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Solomon and the Soil

Now I mentioned recently that Solomon became great and glorious because Solomon was good. But as did Saul and David before him, Solomon rebelled against the Lord in last years. He married many strange women of strange religion, and they turned his heart away from God to idolatry. Saul, David, and now Solomon all were beloved of the Lord in their youth, and were blessed above measure. After all they knew and after all they received from the Lord, how could they fall away? I’ve thought about it, and at least a partial answer is the same way some of us have. I will illustrate what I mean by dirt.

Now you should know that all soil is dirt to some people, but not all dirt is soil. Soil is that nutrient rich ‘dirt’ – if you will – beneath our feet that grows our food and sustains our lives. Now before that soil is useful to a farmer, he must violently rip is apart, turning it upside down and breaking all to pieces. Once he has done that and it’s free of foreign entanglements, and it’s mellow and soft, well then it’s ready for the seeds. And once it’s planted, that’s not enough. The farmer knows that if that ground is going to continue to produce, he must keep it fertile, mellow, and well watered. He can never neglect it. The moment he turns his attention away from his soil, it will immediately begin to return to its natural state.

Now, the Latin word for this fertile soil that we’re talking about is ‘humus’ – H U M U S. It is the same route from which our word ‘humility’ comes from. Think about the comparison. A humble heart is like good soil. First of all, it must be broken and torn apart from its love of worldly things. Then, as that fertile soil is the source of all our food, so a humble heart is the source and beginning of all righteousness.

Now, the heart must be watched carefully, continually, and it must be nourished constantly to keep it from becoming hard-pan – hardened, impenetrable by doubt, [and] skepticism. And my experience has been that the heart too must be harrowed regularly. As rain nourishes the soil, so revelation nourishes the heart, that heart humble enough to receive it. A humble and willing heart will bear much fruit to the Lord, and please Him greatly.

Now, a humble man is – in a manner of speaking – very down-to-earth. He is firmly grounded, and he knows his proper place. He knows that he is less than the dust of the earth before God, and he reminds himself of that fact often, and while standing firmly planted, [he] always looks Heavenward for guidance.

Now, I end where I started. Israel’s three great kings fell when they either could not or would not humble themselves, when they gave into their pride rather than their humility. It is painful to plow the heart, but it has to happen! This, my friends, is a lesson to us all.