My failure, God’s faithfulness - 1Kings:11 1-43

It's on page 349, if you've got the red church Bibles.

We're going to read the first 13 verses, and we'll skip down then to verse 41 after that.

1 Kings chapter 11, starting at verse 1.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

2 Kings chapter 11.

2 Kings 11 · chapter mention

2 Kings chapter 11.

2 Kings 11 · chapter mention

of Solomon? Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. Then he rested with

his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded

him as king.

Thanks very much, Connor.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this true account of Solomon's life. And

we pray that through it, it would teach us much about ourselves.

But more importantly, it would show us more about how great you are.

And what it is to turn from all our loves of other things and other people that we might

love you as we ought. Father, work in our lives today. Build us up and encourage us. We ask

this in Jesus' name. Amen.

As we drove out of the driving test centre, my assessor gave me the first instruction.

Turn right.

I turned left. And then the moment came, he handed me a piece of paper and written

clearly in red letters at the bottom of the page. Failed. None of us likes to fail. In

fact, we do everything that we can to try and hide our failures. We're embarrassed by it.

We cover it up in all kinds of different ways.

Well, written across chapter 11 of 1 Kings in bold red letters is the word failed.

There is no hiding from the truth.

It may come as a surprise to us because up to this point, Solomon has been doing well as

king. He's not perfect, but his people who he is king over are safe and secure and the

nations are coming to him for blessing. But it seems Solomon has not been listening to the

instructions. And it has all ended in disappointing failure. Now we need to be careful how we read this.

Not as just some historical event in the past, but read it as our story. Because we are just like

Solomon. But thankfully, as we look at this together, we'll see that it's not all doom,

human gloom. Because chapter 11 shows us that we can experience fullness of life when we admit to our

failure and rest in God's faithfulness. That's like a summary theme for the whole of chapter 11.

We can experience fullness of life when we admit to our failure and rest in God's faithfulness.

Well, let's have a look. First, a portrait of our failure. A portrait of our failure. Reading the first few

verses of chapter 11 is like looking at an x-ray of our hearts. It reveals a terrible heart disease.

The heart of failure is always our hearts. Look at verse 4.

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the

Lord his God as the heart of David his father had been. Now when the Bible talks about the heart,

it's not talking about that big muscle inside our chest that's pumping oxygenated blood around our body.

The heart is always talking about the real you. It's the control centre of our character.

What's in the heart tells us who we really are. Now Solomon's heart is not in good condition.

In fact, we can see the cause of his heart failure. There's three failures we're going to look at. First,

the failure to listen. Look at verse 1. King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides

Pharaoh's daughter. That was his first wife. Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.

They were from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites,

you must not intermarry with them because they will surely turn your hearts after other gods.

God had said, but he didn't listen. In fact, there were specific instructions for the king.

Keep your finger in 1 Kings 11 and go back to Deuteronomy.

At the beginning of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy chapter 17.

Deuteronomy 17 · chapter mention

So specific instructions for the king. Deuteronomy 17 verse 14.

Deuteronomy 17:14

When you enter the lands the Lord your God is giving you and you've taken possession of it and

has settled in it and you say, let us set a king over us like all the nations around us.

Be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.

Well, what's this king to be like? Look at verse 17.

He must not take many wives or his heart will be led astray.

Simple, isn't it?

Back to 1 Kings 11.

It's not that Solomon didn't understand God's word.

Solomon just chose not to listen.

So chapter 11 verse 3.

He had 700 wives of royal birth

and 300 concubines.

And not surprisingly,

his wives led him astray.

We can call it disobedience.

Now,

we mightn't be like Solomon in that we have many, many wives.

But how often do we read God's word

and fail to listen

and do what it says?

We're a little bit like the person James describes

in chapter 1 of James.

Let me read it to you.

Do not merely listen to the word

and so deceive yourselves.

Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word

but does not do what it says

is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror

and after looking at himself

goes away and immediately forgets

what he looks like.

How many times

do I look into God's word?

It shows me what to do.

It shows me what to do.

So clear.

And yet I don't do it.

I fail to listen.

Second,

there's a failure to learn.

Solomon not only had God's word,

he also had a very good example to follow.

Look at the end of verse 4.

We're told that his heart

was not fully devoted to the Lord his God

as the heart of David his father had been.

Now we know something of David.

It's not saying David was perfect.

We know that King David messed up big time.

David had an affair with somebody called Bathsheba.

Not only that,

he murdered her husband in the process.

But here's the point.

David learned.

He confessed.

Psalm 51 tells us of his confession.

But Solomon, it seems,

never learned.

He just kept on going.

700 times of repeated failure.

