June 9, 2026; 1 Kings 7

Daily Dose of Hope June 9, 2026   Scripture:  I Kings 7   Prayer:  Almighty God and Risen Lord, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, We come before you today with praise and a sense of awe.  You are amazing.  You offer new life.  And yet, we still struggle to keep focus on you.  We struggle to not stray into the ways of the world.  Lord, please help us gather our scattered and distracted thoughts.  Help us take a moment of silence and remember who you are...Holy Spirit, speak to us today.  We want to hear your voice.  In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  This summer, we are digging in to 1 & 2 Kings.  Between these two books, we will cover roughly 400 years of ancient Israeli history.  Yesterday, we read about the building of the temple and today, we encounter another building project.   Today's reading is 1 Kings 7.  This first part of this chapter describes the building of Solomon's palace.  The very first line is interesting to me.  While Solomon took seven years to build the Temple, he took thirteen years to build his palace.  That right there should make us raise an eyebrow or two.  While the temple construction is detailed, Solomon's personal palace is even more. It is also much larger and thus, most likely more expensive. Remember, he used conscripted labor for his own palace. This can't help but send up red flags for the reader. While Solomon asked for wisdom, it appears he doesn't always use it.   The second portion of the chapter goes into, in great detail, the Temple furnishings.  Again, God's Temple is being outfitted with beautiful things by the best artisans.  This makes me feel better after reading about the palace, but we have no idea how the furnishings in the palace compare.    The question we will continue to ask as we witness Solomon's time on the throne, "Is this palace and all of Solomon's wealth a sign of God's blessing OR a sign of self-indulgence?" We all would be wise to reflect on this question in our own lives as well.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki