First Kings 1:1

The Bible says in First Kings 1:1-4, “Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.[2] Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.[3] So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.[4] And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.” The most important phrase to notice in these verses is verse four that says, “the king knew her not.” That means that nothing inappropriate happened. In his youth, women and his relationships with them were a problem for David as demonstrated with what happened with Bathsheba. In his old age David finally learned at least somewhat that he should not “know” any woman except his wife.

The Bible says in First Kings 1:5-14, “Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.[6] And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.[7] And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.[8] But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.[9] And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants:[10] But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.[11] Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not?[12] Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon.[13] Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign?[14] Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.” Adonijah was another one of David’s sons. He made the same mistake as Absalom. They wanted to be king. This time, because David was so old and weak, Adonijah thought that he could get away with it. By the way, all of those sons from all of those different wives and all of them living in the palace did not work out very well. God’s pattern that He started in the Garden of Eden is the best pattern to follow: one man and one woman. When they were in the Garden of Eden living the perfect life for human beings, God gave Adam one wife and not several wives. We easily fall away from God’s perfect pattern. Thankfully, Jesus is very merciful.

In the above verses, Joab finally makes a mistake. He agrees with Adonijah, and Joab thinks that David is too old and weak, and now it is time for a new king. Joab wants to get in on the good graces of the new king. But God decided who the new king would be: Solomon. Perhaps God wanted to show how merciful He was by making the son of Bathsheba king. That meant that Bathsheba was put into the lineage of Christ. God forgives sin. We see the wisdom of Solomon already. David had already said that Solomon would be the next king, and Solomon knew what to do to handle the situation to make it happen even in this difficult situation. Each one of us needs wisdom in order to know what to do in the situations that God brings our way. Without wisdom, we will fail miserably. Thankfully, God offers us wisdom. It says in James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

Notice in verse ten that neither Nathan the prophet, nor the soldiers who would have been loyal to David, nor Solomon who was going to be David’s choice to be the next king, were called to join Adonijah. Nathan knew that both Bathsheba and Solomon would be killed because they were David’s favorites. Nathan was a prophet and thus, he was a man of prayer and a man who walked with God. Obviously, the Lord gave him wisdom to come up with a plan that he and Bathsheba would accomplish. God made their plan work because God’s will was for Solomon to be the next king. Once again we see that God decides who rules in a nation and when that person rules.

The Bible says in First Kings 1:15-21, “And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king.[16] And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou?[17] And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.[18] And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not:[19] And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.[20] And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.[21] Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.” Notice Bathsheba’s statement in verse twenty-one, “the king shall sleep with his fathers.” David was now old and weak and evidently bed-ridden most of the time. He did not have much time left in this world, but David still had one very important thing that he could do: name the next king. As long as you are on the earth, there is something for you to do for God. In your old age and in your last days on this earth you might have a deed of faith or a word of faith that could very easily be the greatest thing you ever do.

The Bible says in First Kings 1:22-30, “And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.[23] And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.[24] And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?[25] For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.[26] But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called.[27] Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?[28] Then king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba. And she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king.[29] And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress,[30] Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.” Nathan’s plan worked perfectly. Even in his frail and aged condition, David did the right thing. And David kept his promises. He was a man of his word. Because he always kept his word, it was easy and normal for him to keep his word once again at the end. All that Bathsheba and Nathan had to do was to remind David of his promise to make Solomon the next king, and it was going to happen. It was also going to happen because it was God’s will.

The Bible says in First Kings 1:31-37, “Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.[32] And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.[33] The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon:[34] And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.[35] Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.[36] And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.[37] As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.” Notice that David told them to go right away and make Solomon king. Sometimes we should be patient and wait upon the Lord, but other times we need to move quickly. Take advantage of the opportunity that is presented to you, and do not lose it. Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work.” Notice in verses thirty-six and thirty-seven that Benaiah used the name of the Lord respectfully and genuinely in his conversation. Those were the types of people that David commonly had around him. If you are a believer, associate yourself with other believers. That is one of the reasons to be a part of the local church.

The Bible says in First Kings 1:38-48, “So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.[39] And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.[40] And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.[41] And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?[42] And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings.[43] And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king.[44] And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule:[45] And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard.[46] And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom.[47] And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed.[48] And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.” No one can stop the march of history. God decides who rules each nation. God wanted to give Israel another good leader: Solomon. In other words, God was still blessing Israel. But many of the leaders in many of the nations are not so good. What is going on in those nations? Maybe God is punishing those nations by giving them a bad leader so that the people will see their terrible situation and will start turning to God. Also, remember that Bathsheba, and Nathan, and David all did the right thing at a critical moment. Perhaps in some of these other nations those in positions of influence who could have done something to obtain or to retain a good leader did not act like Bathsheba, and Nathan, and David. These three had the wisdom to understand the situation, and they had the resolve to do what needed to be done while there was still a chance to do something.

Notice in verse forty-eight that David continued to be thankful to the Lord up to the time of his death. David said, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.” David did not dwell on the fact that he was old and dying. David did not complain about the fact that he still had enemies, even once again from one of his own sons: this time Adonijah. David looked at his blessings and was thankful to God for his blessings. Things worked out so that David was able to actually see Solomon crowned as king before David died. Do you concentrate on your troubles, or do you look for all the blessings that God is bestowing upon you? Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are the called according to his purpose.”

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