1 Kings 10:6-13 – Be grateful
First
Kings 9:6-13 describe the immediate response of the queen of Sheba from her
encounter with Solomon. Having heard from him and seen his orderly and
methodical set up, she was thoroughly convinced that the king indeed excelled
in all wisdom and was great in prosperity. She confessed that her doubts about
Solomon prior to meeting him personally had now been cleared up. And she now
had a radical change of opinion. So impressed was she with Solomon that
she gave Solomon a great quantity of gold and an immeasurable amount of spices
to acknowledge the latter’s greatness.
But
before she offered her gifts to Solomon, she exclaimed in the hearing of
Solomon’s subjects, saying how blessed they were. She admitted that they were
so privileged to have a king from whom wisdom would continue to flow. She
attributed all these to the arrangement of God. So she turned to offer her
praise to the God of Solomon. She acknowledged that the Lord deserved to be
praised for raising such an excellent king. The queen of Sheba could see God’s
love for Israel and recognized that it was He who had raised Solomon to the
throne to administer justice and righteousness. Then verse 10 said that “She
gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of
spices and precious stones.” The impression so far was that both Hiram and the
queen of Sheba could see that Israel was blessed because of God. Because He was
the true ruler of the nation and that He blessed whenever the king on the
throne walked in obedience to Him. Unfortunately, it appears that Solomon and
the later kings who should know this most, seemed to be oblivious.
The
author inserted verses 11-12 to remind the readers of the existing partnership
between Solomon and Hiram. In 1 Kings 9, we were told how they
collaborated with the latter supplying sailors to assist with Solomon’s fleet
of ships. Together they brought gold from Ophir and almug trees and precious
stones. The almug trees were used for the pillars of both the temple and the
palace as well as making lyre and harps for the singers. Verse 13 rounded up by
saying that Solomon reciprocated her kind gesture by giving her what she
desired as well as other substantial stuff. And the queen returned to her
homeland happily.
In
the first five verses of 1 Kings 10, we saw the queen of Sheba as a genuine
truth seeker and in these eight verses, we see her as a grateful recipient. How
a person responds to the truth is more important than receiving it. The queen
obviously knew the true source of Solomon's wisdom and prosperity and gave
praise to God. She also could see that without God the king would not be where
he was. In the queen of Sheba, we see some things in her worth emulating -
her inquisitive heart and her grateful attitude. Like her, we must seek to know
the truth. And when we have received and been set free by the truth, we must
live a life of gratitude to serve the One who has set us free. For all
that we have received from God’s hand, let us begin each day with a grateful heart!
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