As well as 300 other failures.

So verse 6.

Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

He did not follow the Lord completely

as David his father had done.

It's just too close for comfort, isn't it?

I mightn't have 700 wives.

But sadly, I have to admit

that in my 22 years of marriage,

I have failed my wife more than 700 times.

A crossword.

Selfish thoughts.

Unforgiveness.

Putting myself first.

We disobey, don't we?

In the same way,

again and again and again.

We just do not learn.

So we don't listen.

We don't learn.

And we don't love.

Despite everything that God had said.

Look at the end of verse 2.

Nevertheless,

Solomon held fast

to his wives in love.

He's got a grip.

He's not going to let go

of his disobedience.

He likes it.

He enjoys it.

His love for his wives

turned him

to love of other gods.

Verse 5.

He followed Ashtoreth,

the goddess of the Sidonians.

And Moloch,

the detestable god

of the Ammonites.

Now these just weren't

kind of little stone figures.

These were gods

that they sacrificed babies to.

I mean, this was serious.

Sacrificing children

in the hope that the gods

would somehow bring blessing.

This is the way

in which Solomon went.

Now as we read this,

we can't sit back

with a feeling of pride

and go,

well that's not me.

I would never do anything

as disastrous as that.

I don't love other gods.

You won't find any idols

or anything like that

in my house.

Well we all replace God

with other things

and other people

all the time.

None of us has loved God

with all our heart.

And in case we think otherwise,

listen to Jesus.

He says,

what comes out of a person

defiles them

for it is written

out of a person's heart

that evil thoughts come,

sexual immorality

and theft

and murder

and adultery

and greed

and malice

and deceit

and lewdness

and envy

and slander

and arrogance

and folly.

Can you recognize

any of those?

All of these evils

come from inside

and defile a person.

They come from

within the heart.

You see,

like Solomon,

we all have

heart failure.

We do not listen.

We do not learn.

And we do not love.

Now it's not

as if Solomon

suddenly woke up

one day

with heart failure.

It was progressive.

We can think of it this way.

The person

who has a physical

heart attack

does so,

well,

it's because of years

of unhealthy diet

or no exercise

or too much stress

at work.

It builds

and it builds

and it builds

and hearts go bang

due to a lifetime

of bad habits

and decisions.

Well,

that's what God

is saying

about our hearts.

I mean,

look at Solomon.

Right at the beginning

of his reign,

we read this.

you may remember it

from chapter 3.

It tells us here

what Solomon was like.

Solomon showed

his love for the Lord

by walking

according to the instructions

given him

by his father David.

Now,

40 years later,

look at chapter 11,

verse 1.

King Solomon,

however,

loved many

foreign women.

it's not that Solomon

went from hero

to zero

in one day.

Verse 4,

as Solomon grew old,

his wives

turned his hearts

after other gods.

Slowly,

over time,

as he progressed

through the years,

he had fallen

into a habit

of failing

to listen,

failing to learn,

failing to love.

and it ended

in heart failure.

Now,

we need to take note,

don't we?

Failure to deal

with our hearts

and we will have

a serious

heart failure.

Continue to hide

over and cover

our failures,

refuse to admit

and to seek help.

Well,

we'll just end up

destroying our own lives

and destroying

of those around us.

But much more

than just

destroying

our own lives,

not only

is there heart

failure,

but there is

the curse

of failure.

And the curse

of failure

is the curse.

Have a look

at verse 9,

chapter 11.

The Lord

became angry

with Solomon

because his heart

had turned

away from the Lord,

the God of Israel,

who had appeared

to him twice.

So not only

had he everything

that God had said

in his word,

but,

well,

God had come

to him

specifically twice

and showed him

how to live.

And the Lord

became angry

with Solomon.

Now,

I don't know

how you feel

about that,

but I guess

we don't like

the idea

of God

being angry,

do we?

We don't like

that image.

Perhaps because

of experiences

we have faced

before an angry

person.

Well,

let's be clear,

this is not

an uncontrolled,

raging temper.

This is God's

jealous love.

He is angry

that we turn

our hearts

from his love

and seek out

love from other

things and other

people.

God doesn't just

sit back and watch

us ruin our lives

and the lives

of other people

and say,

you know what,

it doesn't matter.

Feel free,

just live the way

you want to.

We'll just kind

of cover it up

and sort it all

out.

It doesn't matter.

Well,

it does matter.

God's anger

is his fair

and settled

response to sin

and it will

be punished.

How can God

let his creation

and his world

go on in cycles

of disaster

and destruction

and just say

it doesn't matter?

For Solomon,

instead of blessing,

there was curse.

Have a look

at verse 11.

