We Fall Down - But We [Can] Get Up

This week we finished our year of Bible study with 1 Kings 11.  Last week in 1 Kings 9-10, we learned about Samuel’s abundant blessings. His annual income was 666 talents (10:14), which today would be about $1.1 Billion per year.  Silver was common and lacked value (10:21). There was peace in his kingdom and all was well. He was visited by the Queen of Sheba who had questions about his God and his worship and wanted to see for herself if his reputation was true (1 Kings 10). I was in awe thinking of his riches, wisdom and blessings. Each week of Bible study has held new events from which to learn, and the final week did not disappoint—except that I was expecting a happy ending. 

So, it seems Solomon, to whom God “gave wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore...greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt,” (1 Kings 4:29-30) was still human, was still cursed by his sin nature, and eventually fell. The Lord told Solomon not to marry the women of the surrounding are because they worshipped idol gods and would change his heart.  Nevertheless, “He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.”  (1 Kings 11:3)

Earlier in our study we saw, Saul, king of Israel, fall.  He began to think on his own and disobey the Lord’s will. (Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel:  “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.  (1 Samuel 15:10-11)  

Saul’s successor, David, also fell.  We read about the slippery slope events that occurred when he met Bathsheba.  I’ve read that within that chain of events, he broke all ten commandments.  He suffered for his sins, mourning the death of four sons.  Through everything, however, David loved the Lord and was fully committed to the Lord’s will. "And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.” (1 Samuel 6: 14-15)

David fell, but unlike Saul and Solomon, David got up.  For that reason, God remembered His promise to him. From his lineage, came Jesus. (Matthew 1)
While there are MANY things I learned in this year’s Bible study, my takeaway is that we all have the capacity to fall down.  Sin is real. It doesn’t matter how God has blessed us, it doesn’t matter how wise or smart we are, it doesn’t matter what church we belong to, how stable we think we are.  Sin is real. We must, “be alert and of sober mind. [our] enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8)  

We may fall down at some point, but we can all get up, too.  Sin is Attractive. It seems harmless. It seems justifiable.  The world is filled with sin. We must be on-guard against sin at all times.

~Joshua 1:7-9
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

~Jeremiah 31:19
After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.

~2 Corinthians 7:9-10
Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

~Revelation 2:5
Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

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If you are interested in joining Bible study in September 2019, please check out Bible Study Fellowship to find a class near you.  If you are in Rock Hill, SC, or nearby, email me about joining our Evening Women’s group.


AMEN!  
Thank you for reading!
Kim