Anglican Devotional 26 October 2026 The Daily Fountain of the Church Of Nigeria

TOPIC – Look Before You Leap.

READ: 1 Kings 9:10-28

10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord, and the king’s house,

11 (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.

13 And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.

14 And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.

15 And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.

16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether,

18 And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,

19 And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

20 And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,

21 Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.

22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.

23 These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.

24 But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.

25 And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the house.

26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

THE MESSAGE:

When Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, he gave 20 cities in the land of Galilee to Hiram, the King of Tyre, for the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested for the buildings. When the king of Tyre went to see the cities Solomon gave him, he was not pleased at all with them. It was better if he had negotiated, agreed on the number and nature of cities to be given to him for a specific quantity of timber and gold, and also inspected the cities to be given in exchange, before supplying timber to Solomon since they were doing the exchange of goods and materials as business. In business, it’s proper to be specific on the terms and conditions governing the business, and read and inspect the materials involved to avoid displeasure and misunderstanding after the business has begun. Seek the services of lawyers, accountants, quantity surveyors, valuers and other professionals in a large scale business that may require their services to avoid “had I known” at the end.

At verse 13, when Hiram was not pleased with the cities Solomon gave to him, he spoke to Solomon with soft words asking, “What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” Hiram still went on and paid Solomon 120 talents of gold. Even when your business partner or any other person offends you, don’t rain curses on them. Rather, be firm and polite in your complaint and expression of displeasure, so as to maintain peaceful relationship when the problem may have been solved. Remember that a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh answer steers up anger.

PRAYER: Father, help me not to do sinful actions, and not to speak angry words since I belong to Jesus