1 Kings 1: “David Has Solomon Crowned As King Over Israel”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1.INTRO:

1.1. In our last study, we looked at chapter 24 of 2 Samuel and we observed.

1.1.1. How that David decided to have all of his men in Israel numbered, however in doing so he sinned and thus inflamed God’s wrath against him.

1.1.2. In that story, we saw from David as an example of God’s people how that but by the grace of God any man or woman is capable of acting in absolute madness.

1.2. In our study today, we are going to begin the study of the book of 1 Kings, and the book of 2 Samuel is a natural lead in to this study.

1.2.1. Since the first two chapters of 1 Kings has to do with the last days of King David, it follows that we should come to this study by way of 2 Samuel.

1.2.2. 1 & 2 Kings are like the books of 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Chronicles, they originally were considered just one book. 1 & 2 Samuel had told the story of the first two kings of Israel, King Saul and King David. 1 & 2 Kings cover about 400 years of history and cover the rest of the kings of Israel, including those of the divided kingdom (the 10 tribes of Israel in the north and the tribe of Judah in the south). 1 & 2 Chronicles covers the history of Israel’s kings, including the divided kingdom, looking at what happened from a priestly point of view.

1.2.3. David in our story today is now either 69 or 70 years old, however the many rigors of his life as a fugitive, a mighty warrior, and one with constant and great turmoil at home and in his kingdom have taken their toll upon him and he is very weak and on his death bed. We know David’s age because the scripture tells us so in 2 Sam. 5:4, “⁴ David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.”

1.2.4. We are going to study about David’s last challenge as king of Israel. With David on his deathbed, David’s fourth son Adonijah is an opportunist and decides to follow in the footsteps of his brother Absalom and in rebellion against his father as well as defiance of God and His will, proclaim himself as king over Israel. However, David foils Adonijah’s attempt to usurp his throne and appoints his son Solomon to be king over Israel. David, as his last act, makes sure that it is God’s man who follows him to sit upon the throne of Israel.

1.2.5. Adonijah tries to usurp the throne in Israel in our story, however in Deuteronomy 17:15 the Lord has said that it is He that has chosen in His sovereignty to appoint the kings over His people Israel, “¹⁵ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.”

1.2.6. David had already made it a point to show to everyone that Solomon was to be the next king :

1.2.6.1. We have already seen in 2 Sam. 12:24-25 that when God gave Solomon the special name of “Jedidiah” (beloved of Jehovah) that this was an intimation that Solomon would be the next king.

1.2.6.2. In 1 Chron. 22:9 we read that even before he was born that the Lord announced that Solomon was called to be king over Israel, “⁹ ‘Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.”

1.2.6.3. In 2 Chron. 22 and 28 when David announced the building of the new temple he at that time publicly admitted that the Lord had told him that Solomon was to succeed him as king :

1.2.6.3.1. In 1 Chronicles 28:4-7 David says, “⁴ “Yet, the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. ⁵ “Of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons), He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ⁶ “He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I will be a father to him. ⁷ ‘I will establish his kingdom forever if he resolutely performs My commandments and My ordinances, as is done now.’”

1.2.6.4. David swore privately to Bathsheba that Solomon her son would succeed him as King (1 Kings 1:13,17).

1.2.7. As was said, David is old and feeble and even though he technically is still the king of Israel, now people are making many decisions for him. Yet, David will have this one last challenge that he will need to be courageous in and deal with faithfully before the Lord. David must make sure that God’s make takes the throne after he passes away.

1.2.8. David knew that Adonijah, his fourth son, was recently making strides towards succeeding him as king, something that David knew was against God’s revealed will (for Solomon was to be the next king), and yet David said nothing to restrain his son.

2.VS 1:1-4 - “¹ Now King David was old, advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm. ² So his servants said to him, “Let them seek a young virgin for my lord the king, and let her attend the king and become his nurse; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm.” ³ So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king did not cohabit with her.” - David is old now and cannot keep warm so they find a young woman to be a concubine for him to keep him warm

2.1. Elderly people tend to have a hard time retaining their body heat. I remember growing up that in my neighborhood there was this elderly woman that we kids used to marvel at because year around, and even in the heat of the desert summer, this woman would walk her dog every day wearing a heavy fur coat.