So the Lord

said to Solomon,

Since this is

your attitude

and you have

not kept

my covenant

and my decrees

which I commanded

you,

I will most

certainly tear

the kingdom

away from you

and give it

to one of your

subordinates.

And so began

the downfall

of Solomon

and the kingdom.

And as we read

on through the book,

we'll see the kingdom

divides,

it falls apart,

it falls apart

and the people

end up

in exile.

But for Solomon,

the curse begins

like this.

Have a look

at verse 14.

Then the Lord

raised up

against Solomon

an adversary,

Hadad,

the Edomite.

And over

at verse 23,

And God

raised up

against Solomon

another adversary,

Razan,

son of Eliadah.

Now we don't

need to worry

about who

these people

are for now,

but we just

need to see

that God

does not

ignore

sinful behaviour.

He will

deal with it

and in this case

he raises up

an adversary.

Not just

two of them,

but look at

verse 26,

Also

Jeroboam,

son of Nebat,

rebelled

against the king.

One of Solomon's

closest allies.

You see,

if we don't

face our

failure now,

if we don't

admit to our

failure to

listen,

to learn,

and to love

as we should,

we will face

the just

and right

anger

of God.

The end

of Solomon's

life

is a great

tragedy,

isn't it?

We read

in verse 43

that he

rested with

his ancestors

and was

buried in

the city

of David

his father.

What a

sad,

sad end

to what

began

so,

so well.

You see,

the portrait

of Solomon's

life

is a

portrait

of our

own lives.

But

thankfully

and wonderfully

this is not

the end

of the story.

We have a

portrait of

our failure,

but we also

have the

promise

of God's

faithfulness

or the

faithfulness of

our God.

You see,

while we can

write failure

over chapter

11,

we can stamp

an even bigger

faithfulness

over all

of that

because God's

faithfulness

is always

greater

than our

failure.

First,

faithful

promise.

Remember what

God had said

to Solomon.

Have a look

back at

chapter 9.

Just to

remind ourselves

of what God

had been saying

to Solomon

in his

role as

king.

Chapter 9,

verse 4.

It's very

clear,

he says,

as for you,

if you walk

before me

faithfully

with integrity

of heart

and uprightness

as David

your father

did,

and do

all I

command

and observe

my decrees

and laws,

I will

establish

your royal

throne

over Israel

forever.

As I

promised

David

your father

when I

said,

you shall

never fail

to have

a successor

on the

throne of

Israel.

But,

if you

or your

descendants

turn away

from me

and do

not observe

the commands

and decrees

I have given

you,

and go off

and serve

other gods

and worship

them,

then I

will cut

off Israel

from the

land that

I have

given them

and will

reject this

temple

I have

consecrated

for my

name.

Very clear,

isn't it?

Solomon,

you obey,

you do

what you're

meant to

do,

and all

will go

well for

you.

But if

you fail,

well then I

will leave

you.

Well,

Solomon did

fail,

that's what

we've just

looked at,

haven't we?

And how

is God

going to

respond?

Well,

go back

to chapter

11,

verse 11.

So the

Lord said

to Solomon,

since this

is your

attitude and

you have

not kept

my covenant

and my

decrees

which I

commanded

you,

I will

most certainly

tear the

kingdom away

from you

and give

it to

one of

your

subordinates.

but,

but,

look at

verse 13,

yet I

will not

tear the

whole

kingdom

from him

but will

give him

one tribe

for the

sake of

David my

servant

and for

the sake

of Jerusalem

which I

have chosen.

Look at

the end

of verse

31.

See,

I am

going to

tear the

kingdom out

of Solomon's

hands and

give you

ten tribes.

He's going

to pass

that on

to others.

But,

for the

sake of

my servant

David.

Verse

33.

I will

do this

because they

have forsaken

me and

because they

have worshipped

these other

gods.

Verse

34.

But,

I will

not take

the whole

kingdom out

of Solomon's

hands.

God

will

preserve

his

people.

He will

preserve

a people

for himself

and from

that people

will be

a king.

God

has not

gone back

on his

promise.

God

is keeping

his promise.

We may

fail

but God

is faithful.

Verse

36.

I will

give him

one tribe

to his

son so

that David

my servant

may always

have a

lamp before

me in

Jerusalem,

the city

where I

chose to

put my

name.

God

had always

promised

that he

would have

a people

who would

be faithful

to him,

who would

love him.

So,

down through

time amidst

all the

darkness of

failure,

the lamp

of God's

promise

continued to

shine like

a beacon

of hope,

a light

of faithfulness

that God

would always

keep a

people,

a people

who would

be faithful,

who would

be loyal

to him

and who

would love

him.

