COOPERATION Posted 10.11.07
1 Kings 5
A foundation is built by reinforcing large amounts of the same material. As we complete this section on God’s foundation in our lives, we will be reemphasizing many concepts and principles covered in the first four chapters and thus solidifying our spiritual foundation.
As I composed my original outline for this study, I assumed this lesson on cooperation would focus on people cooperating with other people. While human interaction is important here, the recurring emphasis is cooperation with God.
I recommend reading 2 Chronicles 2 in addition to the 1 Kings 5 passage. It adds some very interesting detail to the events.
COOPERATION WITH GOD - AN EMPHASIS ON GOD’S WORD (Read 1 Kings 5:1-5)
Solomon began his reign and the building of the temple with a healthy emphasis on God’s Word. It’s obvious from these first five verses that his motivation came from God’s Word not only to his father, King David, but ultimately to Solomon himself.
I appreciate his forthrightness with Hiram in declaring God’s Word as the foundation of all he is doing. Solomon wanted to have a working relationship with Hiram but not at the expense of his relationship with God. What about you? Are you cooperating with God in the relationships in your life?
God brings people into our lives for a reason and takes them back out as well. Consistent spiritual growth teaches us to involve God in every relationship and allows Him to set the tone for each one.
Apparently someone should have backed away from Hiram’s family in Tyre. Jezebel, who encouraged great corruption in Israel, was one of Hiram’s descendants.
What is the foundation of the relationships in your life?
The temple construction also represents considerable cooperation with God. It was God’s project! This building adventure wasn’t Solomon’s idea, it was God’s. David and Solomon were merely vessels for fulfilling God’s Word. In John 14:12, Jesus said, “Anyone who has faith in Me will do what I’ve been doing…even greater things…” God has projects for you as well. How are you responding?
What is the foundation of the projects you are presently engaged in?
Verse 5 records a significant remark by Solomon, “I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God…” (emphasis mine). God’s Word became personal to Solomon. He was no longer on “auto pilot,” simply doing what his father David told him, he was developing his own relationship with the Lord. Are you?
Our God is a personal God. He longs to speak to You individually through His Word and prayer. What does your relationship with God look like today?
Though Solomon was entering a business relationship with Hiram, he was not dismissing God. God was the basis for this friendship and would bless it. Solomon wanted Hiram to know the truth. What is the foundation of your business relationships? Who among your business contacts might God want you to share His Word with today?
COOPERATION WITH GOD – AN EMPHASIS ON GOD’S GLORY (Read 1 Kings 5:6-7)
These two short verses portray a few simple ways to bring glory to God.
Excellent skills bring glory to God. Solomon pursued the best for the building of God’s temple. These foreign workers had distinguished themselves as superior and would now have the privilege of participating in kingdom work. God knows your heart. If you are actively disciplining yourself to do your best for the Lord, it will bring Him glory. Peter said our simple, daily lives can bring God glory if done well (see 1 Peter 2:12).
Appreciation of others and proper compensation bring glory to God. I love Solomon’s admiration of these men. Everyone enjoys appropriate recognition. Solomon was generous with his praise and it obviously blessed Hiram a great deal. Our God is a God of encouragement. Who can you encourage today?
“The worker deserves his wages,” Jesus said in Luke 10:7. Solomon was equally liberal with compensation. To let the Hiram set the wage…Solomon was a trusting man. And God honored it.
Co-laboring with others brings glory to God. Solomon could not build the temple alone. Even the Israelite community could not provide all that was needed. God loves to bring people together, especially people who, if it weren’t for His projects, would never cross paths. Who is God calling you to work alongside? How are you responding?
Praise to God is glory to God. In the 2 Chronicles 2 account of this conversation, verse 11 records Hiram saying, “Because the LORD loves His people, He has made you their king.” What an enormous compliment! Who is praising God because they see His work in your life? Whose glory do you seek?
How can you bring glory to God today?
COOPERATION WITH GOD – EMPHASIS ON GOD’S GIFTS (Read 1 Kings 5:8-12)
Tyre had the cedar and pine logs; Israel had the wheat and olive oil. Everyone used their gifts and shared their gifts. The Israelites refused to whine because they lacked the right kind of trees. They found someone who had them. What are your gifts? How are you developing them? How are you using them? Whose gifts can you benefit from, and how is God guiding that connection?
God gives every believer gifts (1 Corinithians 12), and they are all useful in many ways. This transaction is a business deal. How can you use your gifts more effectively in the workplace?
God’s gifts are promises from Him. He always keeps His promises and His Word is full of them. We can know His promises to us by spending time in His Word and prayer. What are His promises to you today?
God’s gifts working in God’s way bring God’s peace. The peaceful relations between Tyre and Israel were God’s blessing. In what area do you lack peace? Examine the use of your gifts and the way others are using their gifts in your life.
God’s peace does not mean the absence of conflict in our circumstances. It means the absence of conflict in our spirit. Assurance saturates our hearts and minds even in the midst of adversity.
I had an incredibly busy week last week, very limited sleep, spoke six times in six days, and I'm still trying to recover my energy. But God’s peace is palpable. The time was well spent. His peace doesn’t absolve us from weariness or even from frustration; it simply gives us the assurance that He is present and will help us to keep moving forward.
COOPERATION WITH GOD – EMPHASIS ON GOD’S GUIDANCE (Read 1 Kings 5:13-18)
There is never a good time to stop allowing God to be the Foreman in our lives. Every relationship, project, ministry, and activity prospers only as much as we cooperate with Him and allow His complete guidance.
In the final verses of this chapter, Solomon appeared to be under God’s guidance in the distribution of labor. He seemed sensitive to their need to have plenty of family time and seemed to follow the law concerning foreigners as forced labor and Israelites as foreman and craftsmen. However, subsequent chapters in 1 Kings shed light on injustices that apparently grew over time. Perhaps the temple was built under God’s guidance, but evidently later projects and demands on the workforce were not. I Kings 12 paints a picture of angry laborers, so much so that Adoniram (in charge of forced labor) was stoned to death (1 Kings 12:18). Somewhere along the way God was demoted from Foreman to bystander. Solomon used other forms of guidance and they led to his downfall and a divided kingdom.
Who is your guide?