May 26 - 1 Kings 4:1-34 | Psalm 72 | Psalm127

Good morning everyone,

We begin our reading this morning by tying up some loose ends in the story of Solomon before heading into the Proverbs. While looking at the twelve district governors who supplied the provisions for the king and the royal house hold, I found myself wondering what their system was. I like systems, my mind works that way. In every task I take on, from sewing six pair of pajamas to planting seven raised boxes, I devise a system for the most efficient and productive way to do it. So for me, it begs the question, how does one transport 16 tons (what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt), so sorry, couldn’t help myself. Anyway, back to the question, how does sixteen tons of grain, thirty cows, a hundred sheep, goats and miscellaneous other critters, get to the palace for preparation, on a daily basis? That is mind boggling to me. Not to mention the staff involved to prepare all of that food. Good grief! There had to be a very good system in place. Suffice to say, it was a good time for the people of Israel. There was peace and prosperity and all was well.

Solomon, like his dad, loved to write penning most of the book of Proverbs which offers wisdom for practical living. Over the next week or so we will be blessed to read some of the many wisdoms of Solomon. Today though, we have two psalms attributed to Solomon. Psalm 72 concludes part two of the Psalms, though some commentators believe it is written not by Solomon but by David for Solomon, all agree it is a royal psalm asking God to bless the just king, and that this psalm goes beyond earthly kings. It speaks to the King of Kings who will some day come and reign the perfect reign.

Psalm 127 is a psalm of ascents, you will remember these were sung by the worshippers as they ascended the road to Jerusalem to attend the three pilgrim festivals. It starts off with, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Once, many years ago, life threw me a curve ball. Without going into detail, I can comfortably say that everything I knew and believed in, suddenly was not in place anymore. I was confused, very disoriented, frantic in fact, and making some “not so wise” choices. In an effort to get some order back into my life, I … don’t let that get passed you, “I” decided it would be a great idea to start a Bible study at a church who did not know me from you. I just marched in there one day and basically advised them my plans. They told me in the most polite way possible, indeed, several different times, “no thank you,” but, nonetheless, I continued forward with my plan. I purchased all of the supplies and books needed and they were kind enough to finally allow me a room in their building to hold “my” study, giving me just enough rope to sufficiently hang myself.

Even a blind man could see God was so not in the teaching of that study, that my labors were not only in vain but foolish. Looking back, I shake my head and wonder what I was thinking and I thank God for the failure. I thank God for the reminder that with Him and through Him all things are possible, but when we go off on our own, when we get ahead of Him, we’re certain to fail. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” and Lamentations 3:25 says, “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.” It was when I quit trying to control my life, when I humbled myself to the Lord, and once again started searching for His will in my life that He began to speak to me, saying, “Honey, it will be okay, let’s go here instead.” I love, love, love God and how dependable, and so right on he is about everything. I love how He knows the big picture and how his plans for me and for you are so much greater anything that we could ever imagine. My life is infinitely better now, having learned that lesson. Our God is an awesome God! Amen?

I pray you all have a most excellent day and to God be the glory.
God bless you all …

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