2 Chronicles 9:22-31: a reflection

22So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24They each brought tribute: vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules every year. 25Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen that he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 26He ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as abundant as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. 28They brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt and out of all lands. 29Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, aren’t they written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in his father David’s city; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

This passage records the summit of Solomon's glory: he surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom, silver as common as stones, gold and horses and tribute flowing in from everywhere. And then, in a single verse, it records his end: Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. All that immense wealth, accumulated over a lifetime, Solomon left behind at his death; it passed to his son Rehoboam, who, within a short time, would lose half the kingdom through his folly.

Notice the trajectory: Solomon's vast wealth, and then his death, leaving it all to another. He could take none of it with him; the silver, the gold, the horses, all of it stayed behind, passing to a successor who would squander much of it. Whatever Solomon had accumulated, he left; it did not go with him into death, but into the hands of another, and not always a wise one. As the psalmist said, he heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather it.

That is a sobering reminder about the wealth we accumulate. We spend our lives gathering, building, accumulating, and then, like Solomon, we leave it all behind at death; we cannot take any of it with us. It passes to others, who may use it well or squander it, but it is no longer ours. This is not a reason to despair, but a reason to hold our wealth loosely and to invest in what we can take with us, our relationship with God, treasure laid up in heaven. Do not spend your life accumulating what you must leave behind. Hold your wealth loosely, knowing you will take none of it with you, and lay up treasure with God, which death cannot take from you.

Lord, Solomon surpassed all kings in wealth, and then he died and left it all to his son, who squandered much of it; he could take none of it with him. Remind me that I, too, will leave behind all I accumulate. I spend my life gathering and building, and then, like Solomon, I will leave it all, passing it to others who may use it well or waste it. Help me hold my wealth loosely, knowing I will take none of it with me. Keep me from spending my life accumulating what I must leave behind, and help me invest instead in what I can take with me: my relationship with you, treasure laid up in heaven. What I keep for eternity is not what I accumulate here, but what I invest in you. Teach me to lay up treasure with you, which death cannot take.