The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 236

For this retribution was of two kinds. There was-I. THAT WHICH SoLOllON BUFFERED IN HIB OWN PERSON; and, II. THAT WHICH HE SUFFERED IN HIS FAMILY AND KINGDOM, Under the first of these categories the following penalties are to be ranked: 1. His life W<U shortened. Probably by the operation of natural laws. It is not suggested that he was directly smitten of God; it is quite possible that his rank voluptuousness destroyed his energies and induced premature decay. Bnt all the same his days were cut short. Not only was long life the principal sanction of the dispensation under which he lived, but it had been expressly promised him as the reward of piety (eh. iii 14). But his sun went down while it was yet noon. He was not sixty when the mandate went forth, " Remove the diadem, and take off the crown" (Ezek. xx.i. 26). And if it be true, what Dr. Johnson said to David Garrick when the latter showed him his elegant house at Richmond, that great and rare earthly possessions" make deathbeds miserable," it must have cost Solomon a sharp pang to leave so soon his cedar palace and his cbryselephantine throne. 2. His life was embittered. If, as is most probable, we have in the book of Ecclesiastes a chapter of his autobiography, it is clear that his glory brought him little satisfaction (eh. iii. passim; v. 13; vi.12; vii. 26); there was a worm at the root of all his pleasures. Of what avail were his houses, his gardens, his pools of water, &c., so long as he had not the heart to enjoy them? " It is the mind that maketh good or ill, That maketh wretch'd or happy, rich or poor, For some, that hath abundance at his will, Bath not enough, but seeks a greater store." He knew nothing of "th·e royalty of inward happiness." How different St. Paul, "Having nothing, yet possessing all things," &c. (2 Cor. vi. 10). What a commentary on the "confessions'' of Solomon, as they have been called, with their everlasting refrain, their vanitas vanitatwm, is that confession of a man who suffered one long martyrdom of pain-the Baptist minister, Robert Hall-" I enjoy everything." 3. He was tortured by remorse. This is not expressly stated, but surely it may with good reason be infen-ed. For the wisest of men could not be so insensate, when he heard the message of doom (eh. xii 2), as not to reflect how different his end was to be from his beginning; how fair the flower, and how bitter the fruit. Surely the cry he has put into others' lips would often rise from his own, "How have I hated instruction," &c. (Prov. v. 12). 4. He was haunted by forebodings. " This great Babylon" which be had builded, how soon should it be destroyed. Tho empire which he had consolidated should barely last his life. " One tribe "-how those words would ring in his ears I Then he had good reason, too, to fear that his son was one of the class he had himself described (Prov. x. 1; xv. 20; xvii. 25; rix. 13. Cf. Eccles. ii. 19), and no match for Jeroboam, of whose designs upon the throne he cannot have been ignorant (1 Kings xi. 26, 27). He had the mortification of knowing that his " servant" would enter into his labours. And to the prospect of dissensions within, was ndcled the certainty of disaffection without. Hadad and Rezon were already on his border, and were only biding their time. The political horizon was indeed black and lowering. 5. He was harassed by adversaries. For it is clear from verses 14, 23, 26, that Solomon's enemies were not content to wait for bis death. Damascus was a thorn in his side. Egypt was a hotbed of intrigues. The profound peace which he once enjoyed he had lost. The clouds of war were not only gathering, but some of them had buxst. His throne of ivory and gold oan have been but an insecure and uncomfortable seat for some time before he vacated it. II. But men like Solomon think of posterity and of posthumous fame as much as of themselves. If every father has " given hostages to fortune," how much more vulnerable is a king in the person of his successor. Let us now trace the calamities whioh befel Solomon's house and lµngdow.·  240 THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. [OH, XI, 14--48.