September 25, 2023

Authority is in God's hands

1 Kings 1

Ivan Gonzalez
Monday's Devo

September 25, 2023

Monday's Devo

September 25, 2023

Monday's Devo

September 25, 2023

Monday's Devo

September 25, 2023

Big Idea

Wise leaders walk closely with God.

Key Verse | 1 Kings 1:29-30

And the king swore, saying, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, 'Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,' even so will I do this day."

1 Kings 1

David in His Old Age

1 Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. 2 Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, 1 1:2 Or in your bosom that my lord the king may be warm.” 3 So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.

Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King

5 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. 7 He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him. 8 But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah.

9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent's Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother.

Nathan and Bathsheba Before David

11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it? 12 Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’ 14 Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm 2 1:14 Or expand on your words.”

15 So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king). 16 Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?” 17 She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ 18 And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it. 19 He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited. 20 And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”

22 While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 23 And they told the king, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? 25 For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders 3 1:25 Hebrew; Septuagint Joab the commander of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not invited. 27 Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

Solomon Anointed King

28 Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. 29 And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, 30 as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.” 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

32 King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. 33 And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. 34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place. And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” 36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, say so. 37 As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. 39 There Zadok the priest 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 after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.

41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “What does this uproar in the city mean?” 42 While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news.” 43 Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king, 44 and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they had him ride on the king's mule. 45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet 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 have heard. 46 Solomon sits on the royal throne. 47 Moreover, the king's servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed. 48 And the king also said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has granted someone 4 1:48 Septuagint one of my offspring to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.’”

49 Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way. 50 And Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. 51 Then it was told Solomon, “Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’” 52 And Solomon said, “If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” 53 So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

Footnotes

[1] 1:2 Or in your bosom
[2] 1:14 Or expand on
[3] 1:25 Hebrew; Septuagint Joab the commander
[4] 1:48 Septuagint one of my offspring

S2:186 1 Kings 1

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | 1 Kings 1

In 2 Samuel 7:12-13, the Lord promised David a kingdom that would last forever. But as we see in 1 Kings 1:1, David is literally on his death bed, and there's no successor named yet. Adonijah decides that he will appoint himself king, which completely usurps David's right to name his own successor (1 Kings 1:5). This is a problem because we see that David favored Solomon to succeed him (1 Kings 1:13).

Isn't that us sometimes? We don't like what God has for us, so we decide to take action at the most opportune time for us. Yet, God is still God, and He will continue His plan no matter whether we like it or not. I don't know Adonijah's motives, but I know that mine are a lack of trust in God's plans. I sometimes believe that He's too slow to fulfill His promises. So, I end up doing it my way. That rarely works out for me though. Time and time again, God proves that His way is best.

David eventually learns of Adonijah's attempt to take the throne. David then takes action to name and appoint Solomon as his successor (1 Kings 1:35). Upon hearing this, "all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way." (1 Kings 1:49) You would think that Adonijah would receive a severe punishment for trying to take the throne, but he doesn't.  Solomon shows Adonijah mercy and tells him to go home (1 Kings 1:53).

See . . . God appoints kings, rulers, and leaders (1 Kings 1:29-30). It's God's plan. He never goes back on His plan or promises even when the situation looks grim. God has proved that He is trustworthy and will keep His promises. And just as Adonijah received mercy despite his attempt to declare himself king, so will you if you just come to God and trust Him and His plan.

This month's memory verse

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

– Matthew 5:16

Discussion Questions

1. Do you trust God's plan for your life? 

2. Is He sovereign over everything, especially over the things you can't control?

3. Have you seen His mercy in your life when you have come back to Him after doing it "your way"? What has that looked like?

