1 Kings 11:14-25
When it comes to man and his responsibility, we find total failure every time. Solomon’s history demonstrates this better perhaps than any other. He was the wisest, the richest, the most powerful under the sun. He built for God a majestic temple, a matchless enterprise. But the higher a man has been placed, the more resounding his fall. A godly man who allows himself a lapse gives to such a lapse all the weight of his piety. Consider the example that this erring king gave to all Israel; let us draw from it the lesson that applies in our own lives. When our walk is not in conformity with our position, we constitute a stumbling-block for others.
God raises up adversaries against Solomon in his old age. First, from outside his kingdom, Hadad and Rezon; then, even from within, Jeroboam. But we do not see the king turning to the LORD and saying to Him, "Hear and forgive". Yet was not this the way that he had traced out in his prayer, for those who would be confronted by enemies as a consequence of their sins?