In the haste of his servants, they provide him a young virgin named Abishag (Source of Wandering) to comfort him, but David does not have sex with her.
For every Christian, the source of Wandering occurs whenever we think that something, somewhere, or someone else besides the eternal and ever-present and ever-rich Lord can supply our needs.
In Christ, we find our true rest:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [lit. I will rest you]." (Matthew 11: 28)
and
"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 11)
In the midst of David's "errors", his son Adonijah attempted to usurp the throne:
"Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him." (1 Kings 1: 5)
When a man exalts himself, he will come to no good:
"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14: 11)
The mind that everyone of us should have, is the same mind as Christ Jesus:
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2: 5-11)
A type of Jesus, Solomon, the heir designated to rule after David, did not parade himself, nor did he even advocate for his place as king.
His mother Bath-Sheba pleaded on his behalf before King David, as did Nathan the prophet, the same prophet who had convicted David for adultery with the same woman whom he was now pleading with (2 Samuel 12: 7). This picture of Nathan and Bath-Sheba pleading before David for Solomon is a perfect picture of God's grace:
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Romans 5: 20)
and
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8: 28)
What did David do? He did not attack Adonijah. He did not even bother sending others to attack him.
Instead, he had Solomon crowned king!
"And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 33The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 34And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. 36And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too. 37As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David." (1 Kings 1: 32-37)
"Zadok" means "righteous" - when we receive the truth that in Christ we are established in eternal righteousness, we know and believe that we are more than conquerors in Him (Romans 8: 37), and thus no weapon formed against us can prosper (Isaiah 54: 17)
David the king then designates that his son Solomon shall ride on his own mule. A trumpet would be blown, signaling that the work is done, and then Solomon would be placed on David's own throne. No greater show of respect and honor could rival what David designated would be done for His Son Solomon.
"38So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon. 39And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. 40And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them."
Not just Zadok, not just those who followed Solomon, but all the people also celebrated -- more than the mere fifty that Adonijah assembled to himself:
"In the multitude of people is the king's honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince." (Proverbs 14: 28)
Solomon did not fight for his "rights". He did not clamor for respect, or even fight with Adonijah. He rested in the grace and truth that his father would set everything right:
"6Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:
7For better it is
that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be
put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen." (Proverbs 25: 6-7)
and also
"Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." (Proverbs 27: 2)
The celebration thrown for Solomon rivaled the "coronation" of Adonijah:
"41And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?" (1 Kings 1: 41)
Then a messenger told Adonijah and his conspirators what had happened:
"And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.
50And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar." (1 Kings 1: 49-50)
Those who exalt themselves shall be humbled. Adonijah went from crowning himself king to running scared, and Solomon did not have to "do anything" to establish himself.
The more that we trust in our Father's Love, which we can know and believe because of all that Jesus has done for us, the more that we can rest assured that He will take care of our enemies and honor us, even when those who oppose us seem to have the upper hand.
Rest in the Peace of Christ, and Let Him position you!
No comments:
Post a Comment