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When you read about Solomon's life in 1 Kings 3:3 it says, "Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places."
For over 25 years Proverbs 31 Ministries' mission has been to intersect God's Word in the real, hard places we all struggle with. That's why we started this podcast. Every episode will feature a variety of teachings from president Lysa TerKeurst, staff members or friends of the ministry who can teach you something valuable from their vantage point. We hope that regardless of your age, background or stage of life, it's something you look forward to listening to each month!
Meredith Brock: Well, hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us for the Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast. I'm your host, Meredith Brock, and I am here with a very special co-host today, Lauren Oquist.
Lauren Oquist: Hey, everyone.
Meredith Brock: Did I say that right?
Lauren Oquist: Yeah, Oquist.
Meredith Brock: Your last name is always so tricky.
Lauren Oquist: It's more phonetic than people think it is.
Meredith Brock: I don't even know what phonetic means, but I'm going to roll with that.
Lauren Oquist: It means that it sounds like the way it's spelled.
Meredith Brock: Well, some of you might recognize Lauren from her teaching earlier in the podcast, called “I'm Not Qualified to be a Proverbs 31 Woman.” She's filling in today, and we are super stoked to have her here.
Lauren Oquist: I'm super stoked to be here, Meredith. Thanks.
Meredith Brock: Glad to hear that.
Lauren Oquist: If this is your first time joining us for the podcast, first of all, we're really glad you're here, and the Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast is about biblical truth, and we believe that biblical truth is applicable for any girl in any season, so, hey, you're in the right place.
Meredith Brock: That's right, Lauren. We're not going to waste any time today because we have a real treat. My dear friend and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa TerKeurst is here to give us a teaching. Lysa?
Lysa TerKeurst: All right. Well, we're actually going to go Old Testament today.
Meredith Brock: Oh, boy.
Lauren Oquist: Oh, I can't wait.
Lysa TerKeurst: If you're a note-taker and you'd like to know what is this podcast going to be about today, I'm calling this one “Misplaced Affections.”
Lauren Oquist: Cool.
Lysa TerKeurst: It's something we all have. It's something we deal with, but I want to take us back to the Old Testament because, sometimes, it's easier to identify our issues and admit to our issues if we can see them in someone else.
Meredith Brock: Oh, that's true.
Lysa TerKeurst: We're going to go back to the Old Testament, and, first, let me say if you are wanting to open up your Bibles and follow along, I hope you do because there are some passages here that I think will be great to mark down in your Bible, but I have to say, sometimes, the Old Testament can be tricky, where to find certain things, right?
Meredith Brock: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Lauren Oquist: [crosstalk 00:02:10]
Lysa TerKeurst: I just want to state clearly right up front, there is no shame in turning to the Table of Contents.
Meredith Brock: Amen.
Lysa TerKeurst: When you do turn to the Table of Contents or if you happen to be one of those Bible sword drill champions from the past, right?
Meredith Brock: Guilty.
Lauren Oquist: Not me.
Meredith Brock: Hey, I rock those ... I rock those Bible drills.
Lauren Oquist: I believe this. I 100% believe that—
Meredith Brock: Oh, my goodness.
Lauren Oquist: You know how to use your sword better than [crosstalk 00:02:34].
Meredith Brock: I would shake with the competition.
Lysa TerKeurst: Oh, boy.
Meredith Brock: I go intense.
Lysa TerKeurst: I like competition, too, but I would sweat during the competition because I never knew how to find anything and everybody always beat me to the punch here. That's why I'm super sensitive. There's no shame in turning—
Meredith Brock: Normalize the Table of Contents, shall we?
Lysa TerKeurst: To the Table of Contents. If the Holy Bible has it in there, then it's just as holy as the other pages, so that's my—
Meredith Brock: Utilize it.
Lysa TerKeurst: Use it, girl. Alright, we're gonna be in 1 Kings today, and I wanna take us to give us a little context in 1 Kings. I wanna take you to 1 Kings chapter three, which is where the verse is located that I wanna park on today. But to give you some context, what we're finding here in 1 Kings is 1 Kings chapter two there's David's charge to Solomon. So, you know that David was the reigning king, and this is the same David, if you've ever heard of David and Goliath and the whole nine yards with David.
