A Word in Season: The Happy Servant (1 Kings 10:8)

The Blessedness of True Happiness

Are you happy? Important question, isn't it? A lot of people ask it. A lot of people try and answer it in any number of different ways. But are you really happy? Are you happy the way the Bible speaks about happiness, the blessedness of someone whose soul is genuinely at peace, who is secure now and always, who has every reason to be full of a stable and settled joy?

When the Queen of Sheba, the Queen of the South, came to visit King Solomon, she was astounded by what she saw. She was given this wonderful tour of his palaces. She was able not just to see what he had, but to hear what he said.

And he could answer every question she put to him. Now, she had come a long way in order to learn whether or not the reports that she'd heard of this king were credible. And when she found out what was real, as opposed to what was simply rumor, she said, in effect, the reality is yet more wonderful.

It was a true report, which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However, I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And indeed, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard.

And then in 1 Kings 1, and verse eight, happy are your men and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. The Queen of Sheba could conceive of no more blessed condition for somebody to be in than to be a servant of Solomon, standing before the king and seeing and hearing such majesty and being the beneficiaries of such wisdom, such instruction, to be continually under his care, to hear those pearls of wisdom drop from his lips, to be constant learners at the feet of such a king was for her the very height of true happiness.

Christ Greater Than Solomon

Now, when the Lord Christ speaks of the Queen of the South coming to Solomon, he reminds the people who heard him that a greater than Solomon is here. Christ himself, everything that he is, the whole reality of his being and his work, his character and his kingdom, the whole package, if you will, is immeasurably greater than Solomon himself.

That king who was great David's son reached the pinnacle of Israelite kingship had the vastly extended kingdom, had the great wealth of the nations rolling in, was blessed with a wisdom which others simply did not have a gift from heaven.

Christ is immeasurably greater than that Solomon. And so if the men and the servants who stood before Solomon continually and heard his wisdom were blessed, how much more blessed are those who stand continually before our king and hear his wisdom?

The Privilege of Serving King Jesus

Have you considered the privilege of having Christ as your king? Do you have that privilege? Have you bowed the knee to him? Have you submitted to his rule and government? Have you come to him as a monarch whom you have offended and begged him for the mercy that your sins do not deserve and received the grace that in his sovereign pleasure he is only too pleased to bestow?

And having been granted that forgiveness, have you now made him your all in all, made it your great aim and desire to stand before him continually and to hear his wisdom? All the glory of his reign is before you.

All the blessing of his instruction is toward you. There is a completeness, there is a sufficiency in the word of God, the revelation of God in Christ, the instruction that he gives, the sustaining spirit that he bestows that you may both know and do all his holy will.

And that is happiness indeed. And that's the joy of the Christian who walking in the law of the Lord under the influence of his gracious spirit hears and does his will. There is no greater happiness than to be under the government of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no greater joy than to know the reign of King Jesus over us. Happy indeed are his men, happy indeed his servants who stand continually before him and hear his wisdom. If that's our privilege, then we are happy indeed.