2.2. I have read that in Israel it is the custom even today that because of the heat for each person to sleep in their own single bed. David can’t keep himself warm in his bed, even when covered up.

2.3. The attendants of David decide to help out David by finding a young woman to be a concubine for him and lay with him since her body heat could keep him warm. These attendants were foolish however to find another wife for David since marriage is such an important institution and arrangement, especially if the woman should be married to the king of Israel. Note here that David just goes along with this decision.

2.4. At every age there are challenges and temptations for God’s people. People are making important decisions for David in this chapter, and he just goes along with what they decide, however when God’s people become elderly they must be careful not to be compromised because of allowing others to make important decisions on their behalf. They must be careful what they allow in their lives.

2.4.1. I have personally known some saints who served the Lord faithfully throughout a lifetime who when they got old and feeble they began to slide away from the Lord through compromise. For instance, one person I know just sat in front of the television all day watching soap operas and even Jerry Springer’s show, even though all throughout her life she had been staunchly against television and such things.

2.4.2. At any age God’s people can slip up: During the week days, as you know, I have a secular job as a school bus driver. A couple of weeks ago I signed up to drive some middle school kids on a charter bus trip to a bowling alley to bowl for a couple of hours. Often it is the case that bus drivers are allowed to participate with the kids in their activities when they drive the charters and since I had bowled quite a bit as a kid and enjoyed it a lot I asked one of the teachers if it would be OK for me to bowl with the kids. She looked at her sign up sheet and discovered a couple of cancellations and told me that it should be fine for me to do this. Well, I got my bowling ball and shoes and proceeded to the lane where I would bowl with four other students. As I got to the lanes I realized that I was the only non-student bowling in the whole bowling alley, not even another teacher was planning to bowl. On my lane as well as all adjacent lanes and even in the back, the kids’ eyes as well as the teachers’ eyes were fixated on me since I was the bus driver and the only adult who was going to bowl. I was the second one up to bowl on my lane. Now, unfortunately no one had told the bus driver (me) that the bowling alley had just waxed their lanes. Well, I get up and in my usual manner proceeded down the lane quickly to deliver the ball, however when I got to the finish line and threw my ball I just kept sliding and sliding and sliding. Finally, as I was about 6 feet down the lane on the other side of the foul line and trying as much as I could to stop myself, I evidently had been leaning backwards just a little bit too much and suddenly my feet went straight up in the air and I landed with a huge thud right on my back. As I jumped up and looked back I saw that on all visible lanes and in the back kids and teachers alike either had their mouths open wide, or had their hands over their mouths (with a few chuckles being held back I’m sure). Then, as I smiled and headed quickly back to my seat chuckles broke out over the whole bowling alley. Yes, even at my age I had slipped up big time on the bowling lanes.

3.VS 1:5-10 - “⁵ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen with fifty men to run before him. ⁶ His father had never crossed him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?” And he was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom. ⁷ He had conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest; and following Adonijah they helped him. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. ⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. ¹⁰ But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, and Solomon his brother.” - David’s fourth son, Adonijah, saw David’s failing health as an opportunity for him to make himself king over Israel

3.1. At this point in time, Adonijah was the eldest living son of David’s and in this day and culture the eldest son would normally be in line to receive a kingdom at the death of his father. Because Adonijah was filled with selfish ambition as his brother Absalom had been, and thought that as eldest son he deserved the throne, he seized this opportunity to exalt himself to be king.

3.2. Adonijah was attempting to thwart God’s will. Adonijah surely knew that the Lord had revealed His will that Solomon was to follow his father as the next king. After all, as was mentioned we read in 2 Chron. 22 and 28 that when David announced the building of the new temple that he had publicly admitted that Solomon would succeed him as king.

3.3. We have mentioned many times in our study that though David was a man after God’s heart he was not a very good father. In fact, David was an indulgent father and didn’t discipline his children and this fact reaped huge consequences in the lives of his children. Here it says of Adonijah in essence that David had never disciplined him properly, ‘His father had never crossed him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?”’

