<p>6:29&nbsp;Yet<em> I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these</em>- It is hard to avoid the connection with the description of the righteous as being clothed in glory at the last day. The clothing metaphor is repeated throughout the NT in this connection (e.g. Rev. 3:5,18; 7:9,13; 19:8). Of course we are dealing with metaphor here- plants are not literally clothed, although perhaps the Lord was alluding to them flowering as their 'glory'. The lily is glorious for what it is, not because it has laboured to make itself something other than it is. We will be made glorious by God in Christ. The city set on a hill cannot be hid. We are who and as we are before God. There is nothing to cover with clothing. This consideration alone puts the whole issue of present clothing into perspective.</p>
<p>The Lord Jesus hinted indirectly at Solomon's pride when he said that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one wild flower, symbolic of how God would clothe, with imputed righteousness, even the weakest believer (Mt. 6:29,30).&nbsp; This reference to Solomon is only one of several hints that our Lord read Solomon in a negative light.&nbsp;&nbsp;He goes on to warn against excessive attention to food, drink and clothes (Mt. 6:31)- all things which the court of Solomon revelled in to a quite extraordinary extent. &quot;Take therefore no (anxious) thought for the morrow... sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof&quot; (Mt. 6:34) sounds like a rebuke of the way Solomon did just this in Ecclesiastes, as he intellectually battled with the sadness of knowing that all his achievements would mean nothing in the future. &quot;But&quot;, says Jesus, &quot;seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you&quot; (Mt. 6:33)- clearly a reference to Solomon seeking Divine wisdom and subsequently being blessed; surely the Lord is telling us to follow Solomon's example in this, but to avoid his pride and materialism. Solomon didn&rsquo;t seek the future Kingdom of God, but rather his own. The Lord taught that we should love our enemies, and not fall into the trap of only loving those who love us (Mt. 5:44-46). He seems to be alluding here to Solomon&rsquo;s claim that wisdom says: &ldquo;I love them that love me&rdquo; (Prov. 8:17). Maybe I&rsquo;m wrong, and the Lord didn&rsquo;t have His mind there on that passage; but in the context of Him re-interpreting and re-presenting Solomon to us, it seems likely that He was consciously showing that God&rsquo;s grace is in fact the very opposite of what Solomon thought. God loves His enemies, and doesn&rsquo;t only love those who love Him; and this is to be our credo likewise.&nbsp;The record of how Solomon spoke of his building of the temple can now be seen as blatant pride in his external appearance of spirituality;&nbsp; without the foregoing analysis of the&nbsp;<em>hints&nbsp;</em>of Solomon's pride, this wouldn't necessarily be a correct conclusion to reach;&nbsp; but with all these inspired links, surely we can read the following as pure pride: &quot;Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven (hardly praying in his closet!&nbsp; Was Christ alluding to Solomon in Mt. 6:6?)... the house that I have built for thy name&quot; (1 Kings 8:22,44).&nbsp;&nbsp;Solomon's frequent emphasis on the fact that&nbsp;<em>he&nbsp;</em>built the house makes a telling connection with the principle that God does not live in houses&nbsp;<em>built</em>&nbsp;by men (Acts 17:24?) &nbsp;</p>