Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married one of his daughters. He brought her to live in the City of David until he could finish building his palace and the Temple of the Lord and the wall around the city. At that time the people of Israel sacrificed their offerings at local places of worship, for a temple honoring the name of the Lord had not yet been built. Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings.
1 Kings 3:1-4

Dear God, I’m going to give Solomon some love here. Before the famous story about him asking you for wisdom, we get these four verses. The writer tells us that Solomon seemed to be very cognizant of your presence and blessing, and he remembered to thank you for it.

The idea that he “loved” you struck me the wrong way at first, but the lore I thought about it the more it hit me that, given his limited knowledge of you he really did show you a lot of love. The passage intimates that he sacrificed to you even more than David did. He didn’t have to do that.

One of my fears for my own life is that I will take your kindness for granted and become ungrateful. As much as I try to show gratitude to the people who help our nonprofit, you deserve so much more. You give what no one else can give. You absolutely don’t have to care about us, but you do. You don’t have to care about me, but you do.

Father, thank you. Please help me to be publicly grateful to you and to be an example to others of how someone should worship you. You are my God. I give you my allegiance, my heart, and my whole life. Do with it as you will.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen