Solomon began wrong; he allowed his affection to fasten itself on a
stranger--an Egyptian. It is a question worth considering, whether we
preachers say enough to the people on this question of matrimony. A
man's marriage is sure to tell on his history. He can never be the same
again he was before. He may wed one who shall help him to be good, whose
voice shall be like church bells calling him to prayer. Or he may fasten
himself to one, who, like Jezebel, shall stir up her husband to deeds of
shame and cruelty. Sometimes we have felt, when we have seen some
marriages, that it would have been a fitting thing if a hearse had been
among the carriages, for there lay DEAD HOPE on its way to a grave from
which there could be no resurrection!
Young man! what woman is it you like the best? Who is her god? Fashion?
Pleasure? What is the name of the deity she worships? If it is anyone
rather than Jehovah, beware! Before you die, she shall turn you as
Solomon was turned. What is that you say? You are not such a fool!
Well, that remains to be seen. Are you one of those who trust in his own
heart? If so, remember what he is called. See Prov. xxviii. 26. Is not
the helm of your life in her hands now? Would you love her as you do, if
she had not the reins of your soul in her grasp? If Solomon had known
all that was to follow when he first looked on the daughter of Pharaoh,
he would have died before he would have made her his bride. Let not this
sad story be in any way a prophecy of your future. There are plenty of
women whom to know is to be elevated, and whom to wed would be to
foretaste the companionship of heaven. Wives are often the architects
and the husbands the builders. See to it, that the woman you love does
not make you lay out the foundation of a jail. She may tell you it is a
palace, but neither of you have yet seen the elevation. She only draws
the ground-plan.
There is yet another scene in this tragedy. Solomon, by his folly, lost
his son's estate. God said, "I will surely rend the kingdom from thee."
Rehoboam was the poorer for his father's sin.