Daily Devotional For Monday, May 25, 2026
Good morning and good day Southside! Today, we draw our Scripture from the One Year Chronological Bible’s suggested readings for today. Our text comes from 2 Chronicles 9:1-12. This same passage is repeated in 1 Kings 10:1-13 also. Here’s our text below:
“Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with difficult questions. She had a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was on her heart. (2) Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not explain to her. (3) When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, (4) the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless. (5) Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. (6) Nevertheless I did not believe their reports until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You surpass the report that I heard. (7) How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. (8) Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” (9) Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones; there had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. (10) The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. (11) From the algum trees the king made steps for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; and none like that was seen before in the land of Judah. (12) King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested besides a return for what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants” (NASB).
Old Testament scholar Philip Graham Ryken tells this true story about Marco Polo:
“It remains one of the most famous journeys in history, a dramatic encounter between East and West. In the year 1271, young Marco Polo accompanied his father and uncle as they left Venice, followed the Silk Road to China, and eventually arrived at the palace of Kublai Khan, head of the Mongol Empire.
Marco stayed for more than a decade, traveling throughout the Orient on diplomatic missions for the great Khan. When he finally returned to Italy, he wrote the book that immortalized his journey: The Travels of Marco Polo. Marco had many sensational stories to tell about the places he went and the people he met along the way, yet some people doubted whether these tales were really true. Almost no one from Europe had ever traveled as far as China, and of course they had no way of knowing the truth about things they had never seen.
According to one tradition, Marco Polo gave a public demonstration to convince people that his stories were true. He invited the leaders of Venice to dinner. To receive his guests, he wore the simple costume of a Chinese peasant. But once everyone had arrived, he opened his pockets to reveal hundreds of rubies and other jewels. He knew that people would not believe in a faraway kingdom until they saw its treasure for themselves.
"The queen of Sheba had a similar perspective. She too had heard the glories of a distant kingdom, yet she had trouble believing that everything she heard was true. So she decided to see for herself, traveling across the Middle East to visit Jerusalem, a journey that led to one of the most famous diplomatic encounters in the history of international relations. For us this is much more than simply a matter of historical interest; it is something with profound spiritual implications, because according to Jesus, Solomon and the queen of Sheba can teach us the way to eternal life” (Source: Philip Graham Ryken, Reformed Expository Bible Commentary, “I Kings,” pp. 261-262).
Who was the Queen of Sheba? She was probably a queen from Arabia, southeast of Israel. Today this would be the country of Yemen. At the time, she was one of the most powerful monarchs of that day. Today, it is common for heads of state to travel to other countries, but not back then. Typically, they sent emissaries on their behalf. For this ruling monarch to travel 1,000 miles over the desert is astounding. It implies she had to see for herself how God had blessed Solomon with wisdom, power, riches and unimaginable building projects.
This queen was also wealthy. What she brings as gifts to Solomon show her vast wealth and power. What made her stand out was not her material wealth, but her intellectual curiosity. It wasn’t what she owned that made her important; it was what she wanted to know. Solomon’s wisdom was famous and people everywhere wanted to test his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:29 says, “Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore” (NASB). People wanted to know what Solomon had to say about everything and anything. This queen asked Solomon some of the toughest and most challenging questions she knew and Solomon with God’s help, answered them all to her amazement.
“Jerome, one of the early Church Fathers (347-420 AD) writes about a woman named Marcella. According to Jerome, Marcella never came to any Bible study or worship service “without asking something about Scripture, nor did she immediately accept my explanation as satisfactory, but she proposed questions from the opposite viewpoint, not for the sake of being contentious, but so that by asking, she might learn.” Jerome went on to say “that whatever in us was gathered by long study and by lengthy meditation … this she tasted, this she learned, this she possessed” (Source: Jerome, “Epistle 127,” quoted in Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scriptures with the Church Fathers, p. 44).
If we really desire to grow spiritually, we are not afraid to ask the tough questions about God, the Bible, and life. God is not intimidated nor afraid of our questions. He welcomes them and sometimes though, He may not give us the answers we want. Not because He is ignorant of them, but because we do not have the mental capacity to understand His answer in its totality. The same is with our pets. For example, if you have a pet dog. You can teach it certain actions based on certain words: sit, lay down, bark, fetch, roll over and etc. The average dog can learn between 95-165 words or gestures. That’s it. You can have a conversation with your dog, but that dog cannot understand all of what you are saying. The same is true with us with God. Just like our dog has to trust us for his best interests, we have to trust the Lord.
Revelation 19:16 says this about Jesus, “And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (NASB). The question is: will you come and see for yourself? The Queen of Sheba traveled over 1,000 miles herself to see if all that she had heard about Solomon was true. Based on her entourage, this would have taken anywhere from 35-70 days – 1-2 months. And it would take the same amount of time for her to return to Sheba (Yemen). She took the time and the trouble to do this in very uncomfortable conditions, coming through some very dangerous territory as well.
What are you willing to do to learn more about the Lord? How far are you willing to go yourself? Through the centuries, many skeptics have come to Christ after seriously asking the tough questions to the Lord – The Apostle Paul, C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, and Chuck Colson just to name a few. They all discovered the truth of 1 John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (NASB).
I also think of Job in the Old Testament, that after asking all his questions to the Lord, he finally admits this in Job 42:5-6, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; (6) Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes” (NASB). I also think of Thomas the disciple. Hearing about the Resurrection from the other disciples, he said this in John 20:24-25, “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. (25) So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe’” (NASB).
But when he personally saw the Resurrected Lord 8 days later, he said these words in John 20:26-29, “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ (27) Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ (28) Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (29) Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed’” (NASB).
Former atheist, now Christian apologist, Lee Strobel writes this about how he initially viewed God: “God was merely a product of wishful thinking, of ancient mythology, of primitive superstition” (Source: Lee Strobel, The Case For Christ, Kindle Edition, p. 10).
Reflection Assignment: How persistent are you in wanting to know the Lord Jesus from more than just an informational basis or general consensus? What are you willing to do to go deeper in your relationship to Christ? Does your life demonstrate a life that has a superficial relationship to the Lord, or a deep and growing deeper one?
Scripture To Meditate On: Philippians 3:10-11,”I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, (11) so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (NLT).
Prayer To Prayer: “Dear Lord, I am willing to do whatever it takes to grow in my relationship to You. I do not want to keep a superficial understanding. I want to know You personally, intimately and deeply. I am not content to treat You like some distant acquaintance. Please show me how to do this through Your word, prayer and the Holy Spirit. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly