As for the rest of the acts of Solomon, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Records of Nathan the Prophet, in the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the Visions of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? Sermons
I. GRANDEUR WITHOUT GODLINESS. The historian is drawing his records of the reign of Solomon to a close; and, in taking his view (or his review) of it, he has much to say of the splendours of his throne and of his surroundings; of the multitude of his horses and chariots, with their stalls and stables; of his store of gold and silver; of his apes and peacocks; of his ships and his cedars; but he says nothing of his service of Jehovah; nothing of the gratitude he showed to God for the very bountiful blessings he had bestowed upon him, and the high estate to which he had raised him, and the special gifts of mind with which he had endowed him. Hem there is a painful absence, a silence that speaks only too forcibly. When Solomon came to review his own life and to examine his own career in the light of early influence and special privilege, he must have felt constrained to be silent, or, if he spoke at all, to use the language of confession. There had been much grandeur but little godliness in his reign. And what had been the proved value of it? 1. The delight it had ministered to him had been of a less noble and less elevating kind, if not actually ignoble and injurious. 2. It bad led his mind away from sources of joy which would have been far worthier in themselves and far more beneficial in their influence. 3. It had raised a standard of excellency before the eyes of his subjects which can have had no enlarging and elevating effect upon their minds. 4. It must have awakened the cupidity of surrounding sovereigns and the envy of many among his subjects. 5. It must have been in painful, not to say guilty, contrast with much poverty in many hundreds of Hebrew homes. 6. It entailed a heavy penalty on the people in the shape of burdensome taxes. Grandeur without godliness is a serious sin and a profound mistake. It is as guilty as it is foolish. And so we find the man who "passed all the kings of the earth" in wealth and in a certain order of wisdom (ver. 22), going down into fault and failure because he lost that "fear of God" which he ought to have understood was "the beginning of wisdom." Unfaithfulness to the principles he learned in youth sent him down into his grave "prematurely old," his kingdom weakened, his character corrupted, his reputation bearing upon its face a dark and ineffaceable stain. How unspeakably preferable is - II. SIMPLICITY AND SACRED SERVICE. Rather than have grandeur without godliness, who would not live in obscurity with a name that does not travel beyond his "native hills," in a home unfamiliar with ivory and gold, living on homeliest fare and dressed in plainest raiment, with the love of the heavenly Father in the heart, the sense of his abiding favour in the soul, Christ's happy and holy service for the heritage of the life, and his nearer presence the promise of the future? Before honour is humility, before grandeur is godliness, before gold and silver is a noble and a useful life. - C.
And apes, and peacocks. (to children): — We learn from this passage —I. THAT A RICH MAN CAN GET, AS FAR AS WORLDLY GOODS ARE CONCERNED, ALMOST WHAT HE LIKES IN THIS WORLD. II. WHAT EVEN WISE MEN WILL DO, WHEN THEY HAVE MORE MONEY THAN THEY KNOW HOW TO USE. Such was Solomon's position; apes and peacocks were costly, and so he had a special desire to have s goodly number about him. (D. Davies.) 1. He cannot speak. 2. He cannot learn. 3. He has no foresight or forethought. It is wonderful how deceptive appearances can be. II. THE APE IS ONLY A CARICATURE OF A MAN, AND DOES NOT IMITATE HIM IN HIS BETTER MOVEMENTS OR HABITS; SO YOU GENERALLY FIND THAT IF A CHILD OR MAN APES ANOTHER, HE APES HIM ONLY IN HIS FAILINGS. I saw a boy the other day, who could not have been more than eleven, vigorously puffing the end of a cigar that he had picked up somewhere. He evidently thought he looked like a man, but I need not tell you how disgusted I felt, and wished that he could imitate the man in a more manly way. He stupidly aped a gentleman whose failing was that he smoked at all. Learn to be natural. Let the one desire of your life be to be true. Never put on a false look or try to live under false pretences. (D. Davies.) I. I want you to remember that THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE IN THE WORLD LIKE THAT PEACOCK. Everything depends upon their dress, or their outward appearance. But if you get to know their disposition and their conduct, you will very often cease to be charmed with their dress. II. I want you TO GUARD YOURSELVES AGAINST ATTACHING TOO MUCH IMPORTANCE TO APPEARANCES. God does not. Learn that the truest ornament is "a meek and gentle spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price." (D. Davies.) People Ahijah, David, Huram, Iddo, Jeroboam, Nathan, Nebat, Nehemiah, Ophir, Rehoboam, Solomon, TarshishPlaces Arabia, Egypt, Euphrates River, House of the Forest of Lebanon, Jerusalem, Ophir, Sheba, Shephelah, TarshishTopics Acts, Ahijah, Ahi'jah, Aren't, Beginning, Beside, Book, History, Iddo, Jedo, Jeroboam, Jerobo'am, Matters, Nathan, Nebat, Prophecy, Prophet, Recorded, Records, Reign, Rest, Seer, Shiloh, Shilonite, Shi'lonite, Solomon, Solomon's, Visions, WrittenOutline 1. The queen of sheba admires the wisdom of Solomon13. Solomon's revenue in gold 15. His targets and shields 17. The throne of ivory 20. His vessels 23. His presents 25. His chariots and horse 26. His tributes 29. His reign and death Dictionary of Bible Themes 2 Chronicles 9:29 1469 visions Library The Great Gain of Godliness'And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. 26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27. And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. 28. Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Chronicles Links 2 Chronicles 9:29 NIV2 Chronicles 9:29 NLT 2 Chronicles 9:29 ESV 2 Chronicles 9:29 NASB 2 Chronicles 9:29 KJV 2 Chronicles 9:29 Bible Apps 2 Chronicles 9:29 Parallel 2 Chronicles 9:29 Biblia Paralela 2 Chronicles 9:29 Chinese Bible 2 Chronicles 9:29 French Bible 2 Chronicles 9:29 German Bible 2 Chronicles 9:29 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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