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Praise Where it Belongs, July 12
1 Kings 10:1-13
Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the
throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he
thee king, to do judgment and justice.
1 Kings 10:9
.
A Greater than Solomon was the designer of the temple; the wisdom and
glory of God stood there revealed. Those who were unacquainted with this fact
naturally admired and praised Solomon as the architect and builder; but the king
disclaimed any honor for its conception or erection.
Thus it was when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon. Hearing of his
wisdom and of the magnificent temple he had built, she determined “to prove
him with hard questions” and to see for herself his famous works. Attended by
a retinue of servants, and with camels bearing “spices, and gold in abundance,
and precious stones,” she made the long journey to Jerusalem. “And when she
was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.” She
talked with him of the mysteries of nature; and Solomon taught her of the God
of nature, the great Creator, who dwells in the highest heaven and rules over all.
“Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king,
which he told her not.”
“When the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house
that he had built, ... there was no more spirit in her.” “It was a true report,”
she acknowledged, “which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy
wisdom: howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had
seen it:” “and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity
exceedeth the fame which I heard.” ...
By the time of the close of her visit the queen had been so fully taught by
Solomon as to the source of his wisdom and prosperity that she was constrained,
not to extol the human agent, but to exclaim, “Blessed be the Lord thy God,
which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord
loved Israel forever, therefore made He thee king, to do judgment and justice.”
This is the impression that God designed should be made upon all peoples
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Prophets and Kings, 66, 67
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