3.4. We see here in verse 6 that Adonijah was like Absalom in that he was very handsome.

3.5. Also, Adonijah was surely very charismatic for he wins over to his side Joab, the head over David’s army, and Abiathar one of the priests who along with Zadok served in the capacity of high priest in Israel.

3.6. However, the men who had been closest and most faithful to David had not followed Adonijah in his attempt to make himself king. Zadok the other high priest, Benaiah the man who was over David’s fighting men (and the Cherethites and Pelethites), Shimei, Rei, the mighty men who belonged to David, and Nathan the prophet, the man who had served so faithfully in David’s life for so many years, had not joined with Adonijah.

3.7. Adonijah invited all of his followers along with his brothers (all but Solomon) to a feast in which he planned to announce his kingship, however he did not invite those who were David’s most faithful and committed men: Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, and the mighty men.

3.8. Though Adonijah was usurping authority that was not his by trying to defy and thwart God’s will and make himself king, he makes a show of spirituality here by making a sacrifice to the Lord.

3.9. Men are always trying to thwart the Lord and His will upon the earth, however the scripture reveals to us that though the wicked may be successful in their rebellion for awhile, that in time they will fail, for instance:

3.9.1. Psalm 33:10-11 shows that the Lord is going to fulfill His plans regardless of men and their wicked plans, “¹⁰ The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. ¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.”

3.9.2. Proverbs 19:21 says about the same thing as Psalm 33:10-11, “²¹ Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the Lord will stand.”

3.9.3. Arthur Pink has written, “No planning on man’s part can thwart the purpose of the Most High. Saul had proved that; so too had Absalom; so now shall Adonijah. Yet the Lord is pleased to use human instruments in bringing His counsel to pass. He always has His man ready to intervene at the critical moment. In this instance it was Nathan the prophet.”

3.10. Adonijah was setting himself up to be king over Israel in this ceremony to coronate himself as king, and now the people of Israel were waiting to see if King David is going to give his blessing to the crowning of Adonijah as king.

4.VS 1:11-14 - “¹¹ Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it? ¹² “So now come, please let me give you counsel and save your life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ “Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Have you not, my lord, O king, sworn to your maidservant, saying, “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ “Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”” - Nathan the prophet comes to Bathsheba with a plan to make sure that God’s will is carried out and Solomon is made the next king instead of Adonijah

4.1. Nathan the prophet had always been such a faithful prophet as well as friend to King David. David had recognized and respected Nathan’s office of prophet from the beginning. Nathan had :

4.1.1. Announced to David the good news of the Davidic Covenant which the Lord had made with the house of David (2 Sam. 7:1-17).

4.1.2. Come to David to rebuke him after David’s affair with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 12).

4.1.3. Told David and Bathsheba that their son Solomon would be named “Jedidiah” (“Beloved Of The Lord”) which was an indication that Solomon would be the next king.

4.2. These verses indicate to us that Bathsheba was a godly woman, greatly respected by David, and very influential in his life and in the kingdom itself. Nathan the prophet comes to Bathsheba in order to influence David to do what the Lord had willed, to ensure that Solomon be made the next king.

4.3. Nathan tells Bathsheba to go to the king and remind him of that time when he promised to her that her son Solomon would be the next king after him. Then she is to ask David why it is that his son Adonijah is declaring himself to be king? Nathan tells Bathsheba that when she has told these things to David that he will come in to the king and ‘confirm’ her words concerning Solomon.

5.VS 1:15-21 - “¹⁵ So Bathsheba went in to the king in the bedroom. Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king. ¹⁶ Then Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself before the king. And the king said, “What do you wish?” ¹⁷ She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your maidservant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘Surely your son Solomon shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ “Now, behold, Adonijah is king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know it. ¹⁹ “He has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. ²⁰ “As for you now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ “Otherwise it will come about, as soon as my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered offenders.”” - Bathsheba goes in to the king and follows the plan that Nathan the prophet had laid out for her

5.1. David would need to be courageous yet one more time for the Lord before he passed away. Bathsheba attempts here to get him to wake up and realize that it is time for him to act before it is too late and Adonijah leads Israel astray to follow him as their king.

5.2. Bathsheba tells David of the fact that Adonijah has called a feast and is making the sacrifices planning to declare himself king. She tells him also whom Adonijah has “not” invited to this feast which implied the fact that there was treachery afoot.

