34
Education
These schools proved to be one of the means most effective in pro-
moting that righteousness which “exalteth a nation.”
Proverbs 14:34
. In
no small degree they aided in laying the foundation of that marvelous
prosperity which distinguished the reigns of David and Solomon.
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The principles taught in the schools of the prophets were the same
that molded David’s character and shaped his life. The word of God
was his instructor. “Through Thy precepts,” he said, “I get under-
standing.... I have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes.”
Psalm
119:104-112
. It was this that caused the Lord to pronounce David,
when in his youth He called him to the throne, “a man after Mine own
heart.”
Acts 13:22
.
In the early life of Solomon also are seen the results of God’s
method of education. Solomon in his youth made David’s choice
his own. Above every earthly good he asked of God a wise and
understanding heart. And the Lord gave him not only that which he
sought, but that also for which he had not sought—both riches and
honor. The power of his understanding, the extent of his knowledge,
the glory of his reign, became the wonder of the world.
In the reigns of David and Solomon, Israel reached the height of her
greatness. The promise given to Abraham and repeated through Moses
was fulfilled: “If ye shall diligently keep all these commandments
which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk
in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him; then will the Lord drive out all
these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and
mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet
shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the
river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast
be. There shall no man be able to stand before you.”
Deuteronomy
11:22-25
.
But in the midst of prosperity lurked danger. The sin of David’s
later years, though sincerely repented of and sorely punished, em-
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boldened the people in transgression of God’s commandments. And
Solomon’s life, after a morning of so great promise, was darkened
with apostasy. Desire for political power and self-aggrandizement led
to alliance with heathen nations. The silver of Tarshish and the gold
of Ophir were procured by the sacrifice of integrity, the betrayal of
sacred trusts. Association with idolaters, marriage with heathen wives,
corrupted his faith. The barriers that God had erected for the safety