He was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be the future king, even though that story is very painful for David because his father brought in his brothers and did not bring in David to even be considered to be anointed as the future king. But when Samuel, after he looked at all the other brothers, he said "Do you have any others?" to David's father Jesse. Jesse admitted that he had left David out in the field to tend the sheep instead of bringing him in. They eventually bring David in. He's the one. He's anointed king. So now it's time for David to hand over the reins of rule for the country to one of his sons. There's some excitement that happens because one of the other sons of David decides to jump the gun and proclaim that he's gonna be the king. But in the end, Solomon wins out. And Solomon is the next king.
So, in 1 Kings chapter two we find David's charge to Solomon. And then in 2 Kings chapter, I mean in 1 Kings chapter three, we find a very interesting story where God offers to give Solomon anything. And he just, the Lord is gonna bless Solomon in whatever way he asks, and what Solomon asks for reveals that Solomon has a lot of good going on in his heart.
I'm gonna read you this, but then we're gonna back up and we're gonna read something that gives us a clue that, though Solomon had a good heart, there were some misplaced affections in the midst that wound up doing a lot of destruction to Solomon. And I think if we can identify it in Solomon's life, maybe it will make us brave enough to identify it in our own life.
So this is interesting, these verses first that I wanna read before I take you to the main verse I wanna park on today. It says in, let's go to 1 Kings chapter three, where, let's start at verse five.
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God asked, God said to Solomon, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” And Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart."
And if you are underlining anything in the Bible, I want you to underline that “upright in heart.”
"You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties."
And I just wanna stop here and just say, I love the humility that's being demonstrated in Solomon's heart because I feel like having just been appointed the king, I would be much more tempted to say, "Lord, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I'm gonna just knock it out of the park. Here are all my qualifications that you have given me and I'm gonna utilize those strengths and those qualifications and my Enneagram one and—
Meredith Brock: All the stuff. My five strengths and my—
Lysa TerKeurst: All the stuff that I have, Lord. You have blessed me and I'm gonna use it." But I love this humility, and he comes to the Lord, and he's like, "You know, Lord, I'm really just a child and I don't know how to carry out my duties." I think that this would honor the Lord so much if we would go to Him and say, "Lord, you are the pursuit of my heart. I don't know how to do my duties. I admit that, yeah, I may have a few degrees hanging on my wall, or, yeah, I may have some years of experience under my belt, or, yeah, other people may have said that I was able to do this, but, Lord, honestly, this is new to me and I'm just gonna come to you and be honest. I don't know how to do it."
And I just think that humility is precious and it shows a lot of humility in Solomon's heart. Humility that I want to emulate. "Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number." So this is what Solomon asks from the Lord, verse nine: "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
And then verse 10: The Lord was pleased that Solomon 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 you asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administrating justice, I will, or administering justice, I will do what you've 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."
Wow, what a profound time with the Lord, right? And in Solomon demonstrating this beautiful humility, the Lord is being so gracious and giving to him, there's a lot of affection between Solomon and the Lord. But, there is this little part of Solomon's heart that has some misplaced affections, and we find it right before this interaction ever occurs. We find it if you go up to verse three of 1 Kings chapter three.
Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given to him by his father David, except — and if you're writing in your Bible or taking notes, circle that word except — that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
Now, you'll read about this a lot in the Old Testament, this whole situation of the high places, the high places, the high places. So I decided, I've been a Christian for a long time and I really wanna better understand this. Because I have to believe if this was a reoccurring problem for the people of Israel, God's people, then it's probably, we're reading about it because God knew it would be a duplicating problem in our hearts as well.
The Lord has put together the stories from the Old Testament. These were real people with real issues. But I think it's so that as we read God's Word, it can become a mirror reflecting the own issues that we're gonna have. Because these aren't just the problems of the people at that time. It's a problem for people all the time.
Meredith Brock: That's right.
Lauren Oquist: For sure, yeah.
Lysa TerKeurst: So I did a little digging. Here's some history behind the high places. The place I did some digging, you know we have this amazing theological guru here at Proverbs 31, Joel, and so—
Lauren Oquist: Love Joel. So helpful.
