Remember the games we used to play as kids in our neighborhood? I’m speaking of a time before tech.  I remember the kids as well as our game playing vividly.  No matter what we did, there was always a leader who told us the rules of the game before beginning play.  If that leader was called home by a parent, no worries, a new leader would emerge immediately.  However, sometimes a twist on the game would be invented by the new leader with new rules created on the fly. Wanting to play no matter what, we carried on without thinking.  We chose up sides and went along with the new rules until we were losing; then we interjected a protest with a new rule when things weren’t going our way.

By observing children at play, whether it be in the neighborhood or on a school playground; we learn much about natural human behaviors.  We discover, some children are trained to be very principled in game playing. Some children want all things to be fair and will fight for equality. Some don’t care about any rules, and selfishly just want to win at all costs.  And then there are some who demand to be the leader when a leader is already present.  They also demand that everyone must follow what he/she says or they will take all their toys and go home.  The latter are usually the spoiled ones whose parents have lost control in disciplining them.  “I’m king of the world,” they shout for all to hear and obey.

When David’s life and reign drew to a close, his sons competed for his throne. David appointed Solomon as his heir over all the other sons.  As we study David’s life, we observe that David served well as a king, he often failed as a parent…and husband. We can be successful in our public life and a failure in private. We learn that God is first, and next to God is our spouse, then our children.  Our families should be our first ministry priority.  In David’s house, not so much.  From our study of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel we learn that within David’s house there is incest, deceit, and one daughter raped, which resulted in another son murdered by his half-brother. The palace from within was in turmoil.  As David life comes to an end, due to old age; it was time for David to step up.  And he does, led by God.  David was not perfect; but still sought the heart of God.

1 Kings 1

Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King

When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. ² So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.”

³ Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.

⁵ Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁶ (His father had never rebuked him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)

⁷ Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and David’s special guard did not join Adonijah.

⁹ Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. 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 special guard or his brother Solomon.

¹¹ Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it? ¹² Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go in to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and add my word to what you have said.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room, where Abishag the Shunammite was attending him. ¹⁶ Bathsheba bowed down, prostrating herself before the king.

“What is it you want?” the king asked.

¹⁷ She said to him, “My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the Lord your God: ‘Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it. ¹⁹ He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. ²⁰ My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals.”

²² While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. ²³ And the king was told, “Nathan the prophet is here.” So he went before the king and bowed with his face to the ground.

²⁴ Nathan said, “Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah shall be king after you, and that he will sit on your throne? ²⁵ Today he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ But me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he did not invite. ²⁷ Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

David Makes Solomon King

²⁸ Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him.

²⁹ The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, ³⁰ I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.”

³¹ Then Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

³² King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, ³³ he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon. ³⁴ There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶ Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so declare it. ³⁷ As the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!”

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon mount King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon. ³⁹ Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ And all the people went up after him, playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.

⁴¹ Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were finishing their feast. On hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab asked, “What’s the meaning of all the noise in the city?”

⁴² Even as he was speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in. A worthy man like you must be bringing good news.”

⁴³ “Not at all!” Jonathan answered. “Our lord King David has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and they have put him on the king’s mule, ⁴⁵ and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it. That’s the noise you hear. ⁴⁶ Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne. ⁴⁷ Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed ⁴⁸ and said, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.’”

⁴⁹ At this, all Adonijah’s guests rose in alarm and dispersed. ⁵⁰ But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ Then Solomon was told, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’”

⁵² Solomon replied, “If he shows himself to be worthy, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.” ⁵³ Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, “Go to your home.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus taught and demonstrated that to become a leader we must first become a servant.  We don’t serve hoping for a higher position of leadership; we serve because it is in our hearts to help others for no reason at all, expecting nothing in return.  Jesus frequently highlighted that true greatness lies in serving others, not being served, and demonstrated this through his actions, like washing his disciples’ feet. (John 13) He taught that loving others, even enemies, and showing compassion, especially to the vulnerable, is a reflection of God’s love within us.  Service follows love.

Without God’s love—we are merely making a lot of noise in our lives without accomplishing anything of significance that truly helps others.  “We are all show; but no go,” in other words.  The Apostle Paul, to the church, teaches us, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 

God sees inside our hearts and knows all the thoughts in our minds. God created us!  So, it is important to evaluate our inner motivations often.  We need help and God provides His help. Ask the Holy Spirit, our God-given Counselor, to do a heart check daily!  What is the motivation of our hearts as we serve others?  Are we more concerned with performance that please others rather than God?  Is position more important than serving?  Do we bully people with guilt or demands so they will follow us; or do we wait upon the Lord?  Jesus has an answer to this dilemma of thinking.  Two of beloved disciples were fighting over who would sit with Jesus in eternity.  They fought over who would be the greatest among the other disciples.  Yikes.  But we all do it from time to time until we are reminded that seeking position does not get us closer to Jesus.  Quite the opposite.  Here’s the story of James and John:

“Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”

³⁶ “What is your request?” he asked.

³⁷ They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”

³⁹ “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. ⁴⁰ But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

⁴¹ When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. ⁴² So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. ⁴³ But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:35-45, NLT

Is our life’s pursuit to know Jesus, to more like Him in every way, AND to share in His sufferings? (See Philippians 2 and 3) Or is our goal to fulfill our selfish need to be lauded as the best leader in the land of our existence which is so fleeting in our fickle world? It’s our choice. We must choose wisely.  An old hymn of my youth is a good reminder of our walk with God, our top priority of life; “Stepping in the Light”

Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Trying to follow our Savior and King,
Shaping our lives by His blessed example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.

How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Stepping in the light,
Stepping in the light;
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Led in paths of light.

Pressing more closely to Him who is leading
When we are tempted to turn from the way,
Trusting the arm that is strong to defend us,
Happy, how happy, our praises each day. 

Solomon, known above all for his Godly wisdom, showed mercy to his brother and allowed him to return to his home in Jerusalem but with constant surveillance.  There is much more to learn in our study of the human Kings! 

Today and always; remember we serve THE KING of kings and LORD of lords—King Jesus. 

Lord,

Thank you for convicting us of motivations that lead nowhere we want to be.  Lead us not into temptations; but deliver us from evil and evil’s schemes to distract our walk from light to dark.  Light our path and we will follow your lead.

In Jesus Name, Amen