Thursday, September 17, 2009

Today's Passage: 1 Kings 2

In this passage we read about David passing his kingdom over to his son, Solomon. I love what David says to him, the advice that he urges Solomon to heed. He said to be strong and follow the Lord. Basically, he was saying if you will just stay on the path the Lord has, do what is pleasing in his sight, God will bless you as king of Israel. We know that David's ultimate desire was to do what was pleasing to the Lord, but he failed many times (as we all do). I am sure as a father, he was just trying to save his son from some heartache down the road. I know my parents many times said something similar to me. They wanted me to learn from their mistakes instead of having to make them on my own and be hurt. They did this out of love for me. I know that David loved Solomon very much and was trying to be helpful as the wise dad. And what great advice for us still to this day: observe what the Lord requires (faith in his Son) and walk in His ways.

Solomon, as we keep reading, was put in a tough position by his mother and half brother, Adonijah. He wanted to marry Abishag, who happened to be one of David's concubines. Solomon realized what was happening here and quickly took care of the problem. Adonijah was vocal about wanting to be king instead of Solomon. Taking a concubine as his wife would have been an attempt to take the throne (remind you of Absalom from 2 Samuel?). This was bad news for Solomon and he knew what to do. He could not allow his half brother to go against the law God had given them, which he would have been doing (see Deuteronomy 17:14-20). Solomon was wise and did what was right and the last verse in this chapter says that "the kingdom was now firmly established" in his hands. Remember, David reminded Solomon of God's promise to David in verse 4. Solomon was watching how he lived and walking faithfully before the Lord and God was faithful to leave a man on the throne of Israel. We know ultimately he fulfilled this though Jesus, who is in the line of David. God's hand was on this the entire time, through the whole story of David and now on to Solomon. The preparation for Christ, the Messiah, to come is woven throughout the Old Testament.

Today, may we do our best to walk faithfully before the Lord.