1 Kings 1: “David Has Solomon Crowned As King Over
Israel”
By
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
9.3.
The people blew the trumpet at the end of the coronation and declare, “Long
live King Solomon!” The celebration
of
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
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
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
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.”