All good things come to an end … the curtain is falling on David’s 40-year reign …
It’s been quite a journey … beginning with Samuel’s unannounced visit to Bethlehem and the surprise anointing of a young shepherd boy, David, as the next king of Israel.
We’ve traveled with David over hill and dale – through thick and thin, sick and sin … the worst of it and the best of it … David has done it all.
David’s reign spans forty tumultuous years – seven in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem …
Why have we spent so much time with David?
Because we’re a part of David’s house …
Jesus is the Son of David …
When Jesus makes his Passover visit to Jerusalem, he’s greeted with shouts of hope:
Hosanna to the Son of David.
We belong to the house of David through Jesus our LORD.
It’s important that we know these stories, and know them well … know them as adults … the adult version!
Far too many adults know only the Sunday School version …
Which was just fine for that 5th grade boy who dreams about David and Goliath … or that bright-eyed 3rd grade girl who memorized David’s greatest Psalm, the LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want …
What we learned in Sunday School is just the beginning …
Still unfolding …
As God continues to love the world back to life.
We’ve spent a lot of time with David, and now the scene shifts to David’s son, Solomon …
But nothing was ever easy for David …
In his 40th year as king, David’s body and mind have paid the price … First Kings begins with an ominous hint: When David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him.
Anyone here sympathetic with that?
Now some of you guys might be interested in the solution: David’s servants got together and said to him, ‘We’ve got the solution for your chills – we’ve found a beautiful young lady – her name is Abishag – she’ll be your nurse – she’ll take care of you and wait on you, and she can lie beside you and keep you warm.
Hey, fellas, what do you think of that for the night chills?
But the text goes one step further – even Abishag couldn’t light David’s fire …
David is old.
David is tired.
Weary in the flesh, and slow in heart and mind … he barely rules … bureaucrats manage things, and things are peaceful now, so it’s not too bad.
But who’s going to be the next king?
Who’s going to fill David’s shoes?
Which son will it be?
That’s the million dollar question.
Amnon and Absalom are dead.
Both were good looking, headstrong and aggressive …
So we can almost guess what happens next in this wild and wooly family …
Adonijah …
He’s good looking, headstrong and aggressive …
Adonijah puts himself forward and says, I’ll be king.
Like his older brother Absalom, Adonijah gets chariots and horses, and fifty men to run ahead of him – think 5 big black SUVS, with well-armed agents in dark suits and dark glasses … a show of power to get things rolling.
Adonijah consults with Joab, David’s field commander, and with Abiathar the priest [Think Colin Powell and Billy Graham] – both of them give Adonijah their support.
Adonijah then throws an inauguration party … and like any party in Washington, or Sacramento, when it’s party time, there’s nothing more important then the guest list – who’s invited says everything; who’s NOT invited says even more!
Adonijah invites all of his brothers and all kinds of officials.
But Nathan the prophet, David’s closest advisor, isn’t invited.
Zadok the priest, isn’t invited.
David’s special guard isn’t invited.
None of David’s closest advisers are invited.
It makes sense for Adonijah to be king … he’s the next in line, the oldest surviving son, but the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray …
Nathan the prophet wasn’t about to let Adonijah claim the throne.
Nathan goes to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, and asks, Did you know about this? Let me give you some advice; take the bull by the horns so you can save your life, and the life of your son, Solomon.
Go to king David and say to him … blah blah blah blah …
So, Bathsheba goes to David:
‘My LORD king, did you not swear to me that my son Solomon would inherit the throne?
Of course you did, and David, if YOU don’t remember saying it, I remember. And a mother never forgets such things. You said Solomon would succeed you.
So, why has Adonijah become king?
David, you didn’t even know that, did you?
A mistake has been made, hasn’t it?
My LORD king, all of Israel is looking to you for leadership right now, and if you don’t act now, as soon as you take your last breath, my son and I will be killed.
At that very moment, right on due, Nathan arrives at the palace … Nathan the fearless; he’s tackled David before, and he tackles David again.
Yes, David, everything she says is true.
You’ve been duped by another son.
Or is there something you said, that we don’t know about?
A clever piece of work.
Bathsheba and Nathan get David’s attention.
David rises from his bed and issues a statement – As I promised, Solomon is king.
But the text isn’t clear.
Did David make such a promise?
There is no such promise anywhere in the Bible.
Did Bathsheba and Nathan pull a fast one on David?
Take advantage of his declining abilities?
Create memories for him that never happened?
Do they know something beyond what the text tells us?
Does God know something?
Is God at work here?
The story unfolds as we might expect.
Pomp and circumstance … a public anointing for Solomon … party time.