Lysa TerKeurst: I asked Joel, I went to him and I just said, "Joel, help me figure out the high places. I really wanna better understand the history of them. And then how do they relate to us?" I'm gonna just read to you a little bit of my notes from my discussion with Joel. Egyptian and Mesopotamian gods back in this day, okay, were revered as getting stuff done. The people of Egypt and the people of Mesopotamia, they had gods that they would go to for very specific things that they wanted done in their life. And it's actually an echo of the children of Israel when they made the golden calf. You see, they were emulating what they'd seen done when they were in Egypt. And so it's kind of like the thing of the day. If you are having an issue in your life, then you go to the god that can get that issue fixed in your life.
So this is an echo of the golden calf where the Israelites worship that which they thought had actually brought them out of Egypt. Because sometimes we wanna be able to touch the answer, rather than having faith in a god who has answers, right? And so the high places were places of worship and this is really the things that we revere that we think is actually doing something good in our life that we want done. And, here's the thing about what we revere. We will become like what we revere, and it will either lead to our ruin or to our restoration. So it's very important where we place our affections, where we place our reverence.
If we misplace our affections, if we misplace what we really revere highest in our life, it will lead to ruin. Whereas, if we properly place it in the hands of God, it will lead to restoration.
So, Solomon as the king was called to reorient the people around God. And he had such an opportunity to tear down the high places and to reorient the children of Israel, because this is a reoccurring theme, them building high places and worshipping false gods because everybody in the society is doing it. The countries all around them, they had gods for certain things, so it was like the thing to do. Solomon had such an opportunity. He's king now. He has an opportunity to tear down the high places, reorient the people to the truth, and demand that they absolutely turn to the one true God, instead of turning to these false gods and having something that they'd rather touch than God to have faith in.
But this is where I'm so challenged. He didn't do that. Ultimately, Solomon's sin here is that he idolized the affections of the people more than the affections of God. And, really, we're talking about idolatry here. Idolatry is anything we hold to a higher standard than God, anything we give more effort to and value more than turning to God. And that's where I get so incredibly challenged. Because these high places in the children of Israel's life, this was a regular part of their routine.
I just want you to think about this, okay? It's something that they turn to as a regular part of their routine because they had an expectation it was going to give them something that they could check a box. They could say, "Oh, I'm having fertility issues, well then I'm gonna go to the fertility god. I'm gonna check that box. I'm gonna have a marked moment where I know I've gone." Because sometimes it's easier in our human brains to say, "I've done what I can do" than to go the Lord and say, "Lord, I'm gonna trust you to do what you're gonna do."
It's really taking that control, and when we take control back from God, we also take our affection away from God. And I think that's really important. So as I'm looking at this and listening to it, I'm really challenged. What is a part of my regular routine where I am taking back control from God, which basically means removing my affection from God, and misplacing it by something else that I can touch that's in my midst.
Alright, so now it's gonna be confession time. Because, as we listen to this, I think it's our duty to confess where are we turning as part of our regular routine to something that we can touch to get a need met, but what we don't realize is we're trading our affection for God in those moments, which brings idolatry down to a whole different level. And so this is gonna be confession time, right here, on the Proverbs 31 Podcast.
Lauren Oquist: Juicy. Confessions of a Proverbs 31 woman.
Lysa TerKeurst: Yeah, well, Lauren, don't get so excited, 'cause it's not just Meredith and I confessing. You're gonna have time to confess, too.
Lauren Oquist: Oh, I can't wait. I just cannot wait.
Lysa TerKeurst: Okay, so I'll go first so that it won't be so painful. And here's where I'm really challenged. When I wake up first thing in the morning, I have a choice. It's the first choice that I make of every gift of a new day. I have a choice of where I'm going to place my affections by where I give those first few minutes of my day. And, I'll be honest with you, sometimes I'm more intrigued to check in with Instagram than I am with the First 5 app. The First 5 app is something that I helped develop here at Proverbs 31, I believe in it very, very much. I know the research that we put into that app, that when we sleep at night, as we sleep baby neurons are formed in our brain, and when we wake up in the morning, where we use those baby neurons first thing in the morning, where we place those, where we give our first thoughts to, that is gonna determine my pattern of thought throughout the entire day.
I know this, I've taught this, I've lived this, and yet, every single morning I am so tempted to not give my first thoughts to God's Word, and instead just really quick, just let me check on Instagram, really, really quick. Just because I'm curious about that post that I made yesterday. Did it resonate with people? Or I wanna check in with the news. Did I miss anything overnight? Is there anything that I'm out of the loop on?
