1 Kings 3:1 - Meaning and Application

We are told here both what was good in Solomon and what was questionable.

First, there was much in him that was clearly good, and for that he should be praised and followed. He loved the Lord (1 Kings 3:3). God had already shown his love to Solomon, and even named him Jedidiah, which means “beloved by the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:24). Solomon now returned that love. He was a wise man and a rich man, yet the best thing said about him is the same thing said of all God’s people, even the poorest, that he loved the Lord.

All who love God also love his worship. They want to hear from him, speak to him, and enjoy fellowship with him. Solomon also walked in the statutes of David his father, meaning either the commands David had given him near the end of his life (1 Kings 2:2, 1 Kings 2:3; 1 Chronicles 28:9, 1 Chronicles 28:10), or the ways of God that David himself had followed. He stayed close to God’s ordinances and carefully kept them. People who truly love God will make it their duty to walk in his ways.

Solomon was also very generous in honoring God. When he offered sacrifices, he did so like a king, giving a thousand burnt offerings (1 Kings 3:4). When God blesses someone richly, he expects a fitting response. Those who truly love God and his worship will not grudge the cost of serving him. We may be tempted to ask, “Was not this wasteful? Could not these animals have been given to the poor?” But nothing is wasted when it is given to God’s service.

It seems surprising that so many animals could be burned on one altar in one feast, even over seven days. Yet the fire on the altar was likely much hotter and stronger than ordinary fire. It pictured God’s fierce judgment falling on the sacrifices, so that the worshipers might escape it. Our God is a consuming fire. Bishop Patrick mentions a Jewish tradition that the smoke from these sacrifices rose straight up in a pillar and did not spread out, because otherwise it would have choked those standing nearby.

There was also something in Solomon’s life that may be doubted. He married Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 3:1). We will suppose she had become a believer, because otherwise the marriage would not have been lawful. Even so, it does not seem wise. A man who loved the Lord should, for the Lord’s sake, have chosen a wife from among the Lord’s people. Such unequal marriages between God’s people and unbelievers have often done great harm.

Some think Solomon did this with the advice of his friends, and that Pharaoh’s daughter was truly converted. They note that the gods of Egypt are not counted among the foreign gods that led Solomon’s other wives astray later (1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:6). They also think the Song of Songs and Psalm 45 may have been written about this marriage, making it a picture of the church’s spiritual marriage to Christ, especially the Gentile church.

Another doubtful thing was his worshiping at the high places, which also encouraged the people to do the same (1 Kings 3:2, 1 Kings 3:3). Abraham had built altars on mountains (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 22:2) and worshiped in a grove (Genesis 21:33). That custom came from him and was acceptable until God’s law later set one place for worship (Deuteronomy 12:5, Deuteronomy 12:6). David stayed close to the ark and did not care for the high places, but Solomon, though he followed his father’s statutes in other matters, fell short here.

His great zeal for sacrifice is clear, but obedience would have been better. This was an irregular practice. Even though the temple had not yet been built, there was still a tent set apart for the Lord’s name, and the ark should have been the center of their worship. God had appointed it that way. The high places were a departure from that order. Still, while they worshiped only God and otherwise followed the rule, God graciously overlooked their weakness and accepted their service. It is even said here that Solomon loved the Lord, though he burned incense at the high places, and we should not be harsher than God himself.