1 Kings 1

1 Kings 1

It was time for the power in Israel to shift, and a new king was about to take the throne. David was an old man at the beginning of 1 Kings, and his death was just around the corner. From the opening verses it seems as if David had contracted some type of illness. Furthermore, he was unable to take care of himself. So some of his men sought out a young woman to stay with him, to be his servant and be a source of comfort to him. Although this situation could have been a great source of temptation for David, as it is somewhat similar to his situation with Bathsheba, David did not fall to temptation. Their relationship appeared to be a woman taking care of an old, sick man.


While David lay in bed, unable to get out like he once had, chaos was brewing in Israel. Knowing that the king was about to die, Adonijah, another one of David’s sons, decided that it was time for him to step up as the new king. Although God had chosen Solomon to follow David, Adonijah felt like he should be the one to take the throne. He was able to convince powerful men to support him, some of David’s closest men. One of these men was Joab. But there was another group of people who were not happy about Adonjiah’s instance on taking the throne. The priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Bathsheba, and the mighty men mentioned at the end of 2 Samuel, were all in support of Solomon taking the throne. They knew that he was the one God had chosen.

So Nathan and Bathsheba went in to see David and tell him of what had happened. They explained how Adonijah had set himself up as the new king of Israel and expressed their concern that they would all become outsiders in the kingdom. They knew that God had chosen and Solomon and that David had declared Solomon as the next king. They wanted to make sure that those plans had not changed. David understood their concerns and assured them that he had not changed his mind. Solomon would indeed be the next king of Israel. So he gathered together those whom he trusted the most, such as Zadok and Nathan, and told them to send Solomon out into the city and declare him as king. They were to anoint him to make it official, and then Solomon would take David’s throne over Israel and Judah.

Adonijah and his party heard the commotion in the city and wondered what was happening. After they received word that David had chosen Solomon to be king, and not Adonijah, they all dispersed and went their separate ways. Adonijah was really upset, and he feared that Solomon would seek his life because of what he had done. But Solomon made a deal with Adonijah, promising that he would not hurt him as long as Adonijah proved himself to be a worthy man. Solomon was willing to give Adonijah a second chance, forgetting all that Adonijah had done to him, how he had excluded him and tried to take the throne from him. While this could have been a dangerous move, allowing someone who was in a sense an enemy to live, it showed Solomon’s loving and forgiving nature. He was willing to trust that Adonijah would keep his word, but if Adonijah broke that promise, Solomon also promised that he would be killed.

In the end, David was proud to see his son, Solomon, take the throne. He thanked God for allowing him to see that day and rejoiced that God had once again kept His promises. Again, let us not forget to thank God for the blessings He gives us each day. David never ceased to praise God for what He had done. May our prayers not be so inwardly focused on what we think we need, but outwardly focused as we praise God, the One who is always by our side giving us exactly what we need each day.

Matt