“But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?” (2Ch 2:6 AV)
The humility of Solomon is admirable here. David prepared to build the temple of the LORD but was forbidden to do so. Because God called David to be a warrior, building a temple to the name of the LORD would have given the wrong impression. The temple would have framed God as a God of war, dominance, and control. Rather, the temple was to be erected by a king whose kingdom would be marked by prosperity and peace. Mercy was the impression God wanted the world to see. Not dominance. This privilege fell on Solomon. David had prepared every piece for constructing and operating the temple. All Solomon had to do was assemble it. All of the work was done but to organize the construction of the building. David had bought the parcel upon which the temple would rest. He had the smiths fit every piece. David brought the ark. It was all set. All the temple needed was a man qualified to put it all together and dedicate it. Solomon may have been tempted to be a bit disconnected from the significance of what he was doing. This makes the humility showed above even more impressive. Solomon felt honored to be part of something no matter the responsibility or input he had. Just being part of the process was significant to him.
When I was a young man, our city celebrated 150 years of the existence of the Erie Barge Canal. The city put on a five-night pageant relaying the history of the canal. Our sesquicentennial celebration was a collaboration of many different organizations. Our two city High Schools met and practiced music. The bands performed under one director. Our historical society organized the drama and narrative of the pageant. Mostly, the impact our different cultural groups had on our history and the building of the Erie Barge Canal. Attendance was huge. People from all over western N.Y. came out to see this production. There were thousands every night. Some contributions were significant. Others, in the whole scope of the play, seemed rather minor. Such was the case with my participation. The city had asked our boy scout and cub scout troops to be involved in the pageant. Our troop number was four. This means of the thousand, if not tens of thousands of Boy and Cub Scout troops, ours was the fourth oldest in the country. Boy Scouts was founded in 1911 which means the history of our troops was almost as old as the city itself. Simply amazing. As the fourth oldest troops in the nation, we had the privilege to present colors at the beginning of the pageant. My father selected different boys to do this honor. Each night of the pageant, some of us walked out to the middle of the field as the national anthem was played. We posted colors and then retreated backstage. I had the privilege of doing so almost the entire week. It was so small and insignificant, it would be easy to allow the importance of what I was doing to pass. Not so. To be part of something so big, no matter how small my part was, was tremendous.
We don’t have to be the originator or the front person of something big to be an important part of it. Paul tells us the more comely parts often have the greater significance. Solomon felt privileged and humbled that he got to be part of something bigger than himself. His dad did most of the work. That wasn’t important to him. The fact he could organize construction workers and establish the temple and order of operation that his father had set up was just as much an honor as if he did all that David had done. Solomon did not need to be top dog. He did not need to be in front of the crowd. He did not need all the accolades. He did not need his name on the project. That was all for David. All he wanted to do was to be part of something God was doing. Being humbled with anything God asks us to do is the goal here. I wonder what happened to Solomon. It wouldn’t be too far removed from this project that pride entered his heart and he used high places instead of the magnificent temple he helped to erect. Humility is something to be guarded. It should never be taken for granted.
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