1 Kings 4:20  The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. (NIV)

1 Kings 4:25  During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree. (NIV)

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My bride and I moved a year ago. We left a home we loved to move closer to our two local granddaughters. Our former house suited us well. It was nicer than any we had lived in at any time in our lives. The only problem is that it backed up to what was once a sleepy farm-to-market road that had become six lanes of noisy suburban hurry. 

It became increasingly challenging to get a good night’s rest. Those six lanes became a racetrack in the midnight hours. 

One night a few months ago, a driver in a loud truck made a wrong turn onto the street outside our current home. He got to the circle where the two streets meet and made a loop to go back out the way he came. 

That has happened once in the last year. It’s amazing how much better we sleep when it’s quiet. 

Our backyard is quite noisy this morning. Cardinals, mourning doves, crows, chickadees, and mockingbirds are belting out songs at the tops of their voices. The Merlin Bird ID app helps me know all the players and their several songs. 

Sitting there within the circumference of the canopy of our hundred-year-old red oak, in full view of roses, azaleas, and other colorful plants on full display, a person begins to understand what today’s text says about everyone under their own vine and fig tree.

Peace, quiet, and nature’s beauty are true gifts of God. 

Solomon’s reign was a peaceful paradise for one glorious season in Israel’s history. It was Eden Refound. Solomon (Peaceful One) lived up to his name. 

That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

Peace is possible. 

God still blesses peacemakers. (See Matthew 5:9.)

He also blesses, you will notice in adjacent verses, the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and those who are persecuted for doing the right thing the right way for the right reason in the right timing. 

God wants to bless you. Are you interested in his blessings? Apparently, not everyone is. 

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I will enjoy God’s blessings of peace and purpose.

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Our Father, thank you for peaceful rest and nature’s beauty. Thank you for the Eden to come. Empower us to live the lives of peacemakers. Use us to build a kinder, gentler world. Make us increasingly uneasy with buffoonery and bombast. Amen.