Yesterday’s YP lesson was 1 Kings 1.

Background:  David the King of Israel was old and he was dying. The question now was:  who would take his place? His fourth surviving son, Adonijah flexed his muscle and declared himself king even before David died.  He was the next in line: his eldest brother Amnon was dead; Absalom was dead, he was next in line.  He already had strong political allies on his side: Joab, David’s Chief of Staff was on his side; Abiathar the high priest was also on his side.

But God had already expressed his will: God had chosen the ninth son, Solomon to be king after David.

• Solomon was the second son of David by Bathsheba, the ninth in line to the throne.  David committed adultery with Bathsheba and he also committed murder when he ordered the assassination of Bathsheba’s husband, Urriah.  Then he tried to cover up his deed with a cloak of respectability by marrying Bathsheba.  God took their firstborn son: he died soon after he was born. But God gave them Solomon.
• Eight days after Solomon was born, when he was circumcised by Nathan the prophet, he was named “Jedidiah” which meant “beloved of Jehovah.”  This put to rest all possible questions on the boy’s pedigree.  He was a token of God’s forgiveness of David and God’s restoration of David. Solomon was the golden boy, the assurance that David was back in the fellowship and will of God.
• After Solomon was born, David wanted to express his love and gratitude to God.  He proposed to build God a magnificent temple.  Nathan the prophet gave David his unqualified blessing when he said: “Do all that is in thine heart to do.”  But God was of a different mind. God spoke to Nathan in a vision as he slept that night and told him that David will not build the temple because his hands have shed much blood.  God had disqualified David. Instead, God decided that it would be David’s son who would build the temple.  David’s son would be “a man of peace.”
• David humbly accepted God’s righteous judgment.  Since he could not build the temple, he did the next best thing.  He began procuring materials for the building of the temple.  He levied a tax and declared to the nation that there will be a Temple project.  God already gave David the design of the temple.  David had drawn up the plans for it and God had revealed to David that Solomon was to build the temple. David declared to the nation that Solomon would inherit the kingdom in accordance with God’s will.
• Solomon existed for one purpose alone:  to build that temple for God.  It was going to be his life’s occupation, preoccupation and vocation.  He was trained for it.  He was equipped with learning for it.  He was raised and bred to do just that one thing.  He was given a second name to mark his ministry of temple-building: he was now “Shalom-on” which meant, “the man of peace.” His name marked him as the fulfillment of the prophecy that David’s son, the “man of peace” would be the temple-builder.

I invited my students’ attention to think of how David must have felt.  He was forgiven, he was restored, but he was disqualified from fulfilling what he considered to be the task of greatest honor for God: to build Him a temple.  He must have felt so dejected: but he understood the righteousness of God.  God does not allow us to profit from our sins.  Sin has consequences.  Although God freely forgives, there are things from which we are disqualified when we sin.

Imagine the surge of hope in David’s heart when God promised him that it would be his son who will build the temple instead.  Imagine his gratefulness to God for having chosen him and then his son to sit on the throne although he was so undeserving of it.

Imagine the sense of dogged purpose in David as he prepared for the building of the temple; as he prepared his son to build it.  The same determination and strength of character that helped him battle the giant was still in him as he prepared his son to build it.

Imagine things from Solomon’s perspective:  to be told all the time that he was loved of God. Every time he heard his name, he remembered God’s love for him.  God’s love had set him apart from brothers.  It cut him off from any taint of his parentage, his pedigree, the scandal that marked his parent’s union.  It also set him apart to do one holy work: to build God’s temple.

Imagine all the study and learning he had to do from a very young age.  Imagine how he was disciplined.  Imagine how he was rigorously and consistently trained to do just one thing. Imagine the honor and respect every one gave him because he was the one chosen by God himself.

Reflection:   I asked my students:  Do you think that when God set his love on Solomon, God was unaware that later in Solomon’s life, he would marry so many wives who would establish the worship of idols in Israel?  (Idolatry is one thing God abhorred.) Do you think that when God chose Solomon, God was unaware that one day, when Solomon was rich and powerful, influential and well-loved by all he would turn his back on God? No, God was fully aware of the future. He knew what Solomon would turn out to be, and still God loved him.

