"Solomon acknowledged that "the heart of the sons of men
is full of evil, and madness is in their heart." Ecclesiastes 9:3.
And so complete was
his apostasy, so hardened his heart in 
transgression, that his case seemed
well-nigh hopeless.
From the joy of divine communion, Solomon turned to find
satisfaction in the pleasures of sense.... Yet the Lord forsook him not. By messages of reproof and by
severe judgments, He sought to arouse the king to a realization of the
sinfulness of his course.....Solomon with quickened conscience began
to see his folly in its true light.
Chastened in spirit, with mind and body
enfeebled,
he turned wearied and thirsting from earth's broken cisterns,
to
drink once more at the fountain of life.
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter,"
he wrote: "Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty
of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Verses 13, 14."
E.G.W.
