Growing up in Western New York, I am very accustomed to failure and disappointment. First the Buffalo Braves (NBA) left, then we lost Bethlehem Steel (20, 000 jobs), then there was that failed attempt to bring a Major League Baseball team here. Next there was Wide Right, three more Superbowl losses, finally then the Sabres chipped in with No Goal! For some reason, we cannot build a second Peace Bridge to Canada, we cannot develop our harbor, we cannot get a Bass Pro to come to town. My goodness, it took us 11 years to demolish the Aud! As the old saying goes, "If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style."
Today's Psalm is dedicated to one of the biggest failures in all of Scripture. Apart from Judas Iscariot, I don't know of a more tragic figure in all of human history. Not only did he make a complete shipwreck of his life, it was the misuse of all his immense talents, skills, gifts and wisdom that brought about his own destruction.
This psalm is really a prayer for & by King Solomon, and what a prayer it is. He is asking God to give the king and his kingdom righteousness, justice, peace, prosperity, protection, and a long lasting legacy. These are all good things. These are the kinds of prayers that we would pray for our own nation.
But when you consider Solomon's life, this prayer turns into a lament for all that could have been. Solomon had everything going for him (see Ecclesiastes 1 & 2).
God met personally with Solomon, and gave him riches, honor, long life and a wise and discerning heart(1 Kings 3:1-14). But Solomon, even after a very promising start, ended up a failure, far from God and everything this psalm speaks about.
He went from a wise judge(1 King 3:27) to losing all judgment when it came to his allegiances (1 Kings 11:3-6)
He experienced unparalleled peace and prosperity in Israel, but underlying all of this, his actions were setting the stage for Jeroboam to plot revolt(1 Kings 11:26) and ultimately plunge his kingdom into civil war.
He established a worldwide legacy for his wisdom (1 Kings 10) and yet could not pass on any of that wisdom to his own son and successor Rehoboam, who was one of the biggest boneheads in all the Bible (see 1 Kings 12)
He wrote some of the most wise and beautiful writings in all of human history (Proverbs, Eccleasianstes, Song of Songs) and then proceeded to break all his wise sayings and make a mockery of love. (Having 700 wives and 300 concubines will do that to a man.)
What Solomon needed was not more money or power or wisdom. What Solomon needed was a Savior. And through Jesus, this same psalm turns into a promised made and kept. This psalm, like the rest of the entire Scripture, is Messianic- all about Jesus Christ. This psalm gives us hope, because it introduces the One King who's judgments are perfect, who is the Prince of Peace, who has redeemed us by His precious blood, who has be granted all authority in Heaven and Earth.
He alone cannot fail. Today, would you go to him with all your failure and all you mistakes, and ask that He makes "all things new" (Rev. 21:5)
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