Solomon, hailed as the wisest man ever, possessed a peculiar trait that has always troubled me. Namely, he failed to follow his own wise counsel. The age-old saying, “Knowledge is powerless without action,” rings true.
Let’s look at one example. Despite having 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3), he adhered to the marriage principles outlined in Proverbs 5:18:
“Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth”.
He had to have married once every two weeks on average for four decades (1 Kings 11:42). Regrettably, it was his wives who eventually led him astray from the divine path, as God foretold.
In 1 Kings 11:9–11, God says “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God…”,
It is a tragedy that despite being so wise, Solomon failed to act on his own words of wisdom. He should have known better than to marry so many women, knowing full well the dangers that come with it. I can only imagine how much more successful he would have been had he followed his own counsel and avoided the temptation of marrying so many wives.
His story serves as a reminder to us all: no matter how wise we are, we must always take action in order to ensure that our knowledge is put into practice. We must learn from Solomon’s mistakes and strive to make sure that our actions always align with our words.
Otherwise, even the wisest among us may fall prey to temptation and regret it later on.
By Lonnie Davis