as noted for his deep piety and his fervent
love of righteousness. When he became king, he found a great work ready
for his hand, and he set about the task with a glad heart. To build a
temple to Jehovah was his delight, and he threw into it his whole
strength. His prayer at the dedication of the temple shows a deeply
reverent and submissive spirit.

As the years went by he increased in riches and honor. His name became a
synonym for wisdom. Many nations paid him tribute. But notwithstanding all
these things, his heart held true to God. During these years he had, I
suppose, no thought but that he should continue thus until the end, that
he should live his life out as a true servant of Jehovah, and that his
life's sun would go down in a blaze of glory. But alas! it was not so to
be. We who know his history know the dark shadow that came over his life.
We know how its radiance faded away into the night. We shall do well to
analyze the things that led to his downfall.

There was no change in Jehovah. There was no change in Solomon's duty
toward him. The change that led to the disaster was in Solomon himself.
For political reasons Solomon married princesses of the royal houses round
about him. These women were idolaters. Jehovah they regarded as only the
national God of the Hebrews. They still clung to their old religions, and
worshiped the gods of their nations. Their feelings and sentiments were
all in favor of idolatrous worship. These influences Solomon withstood for
a long time. His heart held true to God; but these influences kept on
working. He was in daily contact with them, and little by little they
gained a hold upon him; consequently we read, "It came to pass, when
Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods:
and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of
David his father" (1 Kings 11: 4). As a result, the man who had been so
honored by God and who had so honored God became an idolater and put his
Lord to an open shame and drew away into the same net of idolatry many of
his people.

What a lesson there is in this for us! What a warning is there in his
example! When young Christians marry sinners in these days, the final
result is generally pretty much the same as it was with Solomon. But it is
not only through such marriages that hearts are turned away from the Lord:
there are many other things that will influence us likewise if we are not
careful. We are str