is the way of all the earth: kings and subjects come to the grave; death is the way of all flesh, and puts a period to this life, and to the dying christian is a passage to a better; for even the sons and heirs of heaven must go this way, they must tread in the dark valley of the shadow of death, though through grace" they may fear no evil," when they can see that Christ is with them, and that the sting of death is removed from them.

Observe how happy David's frame of soul was in his dying hour; "I go the way," he says; as though it was a way familiar to him; and no doubt but he had gone often by faith through the valley of the shadow of death, by faith in the great Messiah, and he feared no evil; and now he comes to die, he seems like one that well knew the way to glory and he says, "I go the way;" intimating that the prophets and the patriarchs had gone this way: "The prophets, where are they, and the fathers, do they live for ever ?"

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Secondly, the bowels of David to his son Solomon: he charges his son to keep in the ways of the Lord thus David, in his views of death, expresseth his faith in the Lord, his bowels of love to Solomon, and his concern for the peace of the people.

CHAPTER III.

Solomon's reign looked bloody in the foregoing chapter, but the necessary acts of justice must not be called cruelty; in this chapter it appears with another face; we must not think the worse of God's mercy to his subjects for his judgments on rebels. We have here, (1.) Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter, ver. 1. (2.) A general view of his religion, ver. 2-4. (3.) A particular account of his prayer to God for wisdom, and God's answer to that prayer, ver. 5-15. (4) A particular instance of his wisdom in deciding the controversy between the two harlots, ver. 16-28. And very great he looks here, both at the altar, and on the bench, and therefore on the bench because at the altar.

VER. 3." And Solomon loved the Lord."]-This was the fruit of the Lord's love to Solomon: for the Lord by the prophet called Solomon Jedidiah, that is, beloved of the Lord: and all our outgoings of love to the Lord, his word, his ordinances, are the fruit of his own love to us, 1 John iv. 19.

Ver. 5-9. "And God said, Ask what I shall give thee."-Observe the circumstances of this visit: the place; it was in Gibeon: that was the great high place, and should have been the only one, because there the tabernacle and the brazen altar were, 2 Chron. i. 3. there Solomon offered his great sacrifice, and there God owned him; the nearer we come to the rule in our worship, the more ground we have to expect the tokens of God's presence; where God records his name, there he will meet us and bless us.

Secondly, Solomon owns his insufliciency for the discharge of that great trust to which he was called, ver. 7, 8. And here is a double plea to enforce his petition for wisdom. First, That his place required it. As he was successor to David; "Thou hast made me king instead of David," who was a very wise, good man; Lord, give me wisdom, that I may keep up what he wrought, and carry on what he began and as he was ruler over Israel, Lord, give me wisdom to rule well, for they are a numerous people, that will not be managed without a great deal of care; and they are thy people which thou hast chosen, and therefore to be ruled for thee: and the more wisely they are ruled, the more glory thou wilt have from them. Secondly, That he wanted it; as one that had an humble sense of his own deficiency, he pleads, "Lord, I am but a little child," so he calls himself a child in understanding, though his father called him a wise man, chap. ii. 9. "I know not how to go out, or come in," as I should, not to do so much as the common daily business of the government, much less what to do in a critical juncture. Those who are employed in public stations, ought to be very sensible of the weight and importance of their work, and their own insufficiency for it; and then they are qualified for divine conduct and instruction. St. Paul's question, "Who is sufficient for these things?" is much like Solomon's here," Who is able to judge this thy so great a people ?" ver. 9. Absalom, that was a fool, wished himself a judge; Solomon, that was a wise man, trembles at the undertaking, and suspects his own fitness for it. The more knowing and considerate men are, the better acquainted they are with their own weakuess, and the more jealous of themselves.

CHAPTER IV.

An instance of the wisdom God granted to Solomon, we had in the close of the foregoing chapter: in this we have an account of his wealth and prosperity, which was the other branch of the promise there made him. We have here, (1.) The magnificence of his court; his ministers of state, ver. 1-6. and the purveyors of his household, ver. 7—19. and their office, ver. 27, 28. (2.) The provision for his table, ver. 22, 23. (3.) The extent of his dominion, ver. £1—24. (4) The numbers, ease, and peace of his subjects, ver. 20-25. (5) His stables, ver. 26. (6.) His great reputation for wisdom and learning, ver. 29–34. Thus great was Solomon, but our Lord Jesus was "greater than he," Matt. xii. 42. though he took upon him the form of a servant: for divinity in its lowest humiliations, infinitely transcends royalty in its highest

elevation.

VER. 34. "And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon."]-Note, the fountain of Solomon's wisdom. "God gave it him," ver. 29. He owns it himself, Prov. ii. 6. "The Lord giveth wisdom." "He gave the powers of reason," Job xxxviii. 36. preserves and improves them the ordinary advances of them are owing to his providence and sanctification of them to his grace; and this extraordinary pitch to which they arrived in Solomon, to a special grant of his favour to him, in answer to prayer.

