1. When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the LORD,
   she came to test him with hard questions.
2. Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan
   --with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones--
   she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind.
3. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.
4. When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built,
5. the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes,
   his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.
6. She said to the king,
   "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true.
7. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes.
   Indeed, not even half was told me;
   in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard.
8. How happy your men must be! How happy your officials,
   who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!
9. 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."
10. And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones.
   Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11. (Hiram's ships brought gold from Ophir;
   and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood and precious stones.
12. The king used the almugwood to make supports for the temple of the LORD and for the royal palace,
   and to make harps and lyres for the musicians.
   So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)
13. King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for,
   besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty.
   Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
14. The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,
15. not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.
16. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold;
   six hundred bekas of gold went into each shield.
17. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield.
   The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
18. Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold.
19. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top.
   On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them.
20. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step.
   Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.
21. All King Solomon's goblets were gold,
   and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.
   Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days.
22. The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram.
   Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
23. King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.
24. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
25. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift
   --articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
26. Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;
   he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,
   which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
27. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones,
   and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills.
28. Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue--the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.
29. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.
   They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.



솔로몬의 번영과 풍성함

말씀과 관계된 나의 첫 생각은
아 이 많은 물질이 오히려 솔로몬의 마음을 더렵혔구나.
이 풍성과 부족할 것 없음이 그를 타락하게 하였구나
하나님의 주신 지혜와 축복이 인간이 감당하고
기쁨으로 누리기에는 참으로 어려움이 있구나였다.

하나님은 당신의 왕 솔로몬에게
그들이 얻을 수 있는 충분한 것들을 허락하셨다.
마치 하나님의 나라의 풍성을 그들은 경험하는 것 같아보인다.
은이 마치 돌맹이처럼 흔하고
백향목이 뽕나무 같이 많았다니...
겉으로 보이는 이 풍성함은 하나님이 주실 때 넉넉한 것이다.
이스라엘과 솔로몬은 하나님의 주시는
풍성함을 누리고 또 만끽하였으리라.

그런데 왜 이 풍족함이 오래가지 않고
또 그들은 이 풍복함 속에서 하나님을 온전히 섬기는 일에
소홀해져 갔는냐는 것이다.

인간의 어리석음과
연약함은
육신의 평안과 안일함 속에서
그 넉넉함 속에서 하나님을 잃어버리는 경향이 있다.
하나님의 도우심을 잊어버리고
그자리에서 누릴 수 있는 부를 누리고만 있다는 것이다.

그래서 차라리 가난이 축복이라고 하지 않는가?

우리는 말한다.
하나님을 올바로 믿으면서도
부자로 풍부하게 살 수 있는것 아니냐고
왜 예수를 잘 믿으면서 부자로 살 수 없느냐고
당연히 있다.
또 그럴 수도 있고 그래야 하기도 한다.
그러나 불행하게도
우리의 연약함이 문제인 것이다.
하나님을 온전히 섬기면서도 부를 유지하는 것이
인간의 가진 연약함으로 쉽지 않다는 것이다.
부는 하나님을 잊게하는 수많은 유혹을 수반하고
그 부를 유지하기 위해서
또 하나님의 말씀을 어기는 유혹을 감당해야 한다.
나아가서
부를 가지고 또 이루기 위해서
우리는 나라는 존재에 집중하게되고
그순간 하나님과 그 목적을 잊어간다는 것이다.

기도하기는
하나님을 잊지않고
하나님의 원하시는 삶을 향한 열정을 잃지 않고도
하나님의 허락하시는 지혜와 풍성을 누릴 수 있기를 소원한다.
나아가 내가 하나님의 바라시는 목적을 향해
나의 삶을 정하고
나의 길을 걸어갈 때
하나님께서
나에게 지혜와 신실함
그리고 그 모든것에 부족하지 않는 것들을 허락하실 것을 믿는다.

하나님은
참 놀라우신 분이시다.
당신의 일을 계획하고
준비하며
나에게 향하신 복적들을 알아가면 갈 수록
나의 마음에 평안이 있어진다는 것을 보면.....

그 능력을 의지하고
그 계획의 신실하심을 바라보고
오늘도 살아갈 수 있기를 소원한다.