November 17th, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

The Heir Apparent

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Powerful, Holy God, I stand before You as my Judge and Lord. Cleanse and renew me as I come before You now.

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.

Meditate

In today’s world it is often who you know as much as who you are that brings success. It seems nothing has changed much!

Think Further

The ambiguity continues in these verses as we are reminded of David’s weakness–apparently he remains bedridden for the whole time (47)–and the question remains as to whether he remembered promising Bathsheba or only her telling him that he had. All the people explicitly excluded from Adonijah’s campaign now join in to promote Solomon’s claim. Their political skills are clearly greater: they involve the community and, largely because of David’s support, Solomon is recognized as king. Even Adonijah’s backers realize that their candidate has been outsmarted and his hopes of being the next king are finished; indeed, he is lucky to have escaped with his life. The writer records all this without comment–God is mentioned in this section, but only in speeches of the participants. However, for whatever reasons, Solomon has been affirmed by David and by the people. Whether he will also be affirmed by the Lord remains to be seen.

In fact, we learn in the following chapters that God accepts that Solomon is king and gives him great blessing and great opportunities. It is tempting to assume, therefore, that Solomon must have been God’s choice. However, we cannot ignore the fact that the writer seems to go out of his way never to state that explicitly. We often assume that because God is clearly with us and clearly blessing us in our situations this must mean that everything that led up to those situations must have been God’s will, but the Old Testament narratives often show this assumption to be false. I cannot assume because God really blessed my student years that I was right to do virtually no work in my last year at school and fail to get into a different university!

Apply

When you see a schemer at work, do you step in and get involved? Why or why not?

Closing prayer

Lord, You know my fallibilities. Thank You for Your willingness to start from where I am and lead me on from there.

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