And that's

how God

works,

you see.

Our failure

may set us

on a collision

course of

disorder and

destruction,

but God

intervenes by

his faithfulness

to bring

hope.

You see,

God's

faithfulness

is always

greater

than our

failure.

So,

there's the

faithful

promise

and we

have the

faithful

king

because the

light of

God's

promise

continued

to shine.

Not even

the failure

of God's

people could

ever

extinguish

the light

of God's

promise.

The flickering

lamp

would become

the light

of the

world.

As God's

king,

Jesus Christ

would come

bringing hope

amidst

great failure

because in

Jesus we

always find

the true

and faithful

king.

And think

about it

with me.

he is

the king

who listened

to God.

The king

who learned

from God.

The king

who loved

God.

He did

not fail.

No sin

in him

was ever

found.

God's

faithfulness

is always

greater than

our failure.

You see,

this king

would come

and he

would take

all our

failures

and cover

us in

his

faithfulness.

That is

what we

see as

Jesus dies

on the

cross,

taking my

disobedience

and by

faith I

receive the

perfect

obedience

of Jesus.

You see,

if failure

has been

written across

our hearts,

then God

has come

through his

son,

the Lord

Jesus Christ,

and stamps

his faithfulness

over our

failure.

If you

are trusting

in Christ

today,

I want

us to

grasp

how it

is that

God sees

you and

views you

today.

God

looks at

you right

now and

he does

not see

your failures.

He does

not see

your shame

or your

guilt,

but what

he sees

is the

beauty of

Christ's

faithfulness

that covers

you.

We have

a faithful

king in

Jesus,

but that

is not

the end

of the

story,

for it

is God's

desire

that he

would build

and he

would create

a faithful

people to

himself.

God has

promised that

he would

keep a

faithful

people,

a people

with brand

new

hearts.

Have a

look at

Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

If somebody

could give

me a page

number,

that would

be great.

Hebrews 10.

1-2-0-8.

Hebrews 10.

And we'll

pick it up

in verse

14.

Follow

along with

me.

Hebrews

Hebrews 10:14

chapter 10,

verse 14.

For

by one

sacrifice,

he has

made

perfect

forever

those who

are being

made holy.

You see,

the sacrifice

of the

king,

who has

taken our

failures

on himself

and given

us his

faithfulness,

by that

sacrifice,

he has

made us

perfect

in God's

sight

forever.

Verse 15.

The Holy

Spirit also

testifies to

us about

this.

First he

says,

this is the

covenant I

will make

with them

after that

time,

says the

Lord.

What will

he do?

I will

put my

laws in

their

hearts,

and I

will write

them on

their

minds.

God not

only deals

with our

failures of

the past,

but he

gives us

a new

heart to

live for

the future.

Hearts

that are

so transformed

and so

changed,

filled with

the Holy

Spirit,

so that

we now

listen to

God.

we are

now able

to learn

from God

and we

have hearts

that now

love God.

By his

Holy Spirit

he transforms

our failed

lives,

day by

day,

into lives

that are

faithful.

Does that

mean I'm

never ever

going to

fail anymore?

No, it

doesn't mean I

will never

fail again.

I will

still fail,

but,

verse 17,

then he

adds,

their sins

and lawless

acts I

will remember

no more.

And where

these have

been forgiven,

sacrifice for

sin is

no longer

necessary.

You see,

God's

faithfulness is

always greater

than my

failure.

I may

fail,

I will

fail,

but he

will

remember

my

failures

no more

because they

have been

covered and

dealt with

by Jesus

at the

cross.

Failure

may be

written on

our hearts,

but God

has stamped

his faithfulness

over our

failure.

God

now,

we might

know that

is true.

We

might say,

yes,

I agree

with that.

But how

many of

us continue

to live

with the

shame of

the past?

Sitting here

today,

perhaps avoiding

eye contact

with people

in case they

ask.

We don't

want to be

reminded of

the past.

keeping

busy doing

other things

so that we

don't have to

talk to

people.

You see,

we no longer

have to hide

our failures.

We no longer

need to cover

it all up

because today,

in Christ,

I am covered

in God's

faithfulness.

That means

I can go

with my

head held

high,

humbly

before God,

forgiven,

with a

new heart

to listen

to God

and his

word,

to learn

from him

and from

others,

and a

heart that

loves him

and will

submit to

him.

Chapter

11 shows

us

that we

can experience

fullness

of life

when we

admit to

our failures

and rest

in God's

faithfulness.

How are

you living

today?

Are you

living in

the past

of failure

or are you

rejoicing

in God's

faithfulness?

Let's pray

together.

of

housing

who

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