A tale of a king

Who had no equal among kings in his lifetime except God.

“The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.

So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,

I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.” (1 Kings 3:10 – 13)

P/S:

King Solomon also fell from grace after falling prey to women (for he married 700 wives, mostly princesses and also had 300 concubines) who led “his heart away from God’ (Who gave him all these gifts):

“He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD.” (1 Kings 11:3)

King Solomon was endowed greatness directly by God Himself Who declared (in the verses above that), “there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be” (among men) and “no equal among kings in his lifetime” except God Himself when He came as Man as this verse proves:

“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.” – referring to Lord Jesus Christ in (Matthew 12:42)

A warning re-iterated by prophet Nehemiah himself, ‘never marry a woman who will take your heart away from God”. Here’s the verse:

“Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.” (Nehemiah 13:26)

Remember, those ‘chicks’ didn’t give you your gifts; God did and thus “never forget Him alone!”

P/S 2:

Every believer knows that there was a king in Israel (among men – excluding God) who was greater than Solomon too.

How is that possible?
Read the verses above carefully and note the phrase “no equal among kings” comes with the phrase “in your lifetime”.

Yes, this king died before Solomon came to his throne.

Who was it?
Solomon’s father, the greatest king of Israel, king David himself as this verse testifies that:

(1) He was after God’s own Heart
(2) And will do all His Will (even if he fell, he repents to fulfill God’s Will thereafter)

Here’s that verse:

“After He (God) had removed him (Saul, first king of Israel), He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.’ (Acts 13:22)