Recovery Devotional 288 Under the Sun and Not Under God

JMD Devotional 288 1 Kings 11:4,7-9 Under the Sun and Not Under God

For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect (complete and whole) with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abominable idol of Moab, on the hill opposite Jerusalem, and for Molech the abominable idol of the Ammonites. And he did so for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord, the God of Israel, Who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but he did not do what the Lord commanded.

(The commentary from the Amplified Bible needs no improvement here): [What all this did to Solomon's sweet fellowship with God is to be seen in Ecclesiastes. Take the sun out of the sky, and all earth's beauty and fruitfulness will go also. Take God out of your sky, and life's joys will be turned to dregs, bitterness, and futility. Solomon had deliberately chosen to live "under the sun" instead of under God. In the awareness of his own unquestionable greatness, he had become indifferent to the fact that "here is more than Solomon" (Luke 11:31) and that to scorn or ignore God is fatal. With all his wisdom he failed to recognize that "God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions or by His precepts being set aside)... For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap" (Gal. 6:7)] (The Amplified Bible, 1987).

Dear God,

If we were truly ‘one nation under God’, there would be constant acknowledgment of Your Preeminence, Superiority and Authority. Help me to live as ‘one man under God’, being careful to recognize that all I do, think or feel lies naked before You. You have appeared to me in many ways; may I not distain Your grace. Rather, may Your soul be satisfied and take pleasure in my redeemed life as I follow Your path.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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