The audio for this devotional is not available for now, but you can have your device read it to you.
Reading options
Verse:And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. —1 Kings 5:1
During his reign, David had developed a close friendship with Hiram, king of Tyre (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Chronicles 14:1). In a gesture of friendship, Hiram sent costly cedarwood and other valuable materials to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:11).
Additionally, Tyre formed an alliance with Israel, thus protecting Israel’s northern flank. The influence of Israel for good even saw some of the residents of Tyre and Sidon give up idol worship. The relationship between David and Hiram was so close that Hiram acknowledged Jehovah as the only true God. “Josephus cites Menander of Ephesus, who wrote, in Greek . . . to the effect that Hiram was the son of Abibaal and that he reigned 34 years, dying at the age of 53, and being succeeded by his son Baleazar (Against Apion 1. 18). According to Josephus the Temple was built in the 11th (Antiquities viii. 3. 1) or the 12th (Against Apion 1. 18) year of Hiram. Since the founding of the Temple took place in the fourth year of Solomon (1 King 6:1), the reign of Hiram must have overlapped that of David by some seven or eight years.” Hearing Solomon had succeeded David, Hiram sent servants to congratulate the new king.
Solomon took this opportunity to remind Hiram of David’s desire to build a house for the Lord, and he asked Hiram for materials and skilled carpenters (1 Kings 5:6; 2 Chronicles 2:8). Hiram agreed to cut cedars of Lebanon as well as fir trees (1 Kings 5:8, 10) and float them down the coast to Joppa (2 Chronicles 2:16), which was around thirty-four miles from Jerusalem.
In return, Solomon agreed to pay the workers with wheat, barley, wine, and pure oil and provide for Hiram’s household on a year-by-year basis (v. 10; 1 Kings 5:11).
The agreement was mutually beneficial: Solomon needed timber, and Hiram needed food. “There seems to have been a genuine friendship between Hiram and Solomon, going back, no doubt, to the sincere friendship between Hiram and David.” “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).