GREAT DAVID’S GREATER SON
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank You for a productive life.
Read 1 CHRONICLES 29:21–30
Solomon Acknowledged as King
21 The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the Lord that day.
Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the Lord to be ruler and Zadok to be priest. 23 So Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of his father David. He prospered and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the officers and warriors, as well as all of King David’s sons, pledged their submission to King Solomon.
25 The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor such as no king over Israel ever had before.
The Death of David
26 David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. 27 He ruled over Israel forty years—seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king.
29 As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, 30 together with the details of his reign and power, and the circumstances that surrounded him and Israel and the kingdoms of all the other lands.
New International Version (NIV)
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Reflect
God’s promises to David were fulfilled in David’s heavenly descendant, Jesus Christ. David’s rule is a pale reflection of what Christ’s reign will look like.
David’s reign is ending. He will share the throne as co-regent with Solomon for a short time before dying at a good old age. The warrior-king will be succeeded by the prince of peace. There in this royal tandem we have an image of the Son of David to come—King Jesus, the supreme Warrior-King and Prince of Peace. Today’s passage gives us two interesting details. First, Solomon is acknowledged as king twice (22). Second, the throne he occupies is called the Lord’s (23).
Another of David’s sons, Adonijah, has tried to make himself king of Israel. He is not God’s choice: Solomon is. So David checkmates Adonijah by hastily anointing Solomon in a rather humble ceremony stripped of the usual coronation trappings. Solomon’s second glorious enthronement is the exact opposite. Similarly, great David’s greater Son, Jesus, will be recognized as King the first time by foreign astrologers in the humblest of settings. His earthly existence will be far from royal—but he will return a second time to be proclaimed in glory, and then all the nations will acknowledge him.
Solomon reigns as king under God’s authority and sits on “the throne of the Lord” (23) only because God has set it up and promised to establish it forever. That promise will be fulfilled through a descendant of David’s royal line, as explained to his mother, Mary. As Christians, we wait in eager anticipation for the coming of our King, when at last his usurper, “the god of this world,” will be cast aside and Christ’s universal authority acknowledged. As we say “goodbye” to David, we longingly turn to his greater Son, praying, “Maranatha! Come, Lord!”
Apply
George Whitefield, the great 18th-century English evangelist, said, “I am daily waiting for the coming of the Son of God.” How much do you long for Christ’s return?
Closing prayer
Lord, we all anticipate the coronation of the perfect descendant of David in Jerusalem and the part we will play during his righteous reign.
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