There is Nothing New Under the Sun: Learning from King Solomon

My heart sank as I read the words on my phone. My social media feed relayed the news of yet another prominent Christian leader confessing long-hidden sin.  Over the past several years, a litany of famous pastors and leaders have fallen into grievous sin, calling into question their years of ministry.  As I read the article, I wondered how and why this happened to a well-known Christian influencer.

Yet if we are honest about our own indwelling sin, we realize none of us are immune.  And though we may react with shock to the sins and brokenness of leaders around us, the Bible tells us “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Ironically, these words from the book of Ecclesiastes were penned by a man with a similar story to the one in my newsfeed – King Solomon.  When I struggle to understand why God chose Solomon to write Scripture, He reminds me that He is the ultimate Author.  Solomon was simply an instrument in His hands.

The Bible tells us that “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us.” (Romans 15:4) As we look at King Solomon’s life, we can learn how to enjoy God’s abundant blessings and guard against falling into life-altering sin.

A LOOK AT KING SOLOMON’S LIFE

Solomon’s life is recorded in 1 Kings 3-11 and 2 Chronicles 1-9.  He began his life in humility, asking for discernment to lead God’s people. God was pleased with his request and granted him not only wisdom but incredible riches, honor, fame, knowledge, and influence (1 Kings 3:10-13; 4:29-34).   However, we also learn about Solomon as the author of Ecclesiastes.  In this book, he records the things he pursued to attain happiness – projects, wine, food, sex, money, and material things.  He denied himself nothing his eyes desired and refused his heart no pleasure, which is evident by the fact that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. But he found it all to be “meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). Toward the end of his life, we read that Solomon’s wives led him astray and turned his heart to other gods and away from the Lord (1 Kings 11).

Throughout Solomon’s life, there is a clear shift from God to self. In a word, Solomon chose pride.

Pride leads to all kinds of destructive attitudes, and there are two effects of pride we see in reading about Solomon’s life: self-centeredness and ingratitude.

PRIDE LEADS TO SELF-CENTEREDNESS

Solomon started his kingly career in humility.  Yet somewhere along the way, his heart shifted from serving God to serving himself.  We see this in Ecclesiastes 2 where the repetition of “I” and “my” reveals a heart set on his own happiness instead of honoring God.  He states, “I built houses for myself and planted vineyards...I amassed silver and gold for myself…I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.” (Ecclesiastes 2:4,8,10, emphasis added.)  This is a stark contrast from the humble man in 1 Kings 3 who, when God told him to ask for whatever he wanted, asked for a discerning heart to govern the people.

When God blesses us with material goods or worldly influence, there is often a subtle temptation to become more focused on self. In the case of Solomon, the whole world sought an audience with him, and people brought him lavish gifts of gold, weapons, and horses. Similarly, Christian celebrities watch as their social media following grows, sermon downloads increase, money flows in, and people quote them online.  Like Ron Burgundy in the movie Anchorman, the human heart begins to think, “I’m kind of a big deal.” 

But we’re not a big deal.  Everything we have­—­­intellect, charisma, skills, wealth—is a gift from God and sovereignly apportioned to us according to his will.  In fact, He warns us about this attitude: 

“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.’” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18, emphasis added). 

Pride leads us to forget God and become self-centered in our perspective and endeavors.

PRIDE LEADS TO INGRATITUDE

Once our eyes shift from God to self, ingratitude takes root.  Romans 1 shows the clear downward trajectory: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1: 21, emphasis added). Pride rejects God for self and therefore does not give thanks to Him.

But Solomon did not begin this way; his heart of gratitude is seen during the dedication of the temple. During that festival, Solomon sacrificed grain offerings and fellowship offerings of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats!  Both fellowship and grain offerings symbolized thanksgiving to God.  The sheer magnitude of this act reflects Solomon’s heart of gratitude.  But later in his life, we read that he built altars for sacrifices to the gods of his wives, turning away from the God of his fathers, an act of pride and ingratitude.

The Bible repeatedly tells us that thankfulness marks believers (Colossians 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).  When we find ourselves complaining and feeling entitled, we should take heed that pride is lurking underneath those feelings. Recently, my husband changed jobs, and our income was drastically reduced.  I realized I had become accustomed to a certain standard of living, and entitlement simmered in my heart.  I had to lay those feelings down before the Lord, acknowledging I am not owed anything, and thank him for His provision regardless of income level.

LIVE WITHIN GODLY RELATIONSHIPS

In the middle of an abundantly blessed life, how do we guard against these sins?

Later in his life, Solomon’s foreign wives “turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.”  We do not read about any prophet or priest that he seeks for counsel.  The people Solomon had surrounded himself with—his close relationships—were not encouraging him on the good path. 

In the New Testament, the book of Hebrews echoes this “turning away” and guides us to flee from it:

“See to it, brothers, that none of you have a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). 

“See to it” indicates a proactive stance; we do not passively win the victory over sin. We must “be killing sin or sin will be killing us,” to paraphrase the Puritan writer John Owen.  This directive is to the “brothers” and therefore a call to the body of believers.  We are to help each other guard against turning away from God by giving other mature believers permission to keep us on the right path.

Whether we have followed the Lord for five years or fifty years, served him on a platform with thousands of followers or in a small town with a few coworkers, we all have the propensity to turn away from the living God.  We need our brothers and sisters in Christ to help us guard against the sinful effects of pride.  And when we do fall, may we run to Jesus in repentance.  I am thankful to have since read that this famous Christian leader has done that. “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)

May we never forget that our blessings come from God, not ourselves, and may we “exhort one another every day…that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13, ESV)

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture references are quoted from the New International Version, 1984.