Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 1 Kings 10 and Psalm 110

The Queen of Sheba (also known as Sabea and situated where modern Yemen is in southern Arabia) made the 2400 km journey to Jerusalem as part of a trade delegation. Her mission was essentially to assess whether Solomon was all he was reported to be, and whether Israel would be a worthwhile trading partner. When she spoke with Solomon, I doubt she merely posed hypothetical questions as a test. She was far more likely to have asked his advice on real diplomatic and administrative issues that were a challenge to her leadership. She was not only satisfied with his answers, but apparently completely astounded at his wisdom.

Her response to Solomon’s wisdom and wealth was praise! “Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” (v.9) Moses had foreseen this kind of reaction to God’s grace and spoken about it in Deuteronomy 28:10. The Queen of Sheba had seen the truth behind the facts: A wise king/queen/leader is God’s gift to His people. God’s love for Israel meant that He applied Solomon’s gift of wisdom to establish justice and righteousness in Israel.

As Christians, we need not struggle to apply the lesson of Queen Sheba, because Jesus did it for us. In Matthew 12:42, Jesus responded to the continued refusal of the Pharisees to believe and said: “The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.” By contrast to the Queen of Sheba, who was willing to travel so far to seek out Solomon, these Pharisees refused to recognise the Son of God before their very eyes.

As Christians, we should be willing to sacrifice far more than the Queen did for the sake of encountering Jesus. And we ought to trust implicitly that He will lead us through every challenge and struggle we face. There is nothing worth more than Jesus. There is no greater leader and no greater King!

Lord Jesus, I worship You as my King and I trust You as my Guide. Please lead me today, so that I may live in a way that brings You glory in the eyes of all who observe my life. Amen!