After Solomon finished building the temple in chapter 6, he turned his attention to building his palace, and the buildings that would make up his home. Chapter 7:1-12 documented the building of his own house which comprised of five parts: “the House of the Forest of Lebanon”, a great assembly hall, which also served as the armoury (1 Kings 10:17). It was larger than the temple. The “Hall of Pillars”, which was more like two rows of colonnades, which formed the entrance porch to the assembly hall. “The Hall of Throne” where no separate measurements are given, suggesting it is within the colonnade of either Hall of Pillar or House of Lebanon.

On top of that, Solomon built for himself his own palace as well as the palace for Pharaoh's daughter whom he had taken in marriage. The construction of the entire palace were made of fine wood and stone. The author emphasized that the stones were costly, and they were used for both the foundation and the building itself.

The point to note is that the description on the building of Solomon’s palace (7:1-12) is sandwiched between the building (6:1-38) and furnishing (7:13-51) of God’s temple. The construction of the palace show hints that Solomon’s secular interest seem to cost more than his religious ones. Only the stones used for the palace (not the temple) were described as costly. The palace took nearly twice the time needed for the temple construction. Naturally, this was so since the palace was larger in its footprint and was more regularly used. However, the close proximity of 6:37-38 – “He was seven years into building the temple” and 7:1 – “Solomon was building his own house thirteen years” made the contrast of the construction time of the two buildings quite obvious and startling!

Dear brothers and sisters, reflect with me. Is the building of an extravagant palace an act of self-glory or a showcase of God’s blessings? The author of the book does not make a direct comment, but he leaves space for the readers of its time to consider if this extravagance is keeping with Moses law that “a king shall not acquire for himself excessive silver and gold...” (Deuteronomy 17:17).

This text remain relevant for our own reflection and self-examination in the accumulation of excessive material wealth. While money and material goods are neutral, our hearts can be easily deceived and swayed when we begin on this slippery slope of chasing after it. It is easy to hop on this band wagon of material gains, only to be blind-sided into chasing after the next house, car, bag, shoes or whatever material good. I must say that there is nothing wrong with having things you can afford, but we must remember Jesus’ teaching when he says “For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:21) Instead of valuing and building treasures on earth which will ultimately pass away, why not make investment in things that are of heavenly value. A person's heart is tied to what they value most in life.

Dear brothers and sisters, as we search our own hearts this morning, what do you value most? What is your heart tied to which excites you? How is it in comparison to your love for Jesus, His Word, His church and His heart for the lost? The intention is not for you to feel shame in the process of such reflection, because all of us are constantly in this tug of war between Christ and the world. These reflections must help us to come to awareness of our lacking and begin to cry out to God to help us make intentional changes to our daily priorities so that we can continue to walk in intimacy with the Lord! Then our hearts will truly be at rest!

Prayer : Lord, forgive us when we are swayed by our subtle love for excessive silver or gold more than you. Would you help us this morning to make intentional steps to cut ourselves from the pursuit of these material things and turn back to you! In Jesus name, amen.