Scripture: 1 Kings 1:1-53
Sermon Series: 2 Samuel: When God is Your King! – Sermon 25
On March 6, 2020, three senior members of the Saudi royal family, including King Salman’s brother and two nephews (picture) were arrested. They were accused of treason for plotting to overthrow the king. The arrests were ordered by the king’s favorite son and de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (picture), who was seeking to consolidate power. There had been reports King Salman (picture) was growing feeble, which is why his son was so prominent in squashing any opposition to the throne.
When kings or leaders become old and feeble, there’s often a grab for power. Usurpers jockey their way into a position to become the next ruler. Sometimes it can get ugly. It’s what we find in 1 Kings.
The first one and a half chapters of 1 Kings are about the sunset of David’s life. As King David comes to the end of his life, one of his sons makes a grab for power. Adonijah is determined to be the next king.
As we engage today’s narrative, let’s keep in mind that we struggle with the same issue. It’s not for the throne of a nation. It’s the battle for the throne of our own hearts. There can only be one king. Either we are on the throne of our lives or King Jesus is. It’s a question we face on a daily basis: Who will be King? Who will be on the throne of my heart?
2 Kings 1:1 begins, “Now King David….” 1 Kings is a continuation of 2 Samuel. The narrative begins with “King David.” The issue of kingship is critical in 1 Kings 1. Not only is King one of the first words, in the chapter David is always King David (9 times), the king (39 times) and once our lord David (verse 11). The first instance of simply David is in 2:1, after the issue of royal succession is resolved.
Then there are references to Adonijah seeking to become king (6 times), the promise that Solomon is to be king (4 times) and the statement that Solomon has become king (7 times), and the question as to which is to be king in verses 20 and 27. There are 70 instances of the noun king or the related verb. It’s the most found in any chapter in the Bible.
The narrative moves along with various questions: Will David act as king in his last days? If so, how? What will happen since Adonijah wants to be king? What about Solomon? Who will be King?
It’s not just a question for 3,000 years ago. It’s the question for us – Who will be King of our lives? There are at least five acts in our passage, so we’re going to break it into five scenes. If you’re taking notes…
Scene 1: King David is Old and Cold
“Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm” (2 Kings 1:1). As we age our metabolism changes. Many elderly keep their homes very warm because they struggle with feeling chilled. Apparently, David’s body could no longer regulate his body temperature.
David is only 70. It’s not the years, it’s the mileage. Ten years on the run from Saul, living in caves, fighting battles. It’d taken its toll on him.
His servants can’t manage to get him warm, so they opt for another solution. As a reflection of the medical thinking of that day, his advisors brought in a young woman to lie with him to create warmth for him. Jewish historian, Josephus (picture) recorded the existence of this practice some 500 years later during the 1st century A.D.
They hold a “Miss Israel Beauty Pageant,” and select the stunning Abishag to care for him and hopefully increase his vitality. Kings of that day relied on their virility to show that they were still in charge. When the passage says that David “knew her not” (1 Kings 1:4), it means that they didn’t have a sexual relationship, though that seems to be the goal of his servants.
David’s lack of virility no doubt encouraged questions about the viability of his reign and encouraged outliers like Adonijah. A powerful sex life was connected with the capacity to lead. His advisors hope that they can get him out of bed by putting a beautiful young woman in bed with him.
We must not be enculturated. This isn’t just about warmth. Twice it tells us Abishag was “beautiful.” David had a harem they could draw from. The desired warmth apparently is not just about raising his body temperature.
God has called His people to be distinctly different from the lost world around us. We’re to live out a biblical worldview. It’s starts with the Spirit transforming our hearts. The tragedy is that frequently we’re conformed to the world when God has called us to be transformed by the Spirit.
