1 Kings 1-4
Happy April Fools’ Day! I hope none among you put salt in the sugar bowl or shaving cream in the sleeping hand this morning, as my wicked cousins used to do. Life pulls enough rugs out from under us without collaboration from April Fools’ aficionados.
Perhaps the most inevitable joke life plays on us is old age. Even the great King David grew old, and when he did, Adonijah, one of his surviving sons, (Remember: Amnon, Absalom, and his infant son with Bathsheba were already dead!) attempted to take the throne for himself, with Joab’s help. The main problem with this was that David, under God’s direction, had already promised the throne to Solomon.
While Adonijah was hosting his victory party, David had Solomon anointed king and heralded as such throughout Jerusalem. Adonijah’s party broke up quickly, and he sought refuge at the altar of God.
With Solomon in place, David has one last tête á tête with his newly crowned son. And it begins well, but concludes a bit vindictively. He instructs Solomon to “take care” of a couple of people: Joab, the out-of-control general, and Shimei, the man who cursed David as he left Jerusalem during Absalom’s uprising. If I to excuse David for this, it would be on the basis of his knowledge of God’s judgment upon these two. By the end of chapter 2, both Joab and Shinei are dead.
Nowhere does Solomon shine brighter than when the Lord appears to him and says, “Ask what I shall give you.” Instead of riches and wealth and power, Solomon asks for wisdom for leadership. The Lord is thrilled, and chooses to Solomon the former, along with the latter!
These opening chapters extol Solomon’s leaders, wealth, wisdom and relationship with God. This is exactly the sort of man God would choose for building His house...as we shall see tomorrow.
Until then,
Pastor Gary
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