Thank you for your good question. God plainly commanded that kings should not have multiple wives. We read in Deuteronomy 17:17, “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.” David, Solomon, and other kings were responsible to know and obey this command. We read about the responsibilities of kings in Deuteronomy 17:18-20, “And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.”

The Lord did send the prophet Nathan to rebuke David after he stole Bathsheba from her husband Uriah and had Uriah killed in battle. However, the content of Nathan’s rebuke appears to be more focused on the murder of Uriah and stealing Uriah’s wife than the fact that David was multiplying wives. Nathan said to David in 2 Samuel 12: 9-12, “Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun’” (NASB). David did repent of his sins, but he and his descendants were strongly disciplined for his disobedience of Deuteronomy 17:17. The baby born to Bathsheba died and the violence of the sword was a permanent fixture in David’s household.

We read about Solomon in 1 Kings 11:3-4, “He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.” These verses are a fulfillment of God’s promise in Deuteronomy 17:17 since Solomon’s heart was turned away to other gods by his many wives. We read in 1 Kings 11:9-10, “And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.”

We do not read that the Lord was angry with Solomon for multiplying wives. Instead, the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from God. However, we know that the Lord was not pleased that Solomon had multiplied wives since He had commanded kings not to do it in Deuteronomy 17:17.  We read in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” God has good reasons why He issues commands. God commanded kings not to multiply wives because He knew that the wives would turn the kings’ hearts away from the Lord. The same is true today. God tells us how to live in His Word because He loves us, wants to bless us, wants our lives filled with joy and peace, and desires to keep us close to Himself. His commandments are not unreasonable. They come from a heart of love.

The consequences of Solomon’s actions are found in 1 Kings 11:11-13. “So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.  However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen” (NASB).

With the possible exception of Nathan’s rebuke of David concerning Bathsheba and Uriah, you are correct that we do not read of God condemning kings for having multiple wives and concubines. This may be due to the fact that God knew that these kings who knew God’s commands, willfully disobeyed them, and would have continued to disobey God even if He sent someone to rebuke them for multiplying wives. However, David, Solomon, and others did not escape the consequences of their actions, which is a sobering lesson for all of us. We read in Galatians 6:7-8, “7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”  (DJ)  (293.5)