John Stott (picture) writes, “No comment could be more hurtful to the Christian than the words, ‘But you are no different from anybody else.’ For the essential theme of the whole Bible from beginning to end is that God’s purpose is to call out a people for Himself; that this people is a ‘holy’ people, set apart from the world to belong to Him and to obey Him…that is, to be ‘holy’ or ‘different’ in all its outlook and behaviour…the followers of Jesus are to be different – different from both the nominal church and the secular world, different from both the religious and the irreligious.”
Are we different? Are we known for having the fruits of the Spirit? “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatian 5:22-23). Do others see that in me, in you?
What’s one of our greatest weak spots when it comes enculturation? Pride. Ours is an arrogant world. Most Christians have little if any evidence of humility. It’s why we’re often so critical. It’s why we’re so easily impatient and angry. Humility begins with an utter dependence on God’s mercy.
You can’t be a Christian unless you first come to the realization how helpless and hopeless you are apart from Christ and His cross. To be humble is to be aware of your own sin and unworthiness and to cast yourself entirely upon the undeserved mercy of Almighty God. It’s a lack of concern for power, prestige and position. The humble aren’t scrambling for those things.
To be humble – in a biblical sense – is to disregard all concern for rank and privilege and to live one’s life in service to Jesus Christ. Please understand that there is no biblical definition of humility that does not include absolute, unquestioning obedience to the Word of God.
We must honestly face aging and increasing frailty. At some point, all of us will begin to feel the effects of aging. Our bodies won’t function properly. Like David, we’ll die not accomplishing all that we set out to accomplish.
What should you remember in those days? You must remember that your identity isn’t in what you do or can’t do. Your identity is who God made you to be in Jesus Christ. You aren’t your abilities or accomplishments.
For the believer, aging shouldn’t frustrate or anger us. It just means that we’re closer to Home and to turning in our decaying earth suits for a glorified body that never ages and that we’ll enjoy for all eternity!
Scene 2: Arrogance Believes I’m the Master of My Fate
The president of a company in Michigan suffered a minor stroke and wasn’t spending much time at the office. He didn’t know that one of his sons, with the help of two vice presidents, was scheming to take over the firm. He learned of their plot just in time, though, and was able to retain control.
In some parts of the world, power struggles result in assassinations, bloody coups, or civil wars. There are power struggles in politics. They occur in families, neighborhoods, and even in churches.
Adonijah made a power move to grab the throne of Israel. “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. 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” (1 Kings 1:5-6). It sounds a bit like The Lion King (picture), “I can’t wait to be king.” Or Invictus by William Ernest Henley (picture): I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.
David had 21 sons. 19 of whom are named in Scripture. The two unnamed ones probably died as children. With the deaths of Amnon and Absalom, Adonijah is next in line for the throne…if Israel was like most nations. But it’s not. Israel doesn’t have royal succession. Who chose Saul and David for the throne? God did. Israel doesn’t have a descendant dynasty. God chose their kings and would choose and anoint His own king in His time.
Adonijah thinks the throne is his right. His life is all about himself, putting himself forward to be king. He wasn’t going to wait for his dad to die.
The text suggests that he had plans for the demise of Solomon and Bathsheba. Perhaps like Absalom he had a plan to execute the old man too.
It has all the making of Absalom Take 2 with a 50-man motorcade. Evil rises when there’s a leadership vacuum. With David’s decline and apparent inactivity, it’s what’s taking place in Israel. It’s his turn.
Absalom tried to kill his father; Adonijah simply ignores him. Adonijah is everything that David is not – arrogant and ambitious. The writer’s description of him reminds us of Saul who was rejected by God. Yet. his name means “My Lord Is Yahweh.” God was anything but his Lord.
He wouldn’t wait on God. A vital principle of Scripture is waiting on God’s timing. Disaster repeatedly was the outcome of those who wouldn’t wait for God’s timing. Abraham decided to help God out in making him a great nation. The Arab Israeli conflict is the outcome. Moses killed an Egyptian because he wouldn’t wait for God to make him the leader.
In our sex-crazed day many partake of sexual intimacy without waiting for the gift of marriage. Violating God’s plan is the root of many marital issues.