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

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Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, Ivan! Love this from your devo; “Time and time again, God proves that His way is best.” Q1. God’s plan? What’s key to me is not to assume I know what His plan is. A life verse is Psalm 119:105. The lamp and light are to my feet and path. He does not give me a 5,000-lumen flight light so that I can see miles down the road. He knows a lamp and a light is all I need. I’m a slow learner with a lot left still to learn. But I’ve learned enough to know that I don’t really know anything apart from Him. Q2. This is a HAHA question. Of course the answer is yes. But there are plenty of times I “kick against the goads”. Q3. I am taught that God sovereignly causes or allows all things. The process he uses is “refining” or “pruning” or sharpening”. I like refining because that’s what it feels like. Check out this short wiki entry on cupellation- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupellation#References. Note the two key words, “noble metals” and “slag”. What I want is slag. What he designs is “noble”.
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Hugh Stephenson

Almost all our clients are first generation entrepreneurs. We don’t seem to get along with anyone else. We’ve had a 45-year run where the “the market always goes up.” So most people think they don’t need us. The entrepreneurs know the world doesn’t work that way. They have endured all manner of difficulty and hardship in building their business to the pioint where its value is in the tens of millions or hundreds of millions. They understand that there are certain rules of life that must be embraced as core beliefs and as part of their DNA. Among those are what we would call “servant leadership.” They know they must love and care for their team so that the team can love and care for the customers. They also live with a high focus on integrity and fairness. All these combines into one core statement- they know what their role is and what it means to love it out. For many years, I wandered through the Great Bull Market as if in sleepwalk. 9/11 was what woke me up to the true reality of how the world worked and the innumerable challenges and obstacles that lay in my path. In 40 plus years there has not been a single member of a 2nd generation who has the same understanding of the founding entrepreneur. Not one. In every case I know of their eventual take over the business went very poorly. In many cases the destruction of the entire business was what resulted. ------------------------------------------------------- Prodigals and Promises PRODIGALS David was a prodigal as was each of his sons. What we have learned up to this point is that the adherence to the Mosaic Law/Deuteronomic code is what creates blessing and fertility. I am not saying it’s easy. What I am saying is that is clear. To them and to “us”. What gets my attention is this in verse 6- “His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.” Let’s repeat the core piece. “His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” Here is what the notes say. "His father had never interfered with him or 'crossed him' (NASB) is more descriptive than 'displeased him' (RSV), for this comment by the author (cf. vv. 8, 10) betrays David's weakness in his unwillingness to cause his children any physical or mental discomfort ..." Adonijah, like Absalom, was in part the product of parental negligence and indulgence; David never held him accountable for his actions (cf. notes on 2 Sam. 13:21; 14:24; 15:4). I can promise you that every member of the Prodigal Ministry leadership team could have told you what happens next. Because we have seen it a gazillion times. As father and as king you must know what your role is and what your role is not. Your role is NOT TO BE YOUR KID’S FRIEND!!! How do we know that? Because every time any Biblical figure chooses as David did that it did not go well. God makes the role of a father very clear. Whenever we don’t live into that…role chaos happens. Sadly, we’ll see this in Solomon almost right away.
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Hugh Stephenson

PROMISES - In sovereignly bringing Solomon to the throne God’s promises to David of a house (dynasty) begins its fulfillment. Even so we know how this part of the tragic and terrible story ends in Malachi- Here is the last verse- “For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.” And here is the very next verse of the Bible in Matthew 1:1 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” And so the promise is fulfilled. ---------------------------------------------------------- From the notes- Obviously Solomon's succession was not a smooth transition. Solomon was God's choice to succeed David, but he was not the oldest son of David, so his succession was not according to custom. Like so many others before him, God sovereignly chose to place an unusual choice in a position of blessing instead of what was customary (cf. Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, Ephraim over Manasseh). In all these cases, and in Solomon's, various individuals resisted the will of God, because they wanted what was customary or traditional. Solomon's succession was also unusual in that Solomon was the son of Bathsheba, whom David should not have married. We might think that God would have punished David for his sin with Bathsheba by choosing one of David's sons by another wife, perhaps his first wife, to succeed him. But God's choices are sovereign. He sometimes chooses to bless greatly those who have sinned greatly, in spite of their sins, provided they repent. Indeed, He seems to delight in doing this (cf. Moses, Paul). God's great grace to sinners stands out even more greatly when He blesses greatly those whom He has forgiven much. As Jesus said, it is those who have been forgiven much that love much (Luke 7:47). Perhaps we do not love the Lord as much as we could because we do not appreciate how much He has forgiven us.
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Michael Sisson

