Psalm 92

A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.

²⁶ Solomon acquired more and more chariots and horses until he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses that he kept in chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ In Jerusalem, the king made silver as common as stones and cedar as plentiful as sycamore trees that grow in the foothills. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue, purchased from Kue by the king’s agents at the going price. ²⁹ They would import a chariot from Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty, and then export them to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.

Solomon meets God a third time

11 In addition to Pharaoh’s daughter, King Solomon loved many foreign women, including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. ² These came from the nations that the Lord had commanded the Israelites about: “Don’t intermarry with them. They will definitely turn your heart toward their gods.” Solomon clung to these women in love. ³ He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred secondary wives. They turned his heart. ⁴ As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods. He wasn’t committed to the Lord his God with all his heart as was his father David. ⁵ Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes and wasn’t completely devoted to the Lord like his father David. ⁷ On the hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a shrine to Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and to Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁴ By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain, which showed that he was righteous, since God gave approval to him for his gift. Though he died, he’s still speaking through faith.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he didn’t see death, and he wasn’t found because God took him up.^[a] He was given approval for having pleased God before he was taken up. ⁶ It’s impossible to please God without faith because the one who draws near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards people who try to find him.

⁷ By faith Noah responded with godly fear when he was warned about events he hadn’t seen yet. He built an ark to deliver his household. With his faith, he criticized the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes from faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out without knowing where he was going.

⁹ By faith he lived in the land he had been promised as a stranger. He lived in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were coheirs of the same promise. ¹⁰ He was looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹¹ By faith even Sarah received the ability to have a child, though she herself was barren and past the age for having children, because she believed that the one who promised was faithful. ¹² So descendants were born from one man (and he was as good as dead). They were as many as the number of the stars in the sky and as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore. ¹³ All these people died in faith without receiving the promises, but they saw the promises from a distance and welcomed them. They confessed that they were strangers and immigrants on earth.