It happens at work. We climb over someone to get a promotion. We even put ourselves forward in the church to be in leadership or be a “church boss.”
A church will have a Diotrophes who the New Testament describes as someone “who likes to put himself first” (3 John 9). When we put ourselves on the throne, God is no longer the King of our lives. We’ve only attempted to make Him another one of our servants. While David waited on God’s timing and wouldn’t force the throne or take out King Saul, even when he had the opportunity, Adonijah like a spoiled child is going to grab the throne.
He was royally spoiled. David was a great leader, yet a failure as a father. He controlled the nation but not his family. He never questioned or let Adonijah know that he had displeased him.
I have a friend who owns a local business. They have an odd sign about “unruly people.” When I asked about it, they shared that they were trying to find a tactful way to get parents to control their children so that they didn’t bother other patrons. Your goal as a parent is not to make your children happy or to be their friend. Your goal is to raise them to love God and obey Him because they first learned to obey you.
David failed his children. During those early years a parent can control a child. They need more than control. They need both direction and correction.
Many parents believe that they have “good” children because they’re controlled. When that child hits the teen years, they realize they have a disaster and attempt to correct a dozen years of neglect. It rarely works.
The cost of not correcting your children in those early years is high. Not only will they have difficulty in life, but like Adonijah they’ll blow off God. They’ll see God as some doting grandfather. As Paul House (picture) wisely comments, “Parental indulgence rarely builds strong character.”
Adonijah begins to promote himself to generate popular support. Shrewdly, he won over the support of both the army and the priesthood by enlisting Joab the general and Abiathar the high priest. Like today’s politicians, he got a “preacher” to give his blessing, but he cuts off those loyal to David and God. They’re invite to the king crowning party got lost in the mail. Those with biblical integrity don’t plot or conspire, or politic.
Scene 3: God’s Best is Worth Sacrificing For
Did you see the movie Hacksaw Ridge (picture)? Desmond Doss is a real-life example of someone willing to sacrifice for what matters. Despite the hostility he endured for being a pacifist while serving in the army during World War II, he stayed committed to his spiritual convictions. In the end, he was instrumental in saving some 75 lives at Hacksaw Ridge and became the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II. Though he shunned the title of “conscientious objector and described himself as a “conscientious cooperator” because he wanted to serve his country, his refusal to bear arms brought mocking from his fellow soldiers. But in the end, God’s plan for him had a greater payoff. It was worth sacrificing for.
Nathan takes a huge risk going against Adonijah. Opposing Joab wasn’t for the faint of heart. Nathan wants what’s best for God and His kingdom.
Obviously, Nathan, Bathsheba and David were unaware of Adonijah’s plan until it’s already in motion. The secretive hatching of the conspiracy shows that Adonijah knew he wasn’t David’s choice. Warren Wiersbe (picture) writes, “A crisis isn’t what makes a person; a crisis shows what a person’s made of.” Nathan has the right stuff. May God give us more Nathans!
Somehow Nathan, God’s prophet, learned what was going on. He quickly went and asked Bathsheba about it. “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?’” (1 Kings 1:11).
Nathan knew that the lives of Solomon and Bathsheba were in danger. In ancient times kings executed all potential rivals to their thrones. He also knew that God told David that Solomon was to be the next king over Israel. Nathan told Bathsheba that she should first go and see David and ask him to confirm that their son Solomon was to succeed him. If that was true, then why was Adonijah king? Then, while she was still speaking with David, Nathan would come in and confirm her words.
And that’s how it went down. While Bathsheba is speaking with David, Nathan came and confirmed that Adonijah had been crowned as king. Nathan concluded his report to David with this question, “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?” (1 Kings 1:27).
Years earlier Nathan confronted David about his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah. In that instance, Nathan used a hypothetical story to bring David to a sense of his sin. This time Nathan doesn’t make an accusation but uses a question to stir David to take action. Someone wisely said, “An accusation hardens the will; a question pricks the conscience.”
