2 Chronicles 1:13-17: a reflection

13So Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the Tent of Meeting, to Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel. 14Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 15The king made silver and gold to be as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars to be as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. 16The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt and from Kue. The king’s merchants purchased them from Kue. 17They imported from Egypt then exported a chariot for six hundred pieces of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty. They also exported them to the Hittite kings and the Syrian kings.

Having asked God for wisdom rather than riches, Solomon is now blessed with great prosperity as well. He gathers chariots and horses, and in Jerusalem he makes silver and gold as common as stones and cedar as plentiful as ordinary sycamore. The description conveys staggering abundance, a kingdom overflowing with wealth. God had promised Solomon riches and honor along with the wisdom he requested, and here the promise is being fulfilled.

Yet a careful reader notices a shadow. Solomon accumulates chariots and multiplies horses, importing them from Egypt, precisely the things the law had warned Israel's kings not to do, lest their hearts be drawn away. The very abundance that was God's gift also carried the seeds of future compromise. Prosperity is a blessing, but it is also a test, and the accumulation that begins here would, in time, contribute to Solomon's drift from God. Wealth given by God still had to be handled with care.

There is wisdom here for handling prosperity. God does bless, sometimes with abundance, and that is his gift to be received with gratitude. But abundance is spiritually dangerous; it can quietly draw the heart away, and what begins as blessing can become a snare if held carelessly. If God has blessed you materially, receive it thankfully, but hold it with open hands and a watchful heart. Do not let the gifts crowd out the Giver, and remember that prosperity is as much a test of the heart as scarcity.

Lord, you blessed Solomon with staggering abundance, yet that very wealth carried the seeds of his later drift from you. Where you have blessed me, help me to receive it with gratitude but to hold it with open hands and a watchful heart. Do not let your gifts crowd out you, the Giver. Guard me in prosperity as much as in scarcity, and keep my heart wholly yours. Amen.