When Adonijah and his guests hear the celebration, they’re confused, and just then a messenger arrives: Solomon is king.
All the guests get up and leave - I guess we’d call ‘em fair-weather friends.
It didn’t take long for the party to break up.
The next day, the guests told their friends:
Well, I wasn’t there.
My name was on the list, but I didn’t go.
No, no, no, I wasn’t there either.
Uh uh, Solomon’s the man, not Adonijah!
Does anything change? Is anything different? This is how nations and governments work – the powerful vie for power; the wealthy want a little more … ah, the games we all play as we jockey for position and influence.
A prestigious pulpit becomes vacant, and pastors around the country line up like beauty queens, hoping to be the chosen one.
In every corporate office around the nation, Billy and Susie hope to catch the boss’ attention – and get that next promotion.
Candidates for office throw big money around – parties here and parties there …
And everyone loves a winner …
And when the dust settles, no one even remembers the name of the loser. Adonijah who?
Oh well, so it goes.
But what’s the point of all of this?
We’re dealing here with sacred text.
The Bible … it’s message.
David’s story … our story.
God at work in the world, just as the world is.
Messy and full of schemes.
Silly and sad …
But God still at work, working with what we put in God’s hands … God making the best of it, even when we’re far from our best!
David takes Solomon aside and gives him some fatherly advice.
Like:
Kill Joab when you have chance – I never did like him; he caused your dear old dad a lot of sorrow, and he’ll hurt you, too – he bet on the wrong horse, now show him how wrong he was.
And the guy who cursed me, take care of him, too … I promised not to hurt him, but you’re not bound by that promise, so go get him – bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.
But please remember Barzillai and his family … they stood by us in our darkest hour … reward them for their loyalty.
Solomon consolidates his hold.
A bloody business, for sure.
Nothing neat and clean.
Folks who read the Bible for the first time are surprised at all of this … but what do folks expect?
Even Grimms’ fairy tales have plenty of wicked people and bloody death …
National Geographic says of Grimm’s fairy tales:
“Looking for a sweet, soothing tale to waft you toward dreamland? Look somewhere else. The stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 1800s serve up life as generations of central Europeans knew it—capricious and often cruel. The two brothers, patriots determined to preserve Germanic folktales, were only accidental entertainers” [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/index2.html].
The Bible pulls no punches.
It’s a mirror held up to the human drama.
This is the way of the powerful and the wealthy.
This is the way of the world …
How we all live, rich and poor alike.
A couple of homeless men squabbling about who’s going to sleep where … and corporate giants squabbling over who controls the flow of oil.
Things settle down for Solomon.
He goes to Gibeon to offer sacrifice …
Solomon knows he sits on the throne of Israel by God’s grace, a strange and mysterious grace at work in the schemes and machinations of Jerusalem politics.
At Gibeon in the night, the LORD comes to Solomon in a dream – Ask what you want me to give you!
Wow, a blank check from God!
Anything you want.
Here’s where we see the evidence of Solomon’s wisdom.
The first words out of his mouth: YOU have made me king.
Solomon confesses his utter reliance upon the grace of God … he’s no self-made man; who he is and who he has become – it’s a gift from God, from A to Z, top to bottom.
Then Solomon says:
… and I haven’t a clue. I’m only a child; I don’t know how to go out, and I don’t know how to come in. And now I sit on the throne; I need your help! Give me, I pray, a discerning mind that I might know the difference between good and evil.
Like the Knight of the Grail says to Indiana Jones: Choose wisely, for while the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you.
Hundreds of grails to choose from – gorgeous and bejeweled – finely wrought works of art – glistening with gold and silver.
But Indiana Jones reasons wisely – the Last Supper - it was a humble carpenter, not a king in flowing robes, who lifted the Holy Grail.
Indiana Jones chooses humility – a simple carpenter’s cup.
And it’s the right choice.
The Knight of the Holy Grail says: You have chosen wisely.
Solomon chooses wisely.
What he asks for is important, but even more important, what Solomon DOESN’T ask for – long life, prosperity, defeat for the enemy.
Solomon asks but one thing: a mind – a mind to know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil … to govern wisely, to live a responsible life for the sake of others!
And God says to him that night: You have chosen wisely; I will give you discernment.
And then God says something surprising: Everything you DIDN’T ask for, I will give that to you, too, in measured doses … with this proviso, that you walk in my ways, keeping my commandments and my statutes …
Jesus said it well: Seek the kingdom of God first … and all the other things you might otherwise care about will be given to you as well.
When we pray … to pray as Solomon prayed –
A simple prayer …
A basic prayer …
O God, that I might know the difference between right and wrong.
Solomon’s wisdom, indeed!
Amen and Amen!
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