5.3. Finally, Bathsheba tells David that if Adonijah is made to be king that she and her son Solomon will be ‘considered offenders’ and thus will be murdered by Adonijah.

6.VS 1:22-27 - “²² Behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³ They told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground. ²⁴ Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ²⁵ “For he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ “But me, even me your servant, and Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and your servant Solomon, he has not invited. ²⁷ “Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not shown to your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”” - Nathan the prophet comes in to see David as Bathsheba has finished speaking with David

6.1. We see here that Nathan the prophet had such respect in the eyes of King David that he is always given immediate access to the king.

6.2. Bathsheba leaves the king in respect for Nathan’s appearing to talk with the king.

6.3. Nathan backs up what Bathsheba has told David and asks David if it is true that he has made his son Adonijah to be king? Then, Nathan tells David about Adonijah’s feast, who was invited and who was not invited, and he tells David that they are saying, “Long life King Adonijah!”

6.4. Nathan asks David if he (David) has not already shown to his servants who it is who shall next sit upon his throne as king after him? In other words he is saying, “David, didn’t you say that your son Solomon shall be king?”

7.VS 1:28-31 - “²⁸ Then King David said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. ²⁹ The king vowed and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, ³⁰ surely as I vowed to you by the Lord the God of Israel, saying, ‘Your son Solomon shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place’; I will indeed do so this day.” ³¹ Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and prostrated herself before the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever.”” - David calls Bathsheba back into his chambers and tells her that he will indeed now make her son Solomon to be king on this day

7.1. David could at this point have just done nothing and let happen what will happen. Many times in our lives it is so much easier not to go against the flow of this world swimming upstream against the current. However, the easy way out of things is usually not God’s will for us as His people. We have to be faithful to the Lord and His will for us even if doing so will be difficult and trying for us and we feel that in and of ourselves we have not the ability. God will give us the ability when we present to Him an obedient heart to do His will.

7.2. David was always sure to be a man of his word. David tells Bathsheba that he will indeed uphold his word of promise he made to her to make Solomon king.

7.3. Bathsheba bows before David and then declares that she desires that David shall not have to die but that he will live forever.

8.VS 1:32-35 - “³² Then King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” And they came into the king’s presence. ³³ The king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. ³⁴ “Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel, and blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ “Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne and be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”” - David springs into action with a plan for a a coronation ceremony to make Solomon to be king

8.1. This last work of David’s of transferring the throne in Israel to Solomon, his son, was critically important for if Israel were to be governed by Adonijah then because of the influence of Adonijah the nation would be led astray from the Lord.

8.2. Via this coronation ceremony for Solomon, David establishes Solomon to be a “co-regent” ruler over the nation along with himself. Even though Solomon will be sitting upon the throne and ruling, David will still be calling the shots.

9.VS 1:36-40 - “³⁶ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! Thus may the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say. ³⁷ “As the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David!” ³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. ³⁹ Zadok the priest then took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ All the people went up after him, and the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth shook at their noise.” - All of David’s greatest supporters and those closest to him take Solomon and coronate him as king over Israel

9.1. Nathan the prophet and Zadok the high priest anoint Solomon as king to everyone’s delight.

9.2. Solomon typifies Christ in his crowing as king. Solomon rides a donkey into Gihon where he is made king in the same way that Christ when he made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem as Messiah king on that last Passover rode in seated upon a donkey.

9.3. The people blew the trumpet at the end of the coronation and declare, “Long live King Solomon!” The celebration of Israel over Solomon’s coronation as king of Israel is so great in Gihon that they earth trembles at the sound of the people playing their flutes and rejoicing.

