So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.
Solomon had unmatched wisdom, vast wealth, and a temple he built for God. Yet this verse is the verdict Scripture leaves on his life, and it raises two questions: what was the evil, and why is David the measure?
What the Evil Was
Solomon did not simply allow his foreign wives their own gods. One writer asks what human opinion on such a thing is worth:
H. L. RossierThe Solomon of the temple once knelt and spread out his hands toward God in front of all the people. Who would have believed that this man would become an idol-worshipper? Perhaps today some might say he had a large heart and respected other people's freedom of conscience. Some would dress this idolatry up with a lovely humanitarian or social label. But what is human opinion worth? The question is what God thinks of it. God was dishonoured. "Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD." To build these high places for his wives was not mere indifference, hateful as that would be. He joined himself to their worship and became one with them. He "did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done" — that is, he did not follow to the end.
Another writer weighs the temple against the high places:
Leslie M. GrantSolomon's faith built the temple; his unbelief built these high places. What a shameful contradiction! In building the temple he emphasised the supreme authority of the living God. But in building the high places, he was guilty of challenging God's authority! So in this his wisdom failed him tragically.
Roots of the Fall
Nothing here happened overnight. One writer traces the collapse back to earlier, forbidden choices:
The Bible TreasuryHere is the old lesson again: no position, however favoured, can keep a man faithful and true. Solomon's idolatry in his old age is simply the outcome of earlier failure. He had horses from Egypt, he had Gentile wives; both were forbidden. His wives seduced him into idolatry.
No Strength in Wisdom
One writer draws a general rule from Solomon's fall — failure comes at the point where we feel safest:
William KellyYou will always find that you fail most in the very point where you pride yourself most. In the area where it would seem least possible, the moment your eye is off the Lord, that is where you will break down.
The same writer names the root problem — Solomon kept the gifts and let go of the Giver:
William KellyScripture records this for our wisdom, for our learning, for our warning. We should beware of slipping in the very thing God has marked us out for. There is no strength in wisdom or in anything else. Our strength is only in the Lord, and the only way to make it good is by depending on Him. It was not so with Solomon. He rested in the fruits God had given him. He enjoyed what came from God, but turned aside from the living source.
Why David Is the Measure
David sinned badly too, so holding him up as the pattern seems strange. The difference is not the size of the sin but the direction of the heart:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinDavid's trouble also began with polygamy. Yet through all his sin and failure he had always clung to the LORD. In this sense David's heart was perfect with the LORD his God. He did not turn away from the LORD, and David did not go after strange gods. Solomon's guilt was great. The LORD had appeared twice to him; He never appeared to David.
A second difference shows up after God confronts each man:
Leslie M. GrantWhen David sinned against the Lord, he repented deeply after the Lord reproved him. But though God reproved Solomon, there is no sign that he repented.
Discipline as Mercy
God dealt with Solomon while he was still alive. One writer calls that the one hopeful note in the whole account:
William KellyThis is almost the only comfort we have in the history given to us of king Solomon — that God chastised him. He did not merely let the fruit of his evil show up in his family. He chastised the man himself during his own lifetime. This is His way with His own people. Sometimes this is almost the only hope you have that a person is a child of God. God does not let the evil pass. He deals with it now in this world.
Summary
- Root. Solomon's wisdom stayed intact while his heart moved elsewhere. There is no strength in wisdom, only in depending on the Lord.
- Growth. His idolatry in old age grew out of earlier disobedience — forbidden horses, forbidden wives.
- Act. He did not merely permit his wives' religion. He joined it, and God called it what it was: evil.
- Verdict. "Not wholly." David sinned too, yet he never chased other gods, and he repented when God reproved him. Solomon heard reproof and gave no sign of turning back.
- Mercy. God disciplined Solomon in his own lifetime, and that discipline is the mark of a Father dealing with His own.