It is still possible today, 3000 years after it was built, to measure some of the remaining stones of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Archaeologists continue to debate how these stones, weighing hundreds of tons, were actually cut, moved into position, and fitted together so remarkably well. But we see here in 1 Kings 5, as King Solomon began the temple-building project, that neither size nor expense was spared in acquiring foundation stones for the temple. It isn’t surprising that he started the project by building the strongest foundation possible. The base had to be solid and unmovable before attempting to raise the expensive structure on it. The infamous Leaning Tower of Pisa illustrates what happens when an inadequate foundation is laid.<\/p>\n
The metaphor of a firm foundation as essential for life is used in both the Old and New Testament. Jesus told us to be careful to build our life on the solid rock\u2014Him and His word. David gives us a clear picture of this in Psalm 61:1\u20132 when he says:<\/p>\n
\nHear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThat should be our prayer today as well.<\/p>\n
“LORD, lead us to the Rock that is higher than we are.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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1 Kings 5 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/sup>\u00a0And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.\u00a0\u00a02<\/sup>And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the\u00a0LORD\u00a0put them under the soles of his feet.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0But now the\u00a0LORD\u00a0my God hath given me rest on every side,\u00a0so that there is\u00a0<\/em>neither adversary nor evil occurrent.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0my God, as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.\u00a0\u00a06<\/sup>Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that\u00a0there is<\/em>not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u00a0this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and\u00a0<\/em>I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.\u00a0\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0My servants shall bring\u00a0them<\/em>down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive\u00a0them:\u00a0<\/em>and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.\u00a0 10<\/sup>\u00a0So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees\u00a0according to\u00a0<\/em>all his desire.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.\u00a0\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together. 13<\/sup> And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>two months at home: and Adoniram\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>over the levy.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0Beside the chief of Solomon\u2019s officers which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon\u2019s builders and Hiram\u2019s builders did hew\u00a0them<\/em>, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is still possible today, 3000 years after it was built, to measure some of the remaining stones of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Archaeologists continue to debate how these stones, weighing hundreds of tons, were actually cut, moved into position, and fitted together so remarkably well. But we see here in 1 Kings 5, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6705"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16234,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6705\/revisions\/16234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}