1 Kings 7:23-8:21 ; Psalm 76 ; Acts 13:42-14:7 "Study of A Young Boy" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Pencil Sketch on Paper In 1 Kings 7:23-8:21, we see in greater detail some of the furnishings that Solomon invested in the temple. In addition to the two huge “pillars” (cf., 1 Kings 7:15, ff.) – that he named “Jakin” [meaning “ he establishes ”] and “Boaz” [meaning “ in him is strength ”] (cf., 1 Kings 7:21), we see that Solomon also “made the Sea of cast metal, circula

1 Kings 6:1-7:22 ; Psalm 75 ; Acts 13:13-41 "Birch Forest" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Oil on Canvas Our passage today in 1 Kings 6:1-7:22 shows us Solomon’s construction of the temple and his palaces – the former taking seven years to complete, the latter, thirteen years – a noteworthy difference. We read that this construction began “in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel”

1 Kings 3:16-5:18; Psalm 74:18-23; Acts 12:19-13:12 "Nathan Watching TV, II" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Linoleum Block Print on Paper Yesterday, we considered Solomon’s request of God for discernment and wisdom – which pleased the LORD (cf., 1 Kings 3:10). Today, in 1 Kings 3:16-5:18, we see how God fulfilled His promise to give Solomon wisdom. The deceitful prostitute unknowingly revealed that she could not be the child’s mother when she said, “neither I nor you sh

1 Kings 2:13-3:15 ; Proverbs 15:1-10 ; Acts 11:19-12:19 "The Sunflower" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Oil on Canvas Today in 1 Kings 2:13-3:15 we observe Adonijah’s second selfish attempt to use Bathsheba to convince Solomon to give Abishag to him as his wife. Adonijah’s request represents his back-door attempt to steal the kingdom. He said, “as you know, the kingdom was mine; all Israel looked to me as their king, but things changed ” (verses 13-15). Adonijah – who

1 Kings 1:1-2:12 ; Psalm 74:10-17 ; Acts 10:23-11:18 "3 Grandchildren on the Beach" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Oil on Canvas Today in our readings we turn to 1 Kings 1:1-2:12. Here we see now that David is old – “well advanced in years, and he couldn’t keep warm” (verse 1). This tends to happen when people begin to “advance in years.” His servants “found Abishag, who took care of the king and waited on him” (verse 3). Beginning in verse 5, we see that – in David’

2 Samuel 23:8-24:25 ; Psalm 74:1-9 ; Acts 9:32-10:23 "Rural Austrian Path" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Pencil Sketch on Paper Today we come to 2 Samuel 23:8-24:25 where we find a list of David’s heroic, mighty men (verses 8-39). Then in chapter 24:1-25, we see that David incites “the anger of the LORD,” when he takes another census of “the fighting men, that he might know how many there are” (verses 1-2). In the first section, David identifies the names and exploits

2 Samuel 22:1-23:7 ; Psalm 73:15-28 ; Acts 9:1-31 "The Entertainer" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Acrylic on Canvas Today in our readings we come to 2 Samuel 22:1-23:7, where we see David’s song of praise to the Lord. This song is also found in Psalm 18. David praises God as his “Rock, his Fortress, and his Deliverer” (verse 2). In verses 1-4, we see that David was delivered from “all his enemies and from the hand of Saul,” which deliverance caused David to rejoice