Lauren Oquist: Did so-and-so have her baby?
Lysa TerKeurst: Right, I just gotta know. Or, I will want to just get up and just give the first few moments to myself. Just don't bother me. And praise music, no. I need some pick-me-up music. And so, I'm so challenged in the morning because, honestly for me there is a marked difference in my day. I'm not saying this because I'm a Christian and it's a Christian thing to say. I'm saying I've seen it. There is a marked difference in my day when I place my affections, when I set my affections first thing on the Lord. When I get into God's Word and let His Word determine my pattern of thought for the rest of the day. And, what's really amazing, God already knows what I'm gonna see today. He already knows what I'm gonna face today. He already knows the situations I'm about to step in. And so how it must break His heart to see me turn to something that will never be able to prepare me like He would be able to prepare me.
So, that's my confession. That it is something I still have to choose to be part of my regular routine, to turn away from these high places that are very much in my midst. And to go and kneel before the Lord, and isn't it interesting that the people struggled with high places? When God constantly calls us to meet Him in the position, the low posture of kneeling and prayer and submission. I'm just really challenged by that.
Lauren Oquist: Wow.
Meredith Brock: Do you wanna go next, or should I? I'm trying to decide which one is the least embarrassing thing to admit.
Lauren Oquist: I'll go next.
Meredith Brock: You're gonna let me buy some time over here?
Lauren Oquist: Yeah, sure. For me I would say Amazon.com is a place that I like to go to whenever I feel like I need to fill, solve a specific problem in my life. That's what I thought of when you talked about the Egyptian gods, the very specific ones that would solve specific problems. Because, oh my goodness, whenever I need a new cleaner, or something, I was just looking online for a vacuum cleaner the other day. I just go straight to Amazon and, while, yes, I do need some of these things, a lot of it is just something to do. It's like idle hands. What's the phrase? Idle hands are the devil's handiwork? Maybe I'm bored. Maybe I'm feeling lonely. I just need something to do. I guess I can just go buy something for that—
Meredith Brock: Retail therapy.
Lauren Oquist: Yeah, the very niche thing that I thought of a couple days ago. It is very much retail therapy. Getting that package on my doorstep. It does, it feels really good. It makes me feel like, wow, someone was thinking of me. Even if it was a warehouse guy loading it onto a little dolly or something. He was thinking of me.
Meredith Brock: He did something nice for you.
Lauren Oquist: Yeah, he did. He was being paid by the hour but he did it for me.
Meredith Brock: Yeah, he did. I think, honestly, we joke, Lauren, but I think that that is so, it's more prevalent than I think people want to admit. Because I know for me, my goodness, mine kind of ties to that but is a little bit different. Where for me, that place where I place my affections is on my accomplishments and my ability to get a lot done. Watch me now. Watch Meredith get it all done. And I work myself, and I work myself into such a fury because I'm like, I know I can get this done. Watch me, I can get this done. I can get this done.
But what I'm doing in that moment is placing my affections on numero uno, me, Meredith. And sometimes it's a list of things that I need to buy. And I'm like, watch me, I'm gonna get all this stuff done that I need to get done, and I'm gonna Amazon this, and I'm gonna swing by the grocery store, and I'm gonna place my order online so that I can swing by and pick it up. And before I know it I'm in this hustling mindset, rather than in this trusting mindset. Then I know that that's where the Lord wants me to operate from.
Lysa TerKeurst: And it's almost like I'm gonna do something to make myself feel good because I don't trust that the Lord has that ability.
Lauren Oquist: Oh, my goodness gracious. 100%.
Meredith Brock: 100%. For me, accomplishing stuff makes me feel so good. That is my drug of choice. Look at my list. It has 100 things. I'm gonna get 150 done today. And at the end of the day, I can brush my shoulders off, check me. To be quite honest, I hesitate to use this language, 'cause I don't know that the Lord is ever repulsed by me as his daughter, but that part of me that trusts so deeply in me I think breaks His heart. Because He's saying, you don't have to do all of that. I think it's so, again, once again, as usual, taking notes furiously when Lysa teaches something, I think it's so interesting to put that right next to what Solomon asked of the Lord. That humble moment when he was saying, "I don't know everything. I can't do everything." The Lord was so pleased with that heart right there.