Secondly, the fulness of it. "He had wisdom and understanding exceeding much." Great knowledge of distant countries, and the historics of former times; a quickness of thought, strength of memory, and clearness of judgment, such as never man had it is called largeness of heart, for the heart is often put for the intellectual powers: he had a vast compass of knowledge, could take things entire, and bad an admirable faculty of laying things together. Some, by his largeness of heart, understand his courage and boldness, and that great assurance with which he delivered his dictates and determinations. Or, it may be meant of his disposition to do good with it. He was very free and communicative of his knowledge; had the gift of utterance, as well as wisdom: was as free of his learning as he was of his meat, and grudged neither to any that were about him. It is very desirable, that those who have large gifts of any kind, should have large hearts to use them for the good of others; and this is "from the hand of God," He shall" enlarge the heart," Psalm cxix. 32.

Note his wisdom in his composures. Those in divinity are not mentioned here, which he wrote by divine inspira

tion, for they are extant, and will remain to the world's end monuments of his wisdom; and are, as other parts of scripture, of use to make us "wise unto salvation.' But besides those, it appears by what he spake, or dictated to be written from him, first, that he was a moralist, and a man of great prudence, for he spake three thousand proverbs, wise sayings, and apophthegms, of admirable use for the conduct of human life. The world is much governed by proverbs, and was never better furnished with useful ones than by Solomon: whether those proverbs of Solomon that we have were any part of the three thousand, is uncertain. Secondly, that he was a poet, and a man of great wit. "His songs were a thousand and five," of which one only is extant, because that only was divinely inspired, which is therefore called his Song of Songs. In all which Solomon was a type of Christ, "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.'

CHAPTER V.

The great work which Solomon was raised up to do, was the building of the temple; his wealth and wisdom were given him to qualify him for that; in this especially he was to be a type of Christ, for he shall build the temple of the Lord," Zech. vi. 12. In this chapter we have an account of the preparations he made for that and his other buildings. Gold and silver his good father had prepared in abundance, but timber and stones he must get ready; and about these we have him treating with Hiram king of Tyre. (1.) Hiram congratulated his accession to the throne, ver. 1. (2.) Solomon signified to him his design to build the temple, and desired him to furnish him with workmen, ver. 2—6. (3.) Hiram agreed to do it, ver. 7-9. (4.) Solomon's work is accordingly well done, and Hiram's workmen well paid, ver. 10-18.

VER. 5. "And behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God."]-It seems that it was not the purpose of the Lord that moved Solomon to build a house to his name, but the manifestations of God's love and purpose to his heart engaged Solomon, out of a principle of gratitude, to build a house to the Lord his God. How bright does the christian shine when his faith works by love, and the greater those acts of love are, the more emiment do the annals of faith appear.

Ver. 7. And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly."]-These words shew that Hiram was a worshipper of the true God of Israel,

and had known the grace of God in truth, and therefore rejoiced that his glory should shine forth in his temple.

CHAPTER VI.

Great and long preparations had been in making for the building of the temple, and here at length comes an account of the building of it, a noble piece of work it was, one of the wonders of the world, and taken in its spiritual significancy, one of the glories of the church. Here is, (1.) The time when it was built, ver. 1. and how long it was in the building, ver. 37, 38. (2.) The silence with which it was built, ver. 7. (3.) The dimensions of it, ver. 2, 3. (4.) The message God sent to Solomon when it was in the building, ver. 11-13, (5.) The particulars; windows, ver. 4. chambers, ver. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10. the walls and flooring, ver. 14-18. the oracle, ver. 19-22. the cherubim, ver. 23-30. the doors, ver. 31-35. and the inner court, ver. 36. Many learned men have well bestowed their pains in expounding the description here given of the temple according to the rules of architecture, and solving the difficulties which upon search they find in it; but in that matter having nothing new to offer, we will not be particular or curions; it was then well understood, and every man's eyes that saw this glorious structure, furnished him with the best critical exposition of this chapter.

VER. 14. "So Solomon built the house, and finished it."]-Which house or temple of the Lord was typical of Christ, who is the true temple where all true believers meet to worship God: and its being built with cedar may denote the duration of Christ's human nature; and its being overlaid with gold may denote the glory of Christ by virtue of his hypostatical union as God-man. "In him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead," as the Shekinah in the temple, in him meet all God's spiritual Israel, through him we have access with confidence to God; all the angels of God, those blessed cherubim, have a charge to worship him.

Note, every believer is a living temple, in whom the Spirit of God dwelleth, 1 Cor. iii. 16. even the body is so by virtue of its union with the soul, 1 Cor. vi. 19. We are not only wonderfully made by divine providence, but more wonderfully made anew by divine grace; this living temple is built upon Christ as its foundation, and will be perfected in due time.

Secondly, the gospel church is the mystical temple, it grows to a "holy temple in the Lord," Eph. ii. 21. enriched and beautified with the gifts and graces of the Spirit, as Solomon's temple with gold and precious stones;