Devotion • September 2
Today’s Scripture Reading
1 Kings 5:1–6:1, 6:7
Now King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father; for Hiram had always been a friend to David. Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, “You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. So I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ Therefore command that cedars from the Lebanon be cut for me. My servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants; for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.” When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” Hiram sent word to Solomon, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me; I will fulfill all your needs in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. My servants shall bring it down to the sea from the Lebanon; I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I will have them broken up there for you to take away. And you shall meet my needs by providing food for my household.” So Hiram supplied Solomon’s every need for timber of cedar and cypress. Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty cors of fine oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two of them made a treaty. King Solomon conscripted forced labor out of all Israel; the levy numbered thirty thousand men. He sent them to the Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they would be a month in the Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. Solomon also had seventy thousand laborers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country, besides Solomon’s three thousand three hundred supervisors who were over the work, having charge of the people who did the work. At the king’s command, they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Giblites did the stonecutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.
In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. The house was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron was heard in the temple while it was being built. (NRSV)
Reflection
Several years ago, across from our apartment building, an empty warehouse was torn down to make room for a new high-rise hotel. Although it could be very noisy at times, it truly was fascinating to watch a building be built from the foundation through the finishing touches. I cannot imagine what it would have been like for Solomon and his workers to build the temple without the tools and technology that we have today.
Verse seven in chapter six sticks out to me the most in today’s passage. “In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.” We all have experienced the noise that construction can cause, and those sounds can be very distracting.
In our lives, we experience not just physical noise, but also mental and emotional noise. We have worries about health, our friends and family, our society, and the list goes on. These types of noises in our minds can distract us from our relationship with God.
After many years of hardships and conflicts during David’s reign, Solomon was blessed with a time of peace and rest. There will be times in our lives when things are overwhelming and noisy, but this passage reminds us that God provides us with the strength to get through the rough patches. Our hope and trust in God will help us get to a season of peace and rest. God is with us through it all!
Prayer
Gracious God, I am so grateful for your patience and love during different seasons of my life. Help me to always have trust in you, even when my mind is distracted by noisy thoughts and feelings. Thank you for the strength, the peace and the rest that you provide. Amen.
Written by Briana Belding-Peck, Family Ministry Coordinator
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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