Nathan’s plan worked. King David swore a second oath to Bathsheba insisting that he’d fulfill his first oath to make Solomon king. Now David is awake and quickly moves into action. He called his trusted leaders and gave them instructions for the ceremony where Solomon would be anointed king.
“Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon” (1 Kings 1:33). Riding a mule or donkey in ancient times was the symbol of royal office. It’s why Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on a donkey. The equivalent today is the President in Air Force One. David is affirming Solomon’s kingship.
David gives instructions about anointing Solomon as king. He carried out God’s will to have Solomon succeed him and his leaders follow his instructions. “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!’ 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” (1 Kings 1:39-40).
Do you ever wonder if you can make a difference? One man, Nathan, did. Looking back at the whole affair, everything rests on Nathan. God loves to use “nobodies.” Jesus used a boy’s lunch to feed 5,000.
Have you ever heard of Edward Kimball (picture)? Did he lead a significant life? Not as we measure things on earth. Kimball was a Sunday School teacher, who in 1858 led a Boston shoe clerk to Christ. The clerk, Dwight L. Moody (picture), became an evangelist. In England in 1879, he was used to awaken an evangelistic zeal in the heart of F. B. Meyer (picture), pastor of a small church. F. B. Meyer, preaching on an American college campus, brought to Christ a student named J. Wilbur Chapman (picture). Chapman, engaged in YMCA work, employed a former baseball player, Billy Sunday (picture), to do evangelistic work. Billy Sunday held a revival in Charlotte, N.C. A group of local men were so spiritually charged afterward that they planned another evangelistic campaign, bringing in Mordecai Hamm (picture) to preach. During Hamm’s revival, a young man named…Billy Graham (picture) heard the gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Small acts have big consequences. Never underestimate the impact of seemingly small acts or anything that you do for the kingdom of God.
What will you do for the kingdom of God? What will you do today to make a kingdom difference for the coming generation?
Scene 4: Guilt and Fear Always Go Together
It was Joab, the old warrior, whose ear was trained for sounds of the battlefield, who heard it first. “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?”(2 Kings 1:41).
You wonder how intoxicated Adonijah is with his own glory that he doesn’t have a clue as to what’s really going on. He thinks the messenger is coming with good news…after all it was his party, and he’s “the guy.”
Adonijah’s coronation party was less than half a mile from Gihon, where Solomon is anointed as king. The cheering after Solomon’s anointing was so loud that it could be heard at Adonijah’s big gig.
Oops! This was awkward. Adonijah’s guests suddenly knew that they’d backed the wrong horse. They couldn’t get out of En-rogel fast enough.
Adonijah also realized that his goose was cooked. His attempt to take the throne was lost. He was sure that Solomon would put him to death for trying to steal their father’s throne – just as Adonijah would have put Solomon to death if the situation were reversed. Adonijah hoped to put himself under God’s protection and Solomon’s mercy by grabbing the horns of the altar. It had long been the custom in Israel that a wrongdoer could hold on to the horns of the altar – symbols of strength – and thus place himself under God’s protection. When King Solomon was told what Adonijah was doing, he said that if Adonijah proved himself worthy, that is, loyal to Solomon, he wouldn’t put Adonijah to death.
Adonijah was in rebellion against David and God’s chosen king, Solomon. When he realized his rebellion had been exposed, he threw himself on the mercy of God and the anointed king, and Solomon extended mercy to him.
Sooner or later, what happened to Adonijah happens to anyone who tries to sit on the throne of his own universe. We may be on top of the world for a moment. We may even throw parties, but eventually the music stops, and we end up all alone like Adonijah. It repeatedly happens to the richest, most powerful and famous.
How well has your life worked out when you’ve tried to live it on your own terms, with yourself as king? More importantly, what will happen when you hear the last blast of God’s trumpet at the final judgement?
