The Palace of Man

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

THE PALACE OF MAN

1 Kings 7:1-8

7:1 It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. 2 He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. 3 It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns — forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. 4 Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. 5 All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.   6 He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof. 7 He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.   8 And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married.

NIV

It is a little strange that Solomon spent 7 years building the temple for the LORD, and 13 years building his own palace. There was also a big difference in size as the temple was 90 feet long, his palace was 150 feet long, the temple was 30 feet wide, and his palace was 75 feet wide, with both the temple and his palace being 45 feet high. However, the main difference is all the gold in the temple, while his palace was mostly cedar and bronze. Still, what is concerning as we look forward to all the things he had built for his palace, and the ornateness of it all, it has appeared he might have thought more highly of himself than he should. We would think that because God gave him wisdom greater than any man before or after Solomon, he would have had the discernment to know his palace should not overshadow the temple. We also know that Solomon’s life did not end well because of all his wives and their foreign gods, which they brought with them. So we are not surprised this self-edification had already shown us when he made his palace so much larger than the temple he built for the LORD. Yet, in reality, God was not actually living in that temple, nor could He be contained in a building made by man. We do know how much money we spent on the construction and care for the church we worship in, compared to the money and time we spent on our own living spaces. We also know from statistics that it appears only about 20% of believers support the church with tithes, while all believers support their own lives, with all they have. Are we much different than Solomon, spending more time on his bigger home than on the temple built to the LORD? Some churches have fallen into disrepair because of either the lack of interest or funds, to make it a holy place suitable for worship of the Lord. Let us learn from Solomon and not be too concerned about our own lives, or think more highly of ourselves than we should. Let us look to our Lord, and offer him ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him. Although we are now his temple, we still gather together in a place of worship, and it  should be worthy of the Lord God Almighty.