Sabbath Meditation

The Spirit Went Out of Her

Doug Wilson

The Queen of Sheba had heard about Solomon’s glory, and so she came to visit him in order to see if it was true. The fact that she came a great distance means that on one level, she certainly wanted the reports to be true. And yet she was resistant. It is very interesting to note what persuaded her.

And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her (2 Chron. 9:4).

The way the Israelites ate, the way they sat, the way Solomon’s ministers performed their jobs, the way they dressed, the way the cupbearers behaved and dressed, and the way Solomon worshiped—all this did her in. There was "no more spirit in her," it says.

One of the things we should be longing for is a reformation and revival, the kind that thoroughly demoralizes nonbelievers. Everything about us will be involved, down to the way we dress, but note here the centrality of worship. The list of things that affected the queen in this peculiar way culminated in the way Solomon ascended into the house of the Lord.

Take all of this. There is no Table like this one. The cupbearers who bring you the wine of the new covenant are discharging their responsibilities in a way that God can use to declare His wonders abroad. We have ascended into the house of the Lord, and we are in His presence now—not only worshiping Him, but also communing with Him, and partaking of Him. There is nothing like this, anywhere in the world. To see it, you have to taken up into the heavens, and you have to see with the eye of faith. Come, then, and welcome.

First posted in Blog and Mablog, 8th August, 2009