Lysa TerKeurst: Yes, that was what pleased Him.
Meredith Brock: Yes, that heart that was so surrendered before Him, and said, "I can't do this. You've given me this assignment and I can't do it." And I know my drug of choice is, "Oh, yeah I can, watch me. I can totally do it." And that same drug of choice is what puts me at my wit's end and gets me to this place where I feel so distant from the Lord.
Lauren Oquist: We were talking about how, back in the day, it was common. It was so common to have these high places with these gods, and I think of today, it's so common for someone to say to someone else, "Why don't you meet me halfway? I'll rub your back if you rub mine." Is that the correct? That's not how God works. We feel like, as long as I'm doing this and this, then God will meet me halfway. Someone told me one time Jesus is always one step away. He's never halfway. He's right there the whole time, and you don't have to do all this striving in order to get there.
Lysa TerKeurst: I'm gonna bring in a little football story right now.
Lauren Oquist: Football? What?
Lysa TerKeurst: I think it's gonna be so odd for the Proverbs 31 Podcast.
Lauren Oquist: Yeah, a lot of football fans right here.
Lysa TerKeurst: You guys are both familiar with this football story, because it actually led to us incorporating this, what we learned from the story into our family values here at Proverbs 31. I was watching the golf channel one day. Don't even ask me why I was watching the golf channel.
Lauren Oquist: Oh, my goodness.
Meredith Brock: Because you love golf.
Lysa TerKeurst: Hashtag boring moment of life.
Lauren Oquist: Sorry, golfers. If you're listening right now, we apologize, but I'll never get it.
Lysa TerKeurst: Yeah, it's okay. I mean, I think golf is amazing, but why I was watching the golf channel, I have no idea. Anyways, but they had an interview on with Nick Saban, who's the football coach for the University of Alabama. My family are all Alabama fans. I know. Don't hate me because of it.
Lauren Oquist: Roll tide.
Lysa TerKeurst: Yes. So they absolutely love it. So I was intrigued to hear this personal interview by Nick Saban. He was talking about some of his recruiting strategies. He was talking about one of the final steps is he gets all these reports back from the recruiters that have gone out and really gotten to know the different players that they may be interested in recruiting to come and play at Alabama. And each of his recruiters type out this report and Nick Saban said he skips past all of the stats, the impressive stats about each player, because he already knows his recruiters are gonna put players in front of him who all have impressive stats. What he looks at are the notes at the very bottom of the page. And he said he looks for two words: and and but. He said if this player has impressive stats, which all of the players in front of him have impressive stats, and then there's this little note at the bottom, and the recruiter goes on to describe amazing leadership skills, great character, good work ethic, all of that, then that player gets put in the stack of ands.
But there's this other stack. And it's the stack of the buts. This player has impressive stats, but has a problem following leadership, has a problem with being a showboat on the field, has a problem being a team player. All of those buts get put into the second stack. And he wants people of the ands, not the buts to be on his team. When I heard this story, I was so impressed by this recruiting strategy, that we actually implemented it and it became part of the way that we encapsulate our culture here at Proverbs 31 Ministries, the way we have a list of family values, and one of our high values here at Proverbs 31 is that we are people of the ands, not the buts. We wanna be people who teach God's Word, who know God's Word, but even more than that, that we live it out authentically. That we live out God's Word authentically and that we're changed by God's Word authentically because we wanna be people of the ands, not the buts.
And so as I read these verses about Solomon — this is why I had you circle the word “except.” Because that's the same kind of word as putting him in the category of being a people of the but, not the and, right?
Lauren Oquist: It's a but.
Lysa TerKeurst: I'm gonna read the verse one more time from 1 Kings chapter three verse three. Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to his instructions given him by his father David, but, or except, that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
And this wasn't just something that happened at the beginning of Solomon's reign. This grew into a big problem. And I wanna take you to a couple other places in Scripture where we see the multiplied impact. This wasn't just an issue at the very beginning of Solomon's reign as king, but it became a really big issue throughout his reign, and then it's even gonna be revisited in the end times, which is just shocking to me.
Solomon, who had so much, who God had given him such wisdom, discernment, plus all the wealth and honor that he could, he was the king of all kings. But he was a man. And we know that, short of Jesus Christ Himself, who is the Lord of Lords and King of kings, Solomon was a man who fell very short. But it was this thing, it was these misplaced affections that led to really such a mark in his legacy, a black mark against his legacy.
