This passage sounds wonderful at first read, but in fact it is deliberately pitched by the narrator to remind us of another passage in Deuteronomy 17. God said to Moses here that any future king of Israel “must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are not to go back that way again’. He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold” (vs 16-17). The greatest attribute of a leader, in God’s kingdom, must be dependence on God. For a heavenly mission you need heavenly resources, and these are gained by faith. Earthly resources, in and of themselves, cannot extend the Kingdom of God. But Solomon is becoming more interested in building the kingdom of Solomon than the Kingdom of God. To build your own kingdom you need lots of wealth, and Solomon is lured by the prospect as wealth comes his way. Ironically all this wealth was a blessing from God in the first place (see 3:13). Earning wealth is not a problem. Hoarding wealth is. Wealth gives us a sense of control which taps into our deep-seated tendency to want to be the gods of our own lives. Money is not evil; it can be a blessing from God. The love of money, however, as Paul says, is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10).
Consider your own attitudes in the light of this passage.
Read 1 Kings 10:14-29
