1 Kings Chapter 1
1-4: King David’s old age and worries
Why is David so old? At this time, he was not even 70 years old (2 Sam 5:4). This was because of the pain in his heart after his sin. He described his pain in the Psalms said: He shed tears every night and drenched his couch with tears, he groaned and his bones withered all day long. The ugliness that happened in his family made him painful and uneasy. A brother raped his sister, brothers murdered each other, and his son betrayed him to usurp the throne. The physical and mental pain of David was beyond words, no wonder he was so weak.
Proverbs 18:14 says that people who are sick and heart can bear it, but who can bear the sadness of the heart. Although God had forgiven David’s sin, the bitter consequences of his sin are really too bitter.
It is as if the father forgave his son for playing with fire and burned the house, but the loss of property and hardship caused the whole family to suffer together. Therefore, do not sin. He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
5-10: Adonijah conspired to become king
Why is Adonijah so proud and said: I must be king? He is so confident that he will be king, because he has three advantages:
- According to human rules, he should be the heir to the throne. His eldest brother Amnon is dead. The second brother Chileab was never mentioned and might have died early, and his third brother Absalom has also died (2 Sam 3:2-5).
- He is very handsome and David loves him.
- He has the support of Joab and the chief priest Abiathar, which is even more powerful.
Adonijah made these improper actions and publicly recruited soldiers to expand his power. David never rebuked and said: Why have you done so? If David hears these things and asks him, would he dare to continue exalting himself like this? He dared to be so arrogant because King David did not blame him. But who else has the right to question him? This also made everyone think that King David was agreeable with his behavior, and everyone did not dare to question him.
It can be seen that David did not despite the responsibility of teaching his children, but only spoiled and indulged them, thus causing a rebellious son. This had been the case with Absalom, and the same was true for Adonijah. Caring for your children is good, but undisciplined love brings greater destruction and harm, hurting others and hurting yourself.
11-14 Prophet Nathan’s timely wise action
Why did Nathan come up with such a plan? Since it is God’s will, does man need to help out and come up with plans? Doesn’t he believe that God’s will must be fulfilled? When the will of God and the will of man are in opposition, should we make plans to help God’s will be fulfilled, or do nothing but let God’s will be fulfilled by itself?
Some of God’s purposes do not require human help, but are done by God Himself, such as the completion of salvation. But some of God’s will require human help to accomplish, such as preaching the truth of salvation, and defending the unchangeable truth. God wants his faithful believers to help the truth, not to resist the truth.
Therefore, when the will of God and the will of man are in opposition, do we follow the example of Nathan and give out his ideas to help God’s will and not man’s will be accomplished? Or would you follow the example of others and keep your mouth shut, and lean over to the side that seems stronger?
15-27 Bathsheba speaks rationally to David
Bathsheba didn’t use emotions but spoke objectively. According to the king’s promise, Solomon reigned. However, other people (i.e. Adonijah) now stands as king as the king hasn’t publicly declared his heir. Therefore, she urged David to publicly declare his successor to prevent this conspiracy from succeeding.
She explained that this is not just about a power struggle, but a matter of life and death, because Adonijah will condemn them once he takes the throne.
The prophet Nathan then went in to confirm that what Bathsheba said was a fact, and that Adonijah’s intentions were indeed to reign. Nathan spoke the facts and explained the truth to King David. He was not on the side of others, but on the side of God’s truth.
28-40: David obeyed God’s word and his promise
David ignored this important matter in the past, but when he realised his error, he was not ashamed and angry that he blamed others for accusing or misunderstanding him. He corrected himself immediately and did not let his mistakes go on. He immediately summoned Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and ordered them to send Solomon to Gihon to anoint Solomon as king.
David’s frailty and old age are irreparable, but his faults can be restored at any time. At this critical moment, he acted decisively on that day without any delay. His courage to change is what we want to learn from.
41-53: The failure of Adonijah
When Adonijah and the guests heard that King David had made Solomon king, they were all frightened and they scattered. Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he grabbed the horn of the altar and asked Solomon to forgive him and not kill him.
He did things against God’s will, but when he was in trouble, he came to rely on God. However, he did not have faith in God, nor did he sincerely repent. He just used God to save his life.
Why didn’t Solomon kill Adonijah to avoid future issues? This shows that he manages the kingdom of God according to God’s justice, not according to his own mood and emotions.
It also shows that he understands God’s will for him to be a peaceful king. God wants him to complete the work of building the temple. The temple cannot be done with hands of blood. It must be done with hands of peace. He is willing to follow God’s will – putting aside personal grievances and completing the work of constructing God’s temple.