So if you look over in 1 Kings chapter 11, actually let's start in chapter 10 verse 22.
“Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.”
Amazing, right? Can you imagine being known as the wisest man of your time? There was no other king like him, right? But now, look right after that, in 1 Kings chapter 11 verse 1. King Solomon, however — okay, remember we just talked about being people of the ands and not the buts, right? He had all of this, but, however, Scripture says he loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter.
And then there's a list of all the -ites, from all the foreign women. “They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord God, as the heart of David his father had been.”
Now skip on down to verse seven.
“On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place.”
Not only did he not tear down the high places, but he married these women who he held fast to, instead of holding fast to the love of the Lord. His misplaced affections. And then these wives that were from foreign lands who worshipped other gods, they convinced him that not only did he not need to tear down the high places, he needed to build them. And so, it may seem like such a small little detail on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for his wives to worship their false gods. But this is actually a much bigger deal.
Because we find a reference to this in Zechariah chapter 14. I'm gonna read you verse four. It says—
“On that day his feet”
Now, this is talking about the day when Jesus comes back and the feet that's being referred to when Jesus comes back, “and on that day Jesus' feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from the east to the west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving north and half moving south.”
On the day that Jesus returns the Mount of Olives is where He will return. He ascended from the Mount of Olives and then He will return to the Mount of Olives. If you wanna look up a little more information about Him ascending from the Mount Olives, you can find that in Acts chapter one. But He ascends from the Mount of Olives and He returns to the Mount of Olives.
Think about the biggest day in history, when Jesus Christ returns. When His feet plant on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is already set up on a fault line. There's tectonic plates that form the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is already set up for this. It will split in two. And do you know what scientists say? That that part that will split off, is the Mount of Corruption, which is called the Mount of Corruption, which is the third hump of the Mount of Olives and that is where Solomon allowed his wives to build those altars to those false gods.
Lauren Oquist: Unreal.
Lysa TerKeurst: If you were to go to the Mount of Olives today, you would see it's a very small, it's not like a big mountain range like we would see in Colorado. It's not like that. This is a small little grouping of hills, really, that come together to form the Mount of Olives. But there's three peaks on top of the Mount of Olives. There's Mount Scopus, Mount of Olives, and Mount of Corruption. That Mount of Corruption is what scientists believe will be the portion that will split off and many people believe that that part that splits off will crumble, and when the temple rises, the water that comes from the temple that flows east and west, you can read about it in Ezekiel, the water will rush with such force from the temple that it will carry away that part, the Mount of Corruption that's fallen, and that is what will be pushed into the Dead Sea, and with such force that the Dead Sea will then be teeming with life.
In other words, God will not be mocked. This is a much bigger deal than what we ever, we're just talking about this little verse, this little mention in 1 Kings, about misplaced affections, but it's not little at all. He allowed that to continue. He allowed, he continued over the course of his life, we see it throughout the description of Solomon's life, that he was a people of the buts and not the ands. That he continued to misplace his affections over and over and a lifetime of misplaced affections does not go unnoticed. And obviously there is redemption with the Lord. Obviously there is forgiveness. Obviously we don't serve a God who's just waiting for us to be caught in this and messed up in this. But we are responsible for understanding that what we're hearing is more important than what we even know.
And I just cannot imagine that it will ... I just can't imagine that day when Jesus returns. What a statement it is for the misplaced affections to finally crumble. And for all of those to be washed to the depths of the sea, to be remembered no more. But what a powerful lesson for us to take God's Word, hold it up and let it mirror anything in our heart where there are misplaced affections. God made it so clear. We are to do two things: We are to love Him and we are to love other people. And we cannot do that effectively and with as much passion as possible if we are caught up in our misplaced affections.
Honestly, it just comes down to what we talked about. Our feelings. When I feel empty. When I feel in need. When I feel lonely. When I don't feel important enough. When I feel small. When I feel incapable. When I have all of those feelings, do I trust the Lord enough to take those things to Him? Or do I need something in this world to ease the ache of my disappointments, my feelings of emptiness? Do I need that? And, boy, that really challenges me in a good way. Not in a way to feel condemned. Not in a way to feel defeated in this issue. But in a healthy reminder to say, "You know what? Tomorrow, when I get up in the morning, I'm gonna remember this lesson. And I am gonna give my first affections, my highest affections to the Lord."
