David WK8: When the Peak is the Valley • July 22, 2018

God established a covenant with King David to extend a permanent place on the throne to him and his descendants because he was a man after God’s heart (2 Samuel 7:5- 16). We find the kings that follow fail to live up to the ideals of the covenant God made with David. We see a glimmer of this failure during the end of the reign of Solomon. The phrase from the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, aptly describes the rule of Solomon: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, . . .” It was under Solomon’s rule that Israel was at its peak in political influence, prosperity, and affluence. But his greatness betrayed him for Solomon was also the last of the kings to rule over a united kingdom. There was disobedience and rebellion under the cover of the best of times. In this session we examine both the glory and tragedy of Solomon.