“Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.” (1 Chronicles 22:9 ESV).
When King David desired to build a house for the Lord, God responded with a greater plan. David would not build the temple, but his son—“a man of rest”—would. God promised to give David a son named Solomon (from shalom, meaning peace), and that peace would mark his reign. Unlike David, whose life was marked by warfare, Solomon would reign in rest, enabling him to build the temple. This was no mere coincidence; God’s purposes for worship and dwelling among His people would be established in an environment of peace. The physical rest Solomon enjoyed foreshadowed a greater spiritual rest that only Christ could provide. As the book of Hebrews teaches, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God (Heb. 4:9), and Jesus is the one who leads us into it.
We often long for rest—relief from stress, conflict, or busyness. Yet true rest isn’t found in merely changing circumstances. It’s found in a Person. Solomon’s peaceful reign gave Israel a foretaste of the kind of peace that only Jesus, the greater Son of David, could bring. He is the Prince of Peace, and through His finished work on the cross, we are invited into God’s Sabbath rest. Placing our faith in Christ, we experience freedom from striving to earn God’s favor, peace with God through forgiveness, and the quiet confidence of Christ’s abiding presence. Let us trust in Christ, not just for future rest in heaven, but for soul-rest now. For Jesus invites us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for the promise of rest. We see how You fulfilled Your word to David by giving Solomon peace and how this points forward to the even greater rest found in Jesus. Help us to stop striving and start trusting. Let us live in the peace that only Christ can give, and worship You in the quiet confidence of Your grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.