10.VS 1:41-53 - “⁴¹ Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city making such an uproar?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Then Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a valiant man and bring good news.” ⁴³ But Jonathan replied to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ “The king has also sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule. ⁴⁵ “Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and they have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise which you have heard. ⁴⁶ “Besides, Solomon has even taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ “Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than your throne!’ And the king bowed himself on the bed. ⁴⁸ “The king has also said thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted one to sit on my throne today while my own eyes see it.’ ” ⁴⁹ Then all the guests of Adonijah were terrified; and they arose and each went on his way. ⁵⁰ And Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, and he arose, went and took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ Now it was told Solomon, saying, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ” ⁵² Solomon said, “If he is a worthy man, not one of his hairs will fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he will die.” ⁵³ So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and prostrated himself before King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”” - Adonijah and those at his feast hear the roar of the crowd down the road who have just coronated Solomon king of Israel and they all flee their own ways

10.1. Adonijah truly thought that he had pulled off this coup and exalted himself as king. Yet, as he was glorying in the moment and just about to have everyone at his feast come together and acknowledge him as king, the roar of the ceremony that was just a mile up the road rang out. Little did he know the noise was coming from Solomon’s coronation ceremony.

10.1.1. Isn’t the Lord’s timing amazing? He always brings circumstances together at the perfect intersection of time in order to accomplish His purposes in our lives and in this world. The sound of the completion of Solomon’s coronation ceremony reaches those at this feet just seconds before Adonijah was to be ratified as king over Israel at his feast, and in this way God’s will was accomplished to make Solomon the next king of Israel squashing this attempt by Adonijah to thwart God’s will.

10.2. At first Adonijah thought that the news that Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest, brought would be favorable and that the noise had just been great adulation made by the people over his coming to power. However, what he heard instead was his worst nightmare. His plot had been foiled by his father and Solomon was now made king with his father’s blessing, and he knew now that all Israel would embrace Solomon as their king.

10.3. Adonijah learns that Solomon has even taken his seat upon the very throne of King David.

10.4. Joab, Abiathar, and all of the rest of the guests of Adonijah at this feast now flee in terror for they know that they will be considered traitors for attempting a coup to place Adonijah as king over Israel in place of his father.

10.5. Adonijah flees to the place of mercy that people fled to before the establishment of the cities of refuge, the horns of the altar in the tabernacle. There Adonijah begs for mercy and that his life might be spared by the newly ordained king Solomon.

10.6. Solomon exercizes mercy on Adonijah and orders him to house arrest so that his life might be spared as long as he does not venture outside of his house.

10.7. As his father, King David, had many times shown himself to represent a type of Christ, so now also will Solomon during his reign, and, here in these verses we see him as a type of Christ in that he shows mercy to his brother Adonijah by allowing him to live when by all respects he deserved to die because of his treachery in plotting to make himself king over Israel.

11.CONCLUSIONS:

11.1. As we have studied through the life of David we have been blessed to see all of the many things that the Lord taught him as he was being made a man of God. David had to learn not to scheme and try to bring about God’s will by helping the Lord out, and he had to learn that the Lord was to be his strength, help, and hope. David failed many times but he always allowed the Lord to mold his character through his many chastenings. Finally, he persevered faithful unto the end even as he met this last challenge in his life with faith and zeal for the Lord. May we internalize these same things into our lives as God’s people.

11.2. As we consider this story and how that David who at this time of his old age had been having people make the decisions for him, and thus allowing some compromise into his life, was brought to realize that he needed to take some important steps and secure that God’s man succeeded him as king, we too must realize that there will be challenges to us at every age and we must be courageous in our following and obeying Christ all throughout our life. Our only time of true rest as a disciple of Jesus shall be when we get to heaven.

11.3. This tragic story of Adonijah’s failed coup should remind us that selfish ambition never pays off. We as God’s people, brought into the body of Christ through the blood of Christ under the New Covenant, need to realize that we do not need to scheme and should not promote ourselves into leadership or ministry but just leave all promotion unto the Lord Himself.

11.3.1. Arthur Pink has written, “Disinterested loyalty is a rare thing, and where found it cannot be valued too highly. Those in eminent positions, whether in church or state, are surrounded by mercenary sychophants, who are ever eager to turn to their own advantage everything which transpires.” May you and I commit ourselves to never allow selfish ambition to control our lives.

11.4. In many ways, David was directly responsible for the actions of his sons because he was an indulgent father, and we parents must realize the importance of being consistent and firm in the discipline of our children so that they might grow up and be good and responsible people serving the Lord themselves.

11.4.1. Prov. 23:13, “¹³ Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.”

11.4.2. Proverbs 13:24, “²⁴ He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.”

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