Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.

Solomon prayed in 1 Kings 8:57-60,

"May Yahweh our Elohim be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us. May he bend our hearts toward him. Then we will follow him and keep his commands, laws, and rules, which he commanded our ancestors to keep. May these words which I have prayed to Yahweh be near Yahweh our Elohim day and night. Then he will give me and his people Israel justice every day as it is needed. In this way all the people of the world will know that Yahweh is Elohim and there is no other God."

Solomon was calling on the blessings of their ancestors to be poured out on them and the future generations. He knew what it was like to walk into the blessings of Yahweh that had been prepared by those who went ahead of him.

Solomon received the kingship not because he did anything specific to deserve it, but because he had been appointed by his father King David who ruled and then secured it for him. David summoned the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah to place him on his mule, anoint him and declare him king (1 Kings 1:32-35). 

Solomon did not take the throne and do his own thing but followed David's lead. When David gave him advice and made requests for him to follow through with certain actions, Solomon followed. 1 Kings 3:3 says, “Solomon loved Yahweh and lived by his father David's rules...

Once sitting on the throne and established, he stayed with the administration that David had initially appointed. He made Zadok's son, Azariah, the chief priest and established Benaiah as the commander of his army. (1 Kings 4:1-4)

Solomon trusted that God would uphold him and continue to establish him because of his position as David's son. He told Shimei in 1 Kings 2:45, “But King Solomon is blessed, and David's dynasty will always be firmly established by Yahweh.”

More than anything, Solomon, like his father David that went before him, desired to be a wise servant and judge the people justly. When God came to him in a dream and asked him what He could give Solomon, he responds in humility and brings to light his father's relationship with God.

In 1 Kings 3:3-9 he says, 

“You've shown great love to my father David, who was your servant. He lived in your presence with truth, righteousness, and commitment. And you continued to show him your great love by giving him a son to sit on his throne today.

Yahweh my Elohim, although I'm young and inexperienced, you've made me king in the place of my father David. I'm among your people whom you have chosen. They are too numerous to count or record. Give me a heart that listens so that I can judge your people and tell the difference between good and evil. After all, who can judge this great people of yours?”

Before David dies, he had also prepared the way for Solomon to build the temple. In 1 Chronicles 29:1-9 David told the assembly, 

“My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.  

Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”

Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.”

One article notes, “The crowning achievement of Solomon’s reign is the building of the Temple which his father, King David, had dreamt about. As we learned in the last installment in this series, King David brought the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem’s Mount Moriah—'the gate of heaven'—but because he had been a warrior who had blood on his hands, he was not permitted by God to erect the Temple. However, this is left for his son to accomplish, which he does.” [1]

When Solomon was ready to build, he contacted King Hiram of Tyre, David's good friend, and enlisted him to help by providing Solomon all the cedar and cypress wood he wanted. He told the king, “Now I'm thinking of building a temple for the name of Yahweh my Elohim as Yahweh spoke to my father David: 'Your son, whom I will put on your throne to succeed you, will build a temple for my name.” (1 Kings 5:5)

Solomon did not work exceptionally harder than any other king to obtain his position, establish his leadership or perform the work. Rather he worked wisely, operating out of his position of sonship. He leveraged what his father had provided for him ahead of time. And he leveraged his father's established relationships to make room for his own relationships.

With God, he leveraged the relationship David had to God and the promises made to him. As he stepped into them, he experienced the blessing that went along with them. In 1 Kings 5:12-13, the Lord to Solomon, 

“This concerns the temple you are building: If you live by my laws, follow my rules, and keep my commands, I will fulfill the promise I made about you to your father David. I will live among the Israelites and never abandon them.”

Solomon did not make his own way but allowed God to help him to step into that which had been prepared for him. Out of honoring his father, he followed in his footsteps and used the provision that David made the way for through his relationship with God. Even the Ark of the Covenant, the very presence of God, was provided by the work that David had done before him. As a result, Solomon was highly successful. 

