Failure and Mercy

Some observations from Solomon’s life on the character of God and His dealings with people (aka, the mercy of God and failings of men):

1 Kings 2-3 describes the early part of Solomon’s reign as he settled into ruling the nation of Israel and settling out the matters of business that David had handed off to him. Towards the very beginning of his reign, he began violating some of the laws that God had given about worship and kingship. We are going to take a look at the interaction between God, Solomon, and the Israelites and see some beautiful glimpses of God’s nature and how He treats His flawed children.

1 Kings 3:1-5

Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the LORD.

Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”

Several fascinating things in this short text:

1. God had forbidden the Israelites in general to intermarry with other nations, and He had specifically forbidden kings of Israel to intermarry for the purpose of forming political alliances. 1 Kings 3 starts off by saying that Solomon made a marriage alliance with the king of Egypt. (We are noting this, but will not be discussing it further right now.)
2. God had forbidden the Israelites to sacrifice on the high places like the surrounding nations customarily did. They were doing it anyways: “because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.” (Note: We usually believe that we have “good” reasons for doing what God has told us not to do.)
3. The text plainly states that “Solomon loved the LORD.”
4. Solomon himself made sacrifices on the high places (and you can tell that God hadn’t changed his mind about the high places, because after saying that “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes,” the text notes “only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places” as the exception to that).
5. Solomon goes to a high place in Gibeon (this also seems totally unnecessary, since the Tabernacle was right there in Jerusalem with him). And God comes to him there.

12/14/2017 - Correction to original post:

I learned something this week! I've continued reading through the Historical Books, and I reached 2 Chronicles this last week. 2 Chronicles 1 recounts the same scene that recorded in 2 Kings 3. The 2 Chronicles text tells us that the Tabernacle was located in Gibeon at the time. (Interesting that the ark of God was in Jerusalem, but the Tabernacle was still in Gibeon.) This added information, though, does shed light on Solomon's trip to Gibeon, and I wanted to note it here as a correction to my original post.

God comes to him there. There: in Gibeon. A high place. God meets him there. And God meets him there to bless him. One of the most well-known Solomon moments - where he has this conversation with God and asks for wisdom, and God gives it to him - happens at a high place. What?

Ancient Mayan Temple

Here’s the thing: God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways. He’s not the way we often imagine Him to be. We know that He’s so big and holy. He is powerful and commanding and righteous and completely authoritative. He has the right to make any rules He wants and to enforce those rules and to fiercely punish even the slightest aberration to them. He’s written a sense of His power and Divine right into our human consciousness (Rom. 1), and that is the grace of general revelation. Yet we often imagine Him to be a harsh and malicious authority figure, tracking our every movement and ready to punish when we make the slightest mistake or break a single command that He’s given. Deep inside our hearts, we tend to have this dread of Him. We neither worship Him for His greatness nor trust Him for His goodness. By birth and by choice, we are enemies of God in our hearts, and we treat Him with suspicion. We try to keep our lives to ourselves and out from under His nose, all the while resenting the fact that avoiding Him entirely isn’t an option. (Look, I know that we would never put it into so many words! We don’t consciously think this about God, but if it surprises you that God meets with Solomon at a high place [and it should surprise you, if you’ve read the Pentateuch well!], then you can be sure that something inside you is suspicious of God and that something in you believes that you have to do everything just right in order for God to meet with you.

But God is surprising. He is surprisingly full of mercy and grace. Do we really think that 10,000 years (and counting!) of human failure and rebellion is enough to exhaust the mercy of God? The Scriptures say that He is rich in it! Beyond that, He is a God who loves relationship. He delights to know and to be known. He loves steadfast love: both the giving and the receiving of it. He is not seeking perfection from us; He doesn’t expect that. (He Himself has provided a perfect righteousness that will be freely imputed to us [Rom. 5].) He is seeking those whose hearts are toward Him (2 Chron. 16:9). He wants people who worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4). He desires steadfast love more than sacrifice and to be known more than burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13; 12:7). He is like a compassionate father, and He remembers that we are made out of dust (Ps. 103:13-14). And so He comes to us. Again and again, He comes to us. He finds us where we are: shame-filled Adam and Eve in the garden, misdirected Solomon at the high place, depressed Elijah out in the desert, runaway Jonah in a ship and angry Jonah on the hill, curious Zaccheus in the tree, guilty-sad Peter by the Sea of Galilee, raging Saul on the way to Damascus, and so on and on. He comes to us. This is the kind of God that He is.

So, fellow-believer, friend who needs mercy, don't try to hide your failure; don't think He expects you to get your act together first. Turn your face to Him; ask Him for help for your heart. We call this "faith," and it pleases Him. Righteous people live by faith: faith in Jesus. Jesus knows exactly who you are and where you are, and He is the kind of God who will come to meet you. That's why His name is Jesus: He comes (Immanuel), and He saves His people from their sins.

Tropism

Do you remember learning about "tropism" in the plant section of your 4th grade science book? You know, phototropism, hydrotropism, and thigmotropism? I remember being intrigued and looking for examples of tropisms in the plants around me.

The Biology Online dictionary defines "tropism" as "A movement or growth response of a cell or an organism to a stimulus, which may either be positive or negative depending on the source and kind of stimulation." The entry goes on to differentiate "tropism" from similar phenomena such as "kinesis" or "taxis" and then offers examples of various kinds of "tropism."

You wanted to know all of that, right? (But really, it's pretty cool.)

Over the years, the idea of tropism has grown deeper roots in my life. According to the Bible, the God who made the world, crafts each human individually, and orders every day with personal attention and care is continually calling people to come to Him and to know Him. He's always pursuing relationship with people. There's a very real sense in which He intends for every single facet of your life in every single stage of your life to act as a stimulus in your relationship with Him. The Christian's interaction with life should be "theotropic."

That being said, I wanted to share two tropism parables with you.

1). Thigmotropism (response to touch stimuli).

I wrote this little poem-prayer back when I was in school (and when I thought that writing poetry in Elizabethan English was a thing. I've since learned differently. Don't judge.).

Thigmotropy

As vining plant, when touched by stick,

In glad dependence graspeth quick,

Let me, dear Lord, when touched by Thee,

Display a like thigmotropy.

2). Heliotropism (response to the sun).

When I took a walk a few evenings ago, I noticed these field clovers craning their necks west, turning full face toward the setting sun. The responsiveness of the plants to the sun echoed in my own heart as a prayer for myself and the people I love: "May our hearts always turn toward You like that."

What have you seen recently that has helped your heart grow toward God?