SOLOMON ANOINTED KING

Reading from 1 Kings Ch. 1 vs 28-53

I find it very interesting how God works, one moment you’re in fear or rejected and the next you’re uplifted or things just go your way. David’s house had issues and most of his children wanted to be king. David had promised Bathsheba that her son Solomon was going to reign after him but things got silent. One of David’s sons’ who followed after Absalom decided that he wanted to be king, his name was Adonija. He conferred with Joab and Abiathar the priest and they helped him set up what I’d call his installation, and prior to this he gathered men to support him. Now another thing that Adonija did was he sacrificed sheep, oxen and fattened cattle and he invited his brothers to the celebration but he left out Solomon. He also did leave out Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and the mighty men of David for they were not with him. When I looked at his actions I thought about how in some way he was aware of the promise that Solomon would be the one to rule after David, for why else would he not have him present when all his brothers were there?

As this happened Nathan the prophet went to Bathsheba and told her to basically remind David of the promise he made to her about Solomon and as she did that Nathan came in and asked if David was aware of what Adonija was doing and how he excluded Nathan himself, Zadok and the mighty men from everything. Now David hadn’t said anything at the time as to who would reign after him but he called for Bathsheba and swore to her that as he swore earlier before God, he would put her son Solomon as the king who would reign after him and sit on his throne and she paid homage to him and blessed him. It’s interesting to see how just seeking clarity, asking or just giving a reminder of what was promised to you can make someone finally take the action and do what they said they would. We shouldn’t be afraid to clear things up and also just pray that those who promised or can change the narrative of our stories remember us and take action.

David summoned Nathan, Zadok and Beniah and instructed them on what to do to start the process of putting Solomon as king. From riding his mule, anointing him and having him sit on the throne in his place. And he stated clearly that he is appointing Solomon as ruler of Judah and Israel. The very people that didn’t support Adonija and those he left out in his processes were the very people needed to do the confirmed process. Sometimes we worry ourselves because people don’t consult or include us in their choices and actions but often times it’s because you’re meant for something better. It’s not always the case but we shouldn’t be preoccupied by people not wanting us to be part of what they are doing, God also has plans for you and the part you’ll play might just need you to be secluded or away from those very people, things don’t happen in vain.

So Nathan and the others did what David instructed, they had Solomon ride the mule, anointed him and put him on the throne and the trumpet was blown and the people shouted ‘Long Live King Solomon!’ There was so much rejoicing that the earth split, and how cool was that from being isolated from your own siblings to being set above all of them, the right people to back you and the people in high spirits because of the same. Don’t stop believing or hoping in God to change your situation, he just might be pushing you to your next connection or maybe reminding or letting the right people see you or your work, stay faithful. On the other side of things bena Adonija were finishing up their celebrations of him being king and they heard the noise and wondered what it was and the son of Abaithar the priest Jonathan came with the update.

I found it funny when Adonija commended him like you are a worthy man and bring good news and Jonathan just said no with regards to the god news and begun to tell them what had occurred. He spoke about David the king actually making Solomon king with bena Zadok, the riding of the kings mule, the anointing, congratulations and uproar and even what David said, how he blessed the lord for granting him someone to sit on the throne after him and him actually getting to see it. I can only imagine how he must have felt, he had a whole plan, did the sacrifices, celebrated and was supposedly king and now the real thing occurred and he wasn’t even invited. You can’t place yourself where you’re not supposed to be, even if you get people to support you the truth of every situation or the right order or way to go about things will always override anything you can do. So don’t try to skip steps or use your own methods when there’s a correct way to do things.

His guests were afraid because you can imagine being at an event celebrating a king only to be told that the actual king has put who he wanted on the throne, you’d fear being accused of treason or something and they all went away. Adonija was now afraid of Solomon for I can imagine him thinking like I didn’t even invite the guy to the party and now he is king? He decided to go into the temple and hold onto the horns on the altar till Solomon swore that he wouldn’t put him to death. Seemed abit rush to me but we do silly things when we are afraid and the word reached Solomon and he just said if he shows that he is a worthy man no hairs will fall from his head but if he is wicked he will die. So he sent for him and they got him down from the altar and he paid homage to Solomon and he sent him home.

I appreciate Solomon really acting as the bigger person and not doing evil to him. We must resist the urge to revenge or return the wrong that others have done to us. God lifting us up should be enough for us and we should let go of the bitterness and hatred for those that made us feel less or isolated. At any moment our situations can change from better to worse or vice versa and I hope in whichever situation you are, you don’t harm others. I know the intentions are not always bad when people leave us out, we in some cases are the villains in someone else’s story and I believe that that being the case we should all have grace for one another. We all have our perspective or do things for our own reasons and so we should pray for God who is just to deal with each of us accordingly, whether its rebuke and correction to clarity, to him just changing things for any of our good. But never lose hope whichever situation you’re in, God is working out something and know that you are loved by him.