Long Live King Solomon!
Opening Prayer
Lord, help me wait for You, trust and obey You. Let me see Your destiny unfold in my life.
Read 1 Kings 1:28-53
[28] Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. [29] The king then took an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, [30] I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” [31] Then Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!” [32] King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, [33] he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon. [34] There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ [35] Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.” [36] Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so declare it. [37] As the LORD was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!” [38] So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon mount King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon. [39] Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” [40] And all the people went up after him, playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound. [41] Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were finishing their feast. On hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab asked, “What’s the meaning of all the noise in the city?” [42] Even as he was speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in. A worthy man like you must be bringing good news.” [43] “Not at all!” Jonathan answered. “Our lord King David has made Solomon king. [44] The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and they have put him on the king’s mule, [45] and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it. That’s the noise you hear. [46] Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne. [47] Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed [48] and said, ‘Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.'” [49] At this, all Adonijah’s guests rose in alarm and dispersed. [50] But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar. [51] Then Solomon was told, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.'” [52] Solomon replied, “If he shows himself to be worthy, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.” [53] Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, “Go to your home.” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What promise are you waiting for God to fulfill?This story is all about not cutting corners, but doing things right. Adonijah tried to cut corners and get himself made king without being anointed (ch. 1). Solomon’s coronation, on the other hand, shows he has done things right.Solomon rides his father’s mule to the anointing (38) as a sign of King David’s favor. Nathan the prophet, so long a voice for God in the kingdom, is there. Zadok the priest performs the sacred anointing with the oil from the Tabernacle, an act that symbolizes the Lord’s own anointing of Solomon. Solomon is David’s true successor, the man of God’s choosing (48). Not a single corner has been cut. In keeping with all that, Solomon acts not with vengeance but with mercy towards his brother Adonijah (49-53). Yet, this is the last time we will hear about Nathan the prophet, or any prophet, serving at Solomon’s court. While God will bless Solomon in many ways, God’s presence will not be as obvious as in his father David’s time. It’s a hint of worse to come.
Apply
Here, we see prophet, priest and king. Consider how Jesus speaks God’s truth, intercedes for us and rules over us.
Closing prayer
Lord, thank You that You did all things well. You did not cut corners but paid the cost and fulfilled all the Father’s will.
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