This chapter contains more details about Solomon’s officers, wealth, and household.
“Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking.” (v22-23,26-27)
Solomon had the most physical resources imaginable – it says nothing was lacking. God blessed Solomon, his household, and Israel greatly. I’m sure some (or most) of us don’t feel like we have received anywhere near that same level of physical blessing (and we’re likely correct).
The Bible says a great deal about provision, but maybe not the kind of provision we’d expect: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ ” (Heb 13:5) “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Php 4:19) “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Pt 1:3) “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Cor 9:8)
Though the Bible does say God will give us enough physical provision for our needs, it does not promise us physical riches like Solomon’s. God does promise great spiritual wealth and provision, abundant grace, and the ability to abound in every good work.
If we are feeling tired, weak, overwhelmed, financially strained, depressed, mournful, hungry, or any other feeling of lack, we can come to God in prayer. I encourage us to pray God’s promises, and thank Him in advance for fulfilling those promises in our lives as if He has already done so. Praying God’s promises was one of the pillars of praying ‘in the Spirit’ we talked about a few weeks ago. By praying God’s promises back to Him, and having faith He will fulfill them, we may find we aren’t lacking as much as we thought.
Father God, our Provider and Guide, You are awesome beyond compare. Father You have blessed us so greatly through Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Your grace is abundantly sufficient for us, and You also meet all of our physical needs. You promise that if we are lacking in wisdom we can ask of You and You will generously provide it, if we ask in unwavering faith, so Father we ask for the fulfillment of that promise. Father thank you for blessing us with all we need to abound in every good work, and bless those around us with any excess You have provided. May we do these things in the name of Jesus, our Savior and King, forever and ever, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training