Daily Devotional • August 26
A Reading from 1 Kings 1:38-2:4
38 So the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and led him to Gihon. 39 There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth quaked at their noise.
41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city in an uproar?” 42 While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news.” 43 Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king; 44 the king has sent with him the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they had him ride on the king’s mule; 45 the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you heard. 46 Solomon now sits on the royal throne. 47 Moreover, the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours and make his throne greater than your throne.’ The king bowed in worship on the bed 48 and went on to pray thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who today has granted one of my offspring to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness it.’ ”
49 Then all the guests of Adonijah got up trembling and went their own ways. 50 Adonijah, fearing Solomon, got up and went to grasp the horns of the altar. 51 Solomon was informed, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; see, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’ ” 52 So Solomon responded, “If he proves to be a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the ground, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” 53 Then King Solomon sent to have him brought down from the altar. He came to do obeisance to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go home.”
1 When David’s time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying:2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. 4 Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’
Meditation
For the rest of this week, we shall consider the first eight chapters of the First Book of Kings. If I were you, I’d go ahead and read 1 Kings 1.1-8.21. Reading 1 Kings from the beginning through chapter 2, we watch the drama unfold. The situation is that the great King David is entering his last days. We can’t blame David’s oldest son Adonijah for assuming that the throne is his when the time is ripe. Adonijah is clearly an extraordinary man. Handsome, smart, winsome, brave, and admired by many key persons, we are not surprised when he organizes support among the great men of the kingdom—including Abiathar the high priest—and, in effect, declares himself king. This appears to be a slam-dunk at first; the only problem is that it simply is not God’s will that Adonijah be king. By assuming the throne, Adonijah is the epitome of a person who commits the sin of presumption. Key counsellors of King David—notably Zadok the priest, the prophet Nathan, and the military commander Benaiah—never believed it was God’s will that Adonijah be anointed king.
Adonijah’s presumption ran deep. He even asked Solomon’s mother Bathsheba to persuade her son to give him the beautiful Abishag for his wife. Abishag had nursed King David in his final days and was thus associated in the minds of the people with the throne. Though Adonijah declared his obedience to Solomon, the new king knew that Adonijah was maneuvering to displace him and Solomon had Benaiah slay his brother Adonijah. On Solomon’s behalf, Benaiah also did away with the ruthless general Joab, who was loyal to Adonijah.
By the time we enter chapter 3 of 1 Kings, the kingdom is firmly and securely in the hands of King Solomon. We might be troubled that Solomon and his advisors exhibit rather Machiavellian behaviors, but beginning with David’s rebellious son Absolom (see II Samuel 18 and 19), the victims were disloyal, made poor decisions, blatantly sinned, and son actually condemned themselves. God’s will is that the House of David be established forever, and God makes it happen. Important takeaways from chapters 1 and 2 of 1 Kings are that (a) the crucial qualification to be God’s anointed king is faithfulness, commitment to the Covenant, and the resolve to lead a righteous life; and (b) the sin of presumption always leads to no good.
The Rev. W.L. (Chip) Prehn, PhD, is president of The Living Church Foundation and is a principal of Dudley & Prehn Educational Consultants. He was a parish priest for 12 years before turning to school administration and consulting. Prehn writes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and history.
♱
Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Durham, North Carolina
The Diocese of Ogoni – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Rev. W.L. (Chip) Prehn, PhD, is president of The Living Church Foundation and is a principal of Dudley & Prehn Educational Consultants. He was a parish priest for 12 years before turning to school administration and consulting. Prehn writes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and history.