Re: 1Kgs 1:13 “David had undoubtedly assured Bathsheba that Solomon would succeed him, since God had revealed that to David (1Chr 22:9-10). Variations of the word ‘swore’ occur four times in this passage, emphasizing David's oath that Solomon would succeed him (1Kgs 1:13, 17, 29, 30). Nathan wanted to make sure that at least two witnesses would hear David's promise that Solomon was his choice (cf. Num 35:30; Deut 17:6; 19:15). This was especially important since Adonijah's rebellion against the LORD's anointed was a capital offense.” — T. Constable, 1Kings https://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/ot/1kings/1kings.htm Re: 1Kgd 1:26 1Kgs 1:26 (NASB) “But me, even me your servant, and Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and >>>your servant Solomon, he has not invited.<<< The Seed of the coming Messiah (Jesus) is in Solomon’s loins, and like that coming Messiah, Solomon is despised in the sight of Adonijah and those allied with him. This is yet another link in a chain of examples throughout scripture of the far off, approaching Despised Messiah (Num 24:17a), His types, His progenitors, and His prophets being unrecognized, mistreated, and despised. SEASONAL NOTE: Today (9/25/23) is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). On this occasion, I invite you to revisit Lev 16:1-34, and consider how Yeshua (Jesus) has fulfilled the Scriptures (Heb 9:11-14), that you may give a ready defense of the Hope that lives within you. Secondly, for those who enjoy a mystery…Yom Kippur doesn’t disappoint. The writer of Hebrews leaves no doubt; Yeshua fulfills the role of the LORD’s Goat. However, there’s less scholarly agreement as to whether He also fulfills the role of the Azazel. On this occasion, I’d invite you to consider another N.T. figure who may better fit the role of the Azazel. https://tinyurl.com/TheCaseForBarabbas Lastly, today marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War. Give thanks to G-d for His covenant faithfulness. Psalms 121:4 (NASB) Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
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Greg Jones

Liked this “God appoints kings, rulers, and leaders (1 Kings 1:29-30). It's God's plan.” And this, “Isn't that us sometimes? We don't like what God has for us, so we decide to take action at the most opportune time for us. Yet, God is still God, and He will continue His plan no matter whether we like it or not. I don't know Adonijah's motives, but I know that mine are a lack of trust in God's plans. I sometimes believe that He's too slow to fulfill His promises. So, I end up doing it my way. That rarely works out for me though. Time and time again, God proves that His way is best.” From the narrative it’s hard to tell how widely known David’s wishes were concerning Solomon. Adonijah would have been the normal next in line with his older brothers out of the picture. This part of Israel’s story, the succession of power from David to Solomon is about to get really dark. The details of what happens when you go against God’s anointed are being relayed to those who are under the anointed. They are the immediate audience of those who would receive these words first. In contrast Jesus speaks these words to people living under Roman rule and Priest appointed and working with that same Roman rule. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19). Different words to different people in different situations. A challenge can be how do we best apply those words then to our situations today.
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Sue Bohlin

Thanks, Ivan. I loved finding this nugget in today's reading: "His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” Commentary that explains what's going on is few and far between in the Bible, so I love finding these marginal notes that provide God's perspective. Then Dr. C's notes show that "crossed him" is even more descriptive of how David unfortunately failed as a father . Who wants to start the conflict resolution by "crossing" someone in holding them accountable for foolish or sinful behavior? Things haven't changed much in human history . . .
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Amy Lowther

1. I am able to trust God’s plan for me because I have heard about who He is at service on Sunday and I have read about Him in the Bible. I also can trust God’s plan for me because I practice what I learn from Him in daily life. 2. Yes, God is the leader above all leaders. God is a helper whenever He can and is encouraging to everyone to do their best. 3. God is solid and consistent. God remains Himself if I “wander” off and helps me to understand what is right and good once I “wander” back to Him.
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Michael Scaman

Sounds a bit ominous: Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent's Stone, Seems ironic and a bit contradictory that Adoniah means My Lord is Jehovah but he set himself up as king and not appointed or called by God as David was.