Solomon's Test

I’ve been thinking about Solomon and his life in connection with what I wrote about yesterday regarding our focus on the things of the world vs. the things of God.  It seems to me that Solomon passed his first great test when the Lord said to him, “Ask what I shall give thee.”  Solomon responded, “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people.”  The Lord commended him for his request, saying, “Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment” (1 Kings 3:5, 9, 11-12).  In other words, Solomon requested of the Lord what he needed spiritually and not for the things of the world.  And then the Lord actually gave Solomon those things of the world: “I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days” (1 Kings 3:13).  Reading this it certainly seems like a great blessing from the Lord.  The more I think about it though, the more I think it was really a test from the Lord to see if Solomon could stay true to Jehovah despite having the riches of the world.  It was his Abrahamic test, but unfortunately he failed. 

                At first Solomon flourished with the wisdom that God had granted him.  We read that “there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:34).  He oversaw the building of the temple which was certainly the highlight of his reign.  But his downfall seems to have begun after the temple, for he then built himself a house bigger than the Lord’s house—certainly not a good sign for someone who originally chose wisdom instead of the riches of the world.  He became so rich that he “exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom” (1 Kings 10:23).  That wealth and fame led to him eventually marrying outside the covenant against the commands of the Lord, and these foreign wives turned his heart away from God.  He “did evil in the sight of the Lord” and “the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel” (1 Kings 11:6, 9).  He had gradually let his heart leave his God and go after the world, despite the faithful choice he had made in humility when he first became king.  It reminds me of the famous quote by Brigham Young that I’ve cited before: “This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true.  But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches” (Nibley, Brigham Young, p. 128; see here).  We don’t normally think of riches as a trial, but it is a subtle trial of faith that many face today.  It was a test for Solomon that he ultimately failed, and we are left to determine for ourselves how we are going to respond to the challenge.  Many of the Saints today are facing the same trial as prophesied by Brigham Young, and far too many are “[spending] money for that which is of no worth” and “[laboring] for that which cannot satisfy” (2 Nephi 9:51).  Will we follow in Solomon’s steps?