2 Chronicles 8:11: “Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, ‘My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.'”

September 25th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

King Solomon’s life reflects the terrible consequences of compromise. God warned Solomon against alliances with Egypt, but he ignored the Lord and purchased horses from them (Deut. 17:16). He even agreed to an alliance with Egypt through marriage to Pharaoh’s pagan daughter. It is clear Solomon understood his sin, as he couldn’t bring himself to move his pagan wife into his palace. It wasn’t long before Solomon compromised again by taking more wives who also worshiped pagan gods (Deut. 16:17). The results were ruinous: “When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God” (1 Kings 11:4). His actions and compromises led to Israel becoming weaker and weaker until it was eventually torn apart.

Satan’s deadliest and most often used attack on the life of a believer is the deceptive power of compromise. Back in 1931, Irving Thalberg of MGM decided he wanted to buy the film rights to Tarzan, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Thalberg sent Sam Marx to negotiate with Burroughs, telling Marx not to spend more than $100,000, an extraordinarily large sum in those days. Marx contacted Burroughs and asked how much he wanted for the film rights. “$100,000,” said Burroughs. When Marx offered him $25,000, Burroughs walked out of the meeting. However, Marx and Burroughs continued to negotiate throughout the summer. Burroughs eventually settled for $40,000. After signing the contract, Burroughs admitted that he had wanted MGM and Thalberg to make the picture so badly that they could have had it for nothing if they had insisted. “Mr. Burroughs,” replied Marx, “If you had held out, you would have gotten $100,000!”

“LORD, give us the strength to hold out for eternity.”