If I chose to love someone and then I come to the knowledge that someday soon this person would surely betray me and turn his back on my love for him, I would think twice before I go on loving this person.  I might change my mind if I knew the future.  If I set my love on someone and come to the knowledge that someday, all the love I have poured into shaping him and making him a mighty man will make him so proud that he will betray me and thrust me aside, I would think twice before I go on loving that man.  I might change my mind if, like God, I could see the future.

This is the difference between humans and God.  When God loves, he loves unconditionally.  Our future ingratitude and disloyalty to God does not shape his eternal love for us.  His love will always be pure.  That is the way God loves.  That is God’s nature. God’s unconditional love does not take our past into consideration.  He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.  God does not condition his blessing upon our lives on the basis of our worthiness.  He blesses us because that is his nature.  I cannot do anything to make God love me more.  And I certainly cannot do anything so bad to make God love me less.  the way God loves is totally dictated by who God is.  God is always true to his nature.

So what happened to Solomon?  His life which started so well ended up in bitter disappointment.  He was a renowned wise man.  He was the richest king that ever was.  His majesty was unrivalled in all the world.  He set the bar for all kings.  The Bible says in all the world there was no man like Solomon, ever.  And yet having all those blessings from God, in the end, became a source of disappointment for Solomon.  His wisdom, his riches, his majesty and his power could not give him meaning, purpose or fellowship with God. His kingdom was disintegrating and his life was falling apart.  At the end of his life, his conclusion was: “All is vain.”  In Tagalog, “walang kapararakan ang lahat.”  In salitang kalye:  “walang wawa ang buhay.”  His was a bright start that ended up in dim disillusion.

God’s unconditional love is not the same as God’s approval.   God’s approval cannot be measured by all the trappings of wealth, power or influence. Just because everything is going well in your life does not mean that God approves of your life.  It means that God loves you and he is the kind of God who is generous with his blessings whether we deserve them or not.

God’s approval, however, is a different matter. It is measured by only one thing: intimacy of fellowship with God.  In the end, Solomon may have had it all but he did not have the intimate fellowship he could have had with God. He knew God loved him but he did not love God back.  The inability to love God is what mars an otherwise beautiful life. Fellowship with God is the ray of light in this dark world.  It gives life purpose and meaning.  Augustine said that there is a God-shaped vacuum in our lives and we can never be at rest until God fills that vacuum only He can fill. Solomon was rich in everything except where it mattered: his life choices shut the door to fellowship with God. At the end of his life, he was a broken and bitter man. He had lost the excellence of God in his life. Solomon was a man of talent.  Excellence oozed out of the man. But in the end, his personal excellence could not give him joy.  Only the presence of God can bring fullness of joy.

Solomon’s life is a cautionary tale.  It is a tale that depicts the difference between God’s love and God’s approval.  God’s love is for everyone: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.  God’s approval is only reserved for a few: “Whoever doeth my will, he it is that loveth me.”  God measures our love for him not by how much we give to Him (He owns everything so you really can’t give him anything he doesn’t already own.).  God measures our love for him not by what we do for him (God is all-powerful and He can do anything He sets his mind to do.  He doesn’t need you.).  God’s approval comes only when we let Him be the God that He is.

It is not the number of our personal accomplishments that will gain us God’s approval. It is not what we do for God that matters.  In the end, it is what we let God do through us that matters to him.  God is no despot.  He is no dictator.  He will never take what is his.  Our lives are his, but He will not take control of our life without us surrendering it to Him in love. It is when we turn over to God all control over our lives that he approves of us; for then we acknowledge that He owns us and that we are truly nothing without him.  This kind of life lets God be God. This is the expression of the highest trust and praise to God:  that we depend on him to do what He wants to do with our lives because He owns us by right of creation and by right of redemption.  When we allow God to do what He wants to do in our lives, we acknowledge that He is Lord and King.  We acknowledge and trust that He knows what He is doing.

Level up from God’s love to God’s approval.  It is the only life worth living!