Over and over, God promises to be the one who makes the way. Is 45:2 says, “I will go ahead of you, Cyrus, and smooth out the rough places...”

In Deuteronomy 31:8 He says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. ... The Lord - doth go before thee - To prepare thy way, and to direct thee. ....” 

Too often we  think if we just work harder and do more, we will accomplish more for His kingdom. However, it is not about our labors. Solomon knew this place of stepping into blessing as he proclaimed in Psalm 127:1-2,

“Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

Proverbs 22 says, "It is Yahweh's blessing that makes a person rich, and hard work adds nothing to it." In other translations, it is a “good name” or reputation that matters over money or wealth. With Solomon, he established his self as David's son and took on all the blessings that came along with his father's name. Following in his father's good footsteps of obedience was worth more than all that he could have labored hard to achieve and obtain on his own.

If David would have not prepared the way for his son Solomon; not provided him what was needed for what he was called to (building the temple) or never spoke up to establish him is king, Solomon's story may have been different. David may not have had a legacy that lived on.

At the same time, if Solomon would have not received and walked in the blessings of his father but tried to do it all in his own strength, again the legacy may have ended and the incredible work that blessed the Israelites for generations to come may not have been accomplished through him.

Besides blessing Solomon through the lineage of his father, God was promising to Solomon to continue the lines of blessing down to their children as well. If Solomon was faithful as his father David, God would let His presence reside among the people now and into the future. In building the temple and being faithful to God, Solomon was establishing a place for future generations to know God.

As Solomon was faithful to complete the temple that his father had made the provision for, the Lord filled it with a cloud of glory (1 Kings 8:10). It was not that Solomon was special or super spiritual, he merely followed the direction of his father and the provisions made, as he stepped into what God was calling him to. And God abundantly blessed the work of his hands.

When he prayed to the Lord as he dedicated the temple, he proclaimed, “Now Yahweh Elohim of Israel, keep your promise to my father David, your servant. You said, 'You will never fail to have an heir sitting in front of me on the throne of Israel if your descendants are faithful to me as you have been faithful to me.' So now, Elohim of Israel, may the promise you made to my father David, your servant, come true.” (1 Kings 8:26-27)

He then went on to pray for the people, making room for the future generations. He goes on to pray, “Night and day may your eyes be on this temple, the place about which you said, 'My name will be there.' Listen to me as I pray toward this place. Hear the plea for mercy that your people Israel and I pray toward this place. Hear us when we pray to heaven, the place where you live. Hear and forgive.”

Solomon also understood well this place of blessing in future generations in carrying on one's legacy through succession. After proclaiming that one labors in vain unless the Lord does the work, he goes on to proclaim in Psalm 127:3-5,

“Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.”

This legacy of blessing flowing down from one generation to the next in father-son (parent-child) relationships was God's design from the beginning. In Genesis 1:28, the Lord blessed Adam and Eve and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.'”

Passing on to the next generation a legacy is a blessing from the Lord. Psalm 112:1-2a proclaims, “Hallelujah! Blessed is the person who fears Yahweh and is happy to obey his commands. His descendants will grow strong on the earth.”

In Exodus 20:5-6 the Lord says, “I punish children for their parents' sins to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. But I show mercy to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my commandments.

And in Deuteronomy 7:9 He says, “Keep in mind that Yahweh your Elohim is the only Elohim. He is a faithful El, who keeps his promise and is merciful to thousands of generations of those who love him and obey his commands.”

The ultimate blessing is being a part of the 42^nd generation (Matthew 1:17), the generation that is in Christ. He is our Everlasting Father (Is. 9:6). In His full obedience and faithfulness, we have the opportunity to choose to walk into the blessings that He prepared the way for. We do not need to strive and work to make our own way, we merely, like Solomon, as sons and daughters, step into the blessings prepared for us ahead of time.

Lord, give us a spirit of sonship like Solomon had in his early years as king.   That we would walk into the blessings you have for us. Like Solomon, give us understanding hearts that desire to serve in your justice rather than have wealth or significance for ourselves.   

1.  http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/king_solomon/