One of the most detestable acts that King Solomon committed was the worship of idols.

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh, from whom the Lord said, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn your heart after their gods…And his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God. (1 Kings 11:1-4)

 

The names of the false gods:

Ashtoreh

Molech

Chemosh

 

Solomon got warned:

At Gieon the Lord appeared to Solomon … and said, ‘Ask for what I shall give you’ (1 Kings 3:5)

“As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and unrighteousness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel’.
“But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?” People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshipping and serving them – that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.'” (1 Kings 9:4-9)

Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’? (Proverbs 20:9)

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)

The hearts of children of man are full of evil, and madness in their hearts while they live. (Ecclesiastes 9:3)

Issue #1 – Despair

Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” (1 Kings 11:11-13)

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind… For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. (Ecclesiastes 1:13-14,18)

Issue #2  – Adversaries

And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was from the royal house in Edom. (1 Kings 11:14)

God also raised up an adversary to him. Recon … and he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band… He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned in Syria. (1 Kings 11:23-25)

Issue #3 – Betrayal

Jeroboam, son of Neat, a servant of Solomon… also lifted up his hand against the king. (1 Kings 11:26)

Q: How do I respond to the Lord’s discipline?

A: Accept it as correction, not punishment.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11)

Own your stuff.

But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” (2 Samuel 24:10)

Then David said to God, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but let me fall into the hands of men.” (2 Samuel 24:14)

Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house. (2 Samuel 24:17)

Be grateful for God’s mercy.

Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” (1 Kings 11:12-13)

“Solomon’s life ended in tragedy. Solomon was greatly blessed by God but he allowed God’s gifts to dominate his affections. The fault lay not with God for giving Solomon so much, but with Solomon who, though he had the wisdom to deal with such temptations, chose to set his affections on the gifts and not the Giver. The man best qualified to live life successfully chose not to do so. Success in life in the eyes of God does not come automatically with the possession of wisdom but with the application of wisdom to one’s life. Spiritual success depends not only on insight but also on choices.” 

– John Walvoord, Bible Knowledge Commentary

Solomon had a total lack of trust in God’s promises. Fortunately for us, God provides us about his mistakes for us to learn from them and even gives us a solution, the Gospel of Jesus.