness OF
riches (Matt, 1922, soon led him
into the downward path.
The almost unbelievable riches of
Solomon could have been used for
the glory of God, but instead they
were an end in themselves.
When money takes the ruling hand
In a mans life, he loses out spiritu-
ally. His life becomes an empty
farce, his soul can be satisfied with
only more and more gold,
Solomon was soon led into the fol-
ly Of turning to the worship Of
heather gods. Little wonder that we
find:
Nv. Judgment Decreed Ola, III.
1t would seem that man who
knows the Lord should grow in grace
and become even more intimate with
God as he grows old One might ex-
pect that the passing of years should
mellow and sweeten life. But sad
to say. 1t is often not the case.
when Solomon was DID," he went
after false gods. How tragicl Little
wonder that one Of the saintliest
men this writer ever knew prayed
constantly as he went on into his
eighties, Lord. keep me from ever
becoming a wicked old man" Other
old men and women Eyes, and all Of
us) could well pray the same prayer.
So 1t became necessary for God to
wrest the kingdom out Of the hands
of the great Solomon, and Israel goes