Lauren Oquist: It reminds me of, I thought of this first while you were talking in Psalm 121 where David says, "I look to the hills. Where does my help come from?"
Lysa TerKeurst: So good.
Lauren Oquist: Almost like he's looking to those high places. I even heard a friend explain it to me this way. It's as if he's looking right at these idols and saying, "But where does my help come from?"
Meredith Brock: I love that, Lauren. I wrote down while you were talking, Lysa. I'm gonna read it and hopefully it comes out and makes sense. I said:
It's hard to not turn your affections to the easy things. It requires perseverance and times of living with unmet needs for a while. And I said when our needs are met somewhere else other than within our relationship with the Lord, there are hard consequences to that. And for me, when I think about the consequence that I think is in front of me if I continue this lifestyle of hustle, I feel good when I get things done. It fills my tank. Now there's nothing really bad in doing that, right? Other than I'm placing my affections on that. I'm getting my cup filled by doing that.
But for me, just thinking there's consequences to it no matter what. Solomon's consequence is rather dire. But mine, I think, will probably end up being as simple as my relationships probably won't have the depth that they would have had I not been hustling all the time, to go and get done and make happen. And anytime you misplace your affections, and you can't just receive what it is the Lord has for you in that season, whether it means you're gonna have unmet needs for a while, just receiving that, "Okay, alright Lord, you're gonna fulfill that need in your time." Rather than me going out and trying to fulfill it myself because it feels like a black hole. You'll have consequences if you try to shove something in that.
Lysa TerKeurst: That's right. Something I wrote in my book that's coming soon — It's Not Supposed to Be This Way — which is a whole lot of exploring the disappointments and devastations and disillusionment in my life, pretty dire season of unmet expectations and just hard realities. But one thing I wrote in there is that my areas of greatest desperation often lead to the most wonderful revelations from God. And I think that if we don't let ourselves, if we're always trying to turn to a high place, turn to a created thing rather than turning to the Creator and saying, "Fix me. Make me feel better immediately." And we don't ever let our soul just sit before the Lord in that place of desperation. In that place of I need You, Lord. Only You.
If we're all the time trying to quickly fix and patch up and make these bad feelings go away. If we never sit before the Lord with our desperation, then He, what we miss out on is those great, amazing revelations from Him. And there's a gift in the mix, but the gift is only from the Lord. It will never be given to you. The great gifts of revelation will never be given to you from created things.
Meredith Brock: So good, Lysa. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day today. I have really, really enjoyed this teaching. I know hearing what the Lord is speaking to you always means so much to me and I know our listeners appreciate it as well.
Lauren Oquist: And if you wanna connect with Lysa daily, social media is the perfect way to do that. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @LysaTerKeurst.
Lysa TerKeurst: But only after you've spent your time with the Lord.
Lauren Oquist: Exactly.
Meredith Brock: Don't you get on that social media first thing in the morning, Lauren.
Lauren Oquist: Sorry, I was just reading the script.
Lysa TerKeurst: You heard us talk about the First 5 app. I wanna tell you guys a little bit about it. It is totally free. All you have to do is get into your app store, download it. We have a daily teaching. Five days a week. And then on the weekends we have a really great audio message that you can enjoy and we would love to meet you there. So go, download it, enjoy it, meet us there in the First 5 mobile app.
Lauren Oquist: Or, go to the website, first5.org. And it's the number 5. First, F-I-R-S-T, the number 5, dot org.
Lysa TerKeurst: That's right.
Lauren Oquist: And even though it's so hard to say goodbye, we've gotta wrap it up. Thank you again, Lysa, for your message today. I can't wait to check out our #P31podcast and see what everyone's takeaways are when they hear it. I know I learned a ton from your teaching today. It was incredible.
Lysa TerKeurst: Thank you.
Meredith Brock: I personally appreciated Lauren's little singing episode just then. Could you do that again for me? I want you to do it one more time.
Lauren Oquist: It's so hard to say goodbye.
Meredith Brock: We might end all our podcasts that way from now on. Guys, before we sign off, we have this saying I need to leave everyone with, and that is when you know the Truth of God's Word and you live the Truth of God's Word, it will change everything. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time.