Scene 5: God Replaces His Workmen But Not His Work
1 Kings 2 begins with David’s last words to his now co-regent, King Solomon. We’re not going to look at them. They’re really about Solomon’s reign. We say good-bye to our old friend in verse 10. “Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem” (2 Kings 2:10-11).
David was 70 years old when he died. King Saul may have been 80 when he died. However, the deaths of these two kings, as well as their lives, contrast dramatically. David died in peace, Saul in battle. David died in victory, Saul in defeat. When David began to reign, the Philistines dominated Israel. When David passed the scepter to Solomon and he began to reign, Israel was at peace and in control of her neighbors.
We’ve all seen the passing of the Olympic torch from one relay runner to the next until the torch is finally lit at the next Olympic site. The “passing of the torch” is a good metaphor for life. One generation must pass the torch to the next. This takes on added significance when you’re talking about faith. Each generation has the responsibility to pass on God’s truth to the next generation. God has not designed faith to be something that can be passed along genetically, it must be done personally. If we do not actively pass along the faith, its flame will die. It’s been rightly said, “Christianity is potentially only one generation away from extinction.”
David knew his days were coming to a close, so he made preparations for the orderly transition of power and sought to point his son in the right direction in terms of his faith. He understood his job was not only to pass on the scepter but to pass on the torch of faith.
David’s has an opportunity to share last wise words with Solomon. He was fortunate. Some people die so suddenly that they never get a chance to say anything, but most have some things that they want to say before they die.
So, what would you say if you had the chance if you knew you were about to die? What testimony would you leave with your family and friends? What spiritual legacy would you leave?
Conclusion
American colonialists wanted to make George Washington (picture) a king, but he refused. Washington and many colonists believed there was only one king, and it wasn’t King George III.
On April 22, 1774, before the Revolutionary War, a report was sent to King George III of England, and in it the governor of Boston exclaimed, “If you ask an American who is his master, he will tell you, he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ.” In April 1775, when a British major called the colonialists, villains and told them “Lay down your arms, in the name of George, the sovereign king of England.” The immediate response was, “We recognize no Sovereign but God and no King but Jesus.” It became the battle cry and motto of the revolutionary war: No king but King Jesus.
Is Jesus your king? Has He transformed your life? Steve Brown (picture) tells the frustrating story of some British social scientists. Following the end of British rule in India in the 1940’s, a group of researchers wanted to study the impact of British rule on the life of the nation. They quickly discovered that though the British had been present in India since the 1600’s, many people in the villages of the country weren’t even aware that the British had ever been there!
Could it be that God Himself has visited the world and people have lived and died without ever being aware of the event? We live in a world where the King has come but millions are totally unaware that He is present.
How about you? Is Jesus your King? David as king changed the nation of Israel. If Jesus is your King, it changes everything.
What difference does it make?
It means a change in your allegiance. If Christ is our King, we put ourselves under His authority and power. Whatever He says, we determine to do. That’s the point of those lines in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Kingdom people submit their own will to the will of the King.
It means a change in your values. Our culture values achievement, success, independence, and image. The values of the kingdom must reflect what matters to the King. Jesus described a number of His values as taught in Scripture. Kingdom people adopt the King’s values and make choices that reflect those values—in their marriage, families, jobs, and communities.
It means a change in your priorities. The real test of people’s values is how they spend their time, talent and money. Jesus spoke directly to that issue in terms of the kingdom. He challenged His followers to bring kingdom values into their day-to-day lives. “Seeking first the kingdom” (Matthew 6:33) puts a Christlike perspective on one’s work and its outcomes.
It means a change in your lifelong mission. Some people are driven to accomplish great tasks with their lives. Jesus gives His followers purpose and a mission—to live as subjects of the kingdom and promote kingdom values in with their lives. Ultimately, He wants His followers to extend His message to the ends of the earth, so that all people have the opportunity to give their allegiance to Him as their Savior and King.
So, who’s your King? If Jesus is your King, it radically changes your life.