Seeking

1 Kings 1-11

I have been reading the above passage the past couple of days. Within just these few chapters, there are many commands from the Lord to “walk in all His ways” (3:14, 6:12), to walk before Him “with all your heart” (8:13, 58), and to “Let your heart be wholly devoted to the Lord” (8:6). I have been meditating on what this means and what it practically looks like. How can we follow our Savior in all ways, give all of our heart, and be completely devoted to Him? Following are few of my thoughts as I think about and pray through this concept in these chapters.

The Lord promises to be with His people, forgive them when they come to Him in repentance, and to make His name great among and through them. However, He also tells Solomon, along with the people of his kingdom, that they will be cut off from God, and will come to ruin, if they forsake His great name, and turn from Him to other gods (9:1-9). These promises (both good and bad) seem to be very straightforward and clear…

It puzzles me how Solomon – the wisest man in the world – could be so foolish as to take so many foreign wives, and to allow his heart to be turned away from the Lord because of them. He came to love these women more that God (11:2-8). These wives, their gods, and their pleasure became more important to Solomon than pleasing, loving, and knowing the One and Only True God of the Universe. How did this happen?!

And yet, how often do I allow myself to be pulled from the Lord by the smallest things?! How often do I allow people or things I love to become idols in my life? So many times I try to follow the Lord with only a “part” of my heart and life…

Another thing that puzzles and amazes me about these chapters is how often David is mentioned as one who “fully” followed the Lord (3:6, 14, 9:4, 11:4, 6, 38). I have recently re-studied the life of David and it often confuses me when God calls him a man who followed God “fully” or “wholly”. David messed up so many times and in so many ways – adultery, murder, selfishness, rash decisions, awful parenting… Yet God identifies him as a “man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), who “followed Him fully” (1 Kings 14:8)?!

The only primary difference I can see between David and Solomon is that David continually sought the face of the Lord – in joy, repentance, sorrow, or confusion. He was always seeking his God. When he was confused and afraid – He sought God for wisdom and help. When he was angry – he sought God for justice or peace. When he was joyful in victory – He sought God and gave Him all the praise and glory. When he sinned – he sought God in repentance and fear. When he was unsure – he sought God and His guidance. This list could go on and on.

Solomon on the other hand sought the Lord for wisdom early in his reign as king. The Lord gave him above and beyond what he asked for… Solomon then sought God’s glory as he built and dedicated the temple. However, his seeking of the Lord seems to stop there. He then began seeking the women he loved, and their desires, along with his own. This turned him to seeking after idols and foreign gods. There is no evidence recorded of him seeking the face of God again.

Lord, let me be like David and seek your face continually! In both the good and the bad, let me run first and always to You. When I make mistakes or when I’m doing right; in pride and humility; in possessing much or having little. In hope and despair, joy and pain, waterfalls and deserts… may I seek You.

You say that we will seek and find You when we search for You with our whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13). Teach me what this means Lord. Don’t allow me to compartmentalize my life and try to give only a part of it to You. Take all of me. Teach me what it means to follow You wholly, to walk with you daily, and to be completely surrendered to You.

I know that I am so far from this place most of the time. Nevertheless, let me never stop seeking you. Let this be my all-consuming passion – to seek and know You.