Walk in Obedience

Prayer

1 Kings 1 & 2 - Solomon becomes King of Israel

It’s always fun to make a move into a new book of the Bible, which is what we’re doing this morning as we continue our journey through the story of the Old Testament by diving into the book of 1 Kings. We just finished up 2 Samuel, which was primarily the story of David, and all his ups and downs as the king of Israel. It’s helpful to point out at this time that in spite of his tragic moral failures, that David remained a man after God’s own heart, a faithful follower. So much so that he will be held as the gold standard, the king against whom all other kings of Israel will be compared to.

As we begin 1 Kings, we’re going to see the monarchy pass down to David’s son, Solomon - that’s going to be our focus today. Just a few notes about 1 Kings in general - first, in the Hebrew Bible, 1 & 2 Kings actually make up one book, divided just like 1 & 2 Samuel due to length. These two books will take us through hundreds of years of Israelite history, all the way through the period of the monarchy. Like all of Israelite history, it’s going to be very mixed, there were will be some faithful kings, and a whole lot of unfaithful kings.

As far as our schedule is concerned, we’ll be in 1 Kings this morning as well as next Sunday, then we’ll take a break from our journey through the Old Testament for the season of Lent, where we’ll take time to focus on Jesus, his suffering, his death and his resurrection -and in particular what it means for us to be “good news people.” We’ll pick 1 Kings back up after Easter.

Second thing I want to mention is that as we move into this period of Israelite history, we’re also moving into the period of the prophets, the men the Lord sent to speak his word to his people. This is where things get tricky, as far as the history of the Israelites is concerned - because the prophetic books in the Old Testament (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Amos) they are not listed in chronological order. So what we’re going to try to do is use 1 & 2 Kings as our guide and incorporate some of the writings of the prophets so you can see how they tie together, which prophets spoke during the reign of which kings - and what they had to say. More on that later.

That brings us to 1 Kings, starting in chapter one - King David is quite old at this point, to the point where he has trouble staying warm, even when covered with blankets (some of you may be able to related to that). So his attendants bring in a beautiful young virgin, Abishag the Shunammite. Abishag would sleep with David to help keep him warm, but the text makes clear that they had no sexual relations (this is going to come into play later).

So now the big question is, who will become king? The next son in line (after Absalom’s death) is Adonijah. Adonijah begins to take on the mantle of king, 1 Kings 1:5-8:

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.

I want to point out a few things going on here - first is that Adonijah is presuming the kingship. I will be king. Then he does exactly what Absalom did, getting chariots and horses and fifty men to run ahead of him. And David does exactly what he did before - nothing. He lets it go.

But notice two that not all of the royal officials are on board. In fact, they are quite divided - Joab the military commander and Abiathar the priest back Adonijah. But another warrior, Benaiah, and the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan, among others, do not. And because they do not back Adonijah, they do not get invited when Adonijah invites all his brothers and the other royal officials to a mass offering, and a feast. And the guests begin to affirm Adonijah as the next king of Israel - “Long live King Adonijah!”

So Nathan goes to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, and together they work a plan to bring what’s happening to David. Bathsheba goes in to David, telling him that Adonijah has declared himself to be king. And that’s a problem because apparently David had promised Bathsheba that Solomon would be king, and here Adonijah is declaring himself king - and David knows nothing about it, and this puts Bathsheba and Solomon’s life in danger.

Nathan enters immediately afterwards and confirms the story. David takes action, commanding that Nathan and Zadok (the priest) and Benaiah take Solomon and anoint him as king. Which they do - the trumpet is sounded and all the people rejoice, shouting, “Long live King Solomon!”

It turns out that Adonijah and his guests are not far away - they are close enough to hear all the celebration. Just then Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest, comes bringing the news that David has made Solomon king. That’s why the people are celebrating. Adonijah’s guests realize they have backed the wrong horse - they quickly disperse, abandoning Adonijah.

Adonijah himself flees, seeking sanctuary. He goes to the altar and grabs hold of the horns of the altar, asking that Solomon swear he won’t put him to death. Which Solomon agrees to - as long as Adonijah behaves himself.

This brings us to 1 Kings 2, which begins with David offering some final words to Solomon, vv. 1-4: When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

Now we’re going to come back to this charge, as this is going to be our focus this morning. But before we do, let me just summarize a few things that happen here in this chapter to wrap up this part of the story.

In addition to this charge, David instructs Solomon to enact justice on several people who had betrayed David, including Joab, the military commander, who is put to death by Solomon. David himself dies, ending his reign after forty years over Israel.

Chapter ends with a request by Adonijah, he goes to Bathsheba to see if she will make the request on his behalf - that Solomon would give him Abishag the Shunammite as his wife. If you remember, she was the young virgin who slept in David’s bed in order to keep him warm. There’s a question as to Adonijah’s motive here - is he simply asking for Abishag because she’s a beautiful woman, and he would like her as his wife? Or, as Solomon suspects, that Adonijah is making a claim to the throne, taking this woman who had been a concubine of sorts of his father (but not officially, they had no sexual relations). And because Solomon suspects this, he has Adonijah put to death. And the chapter ends with this note, “The kingdom was now established in Solomon’s hands.”

So Solomon is firmly established as the king over Israel. The big question is going to be, what kind of king will he be? Will he be faithful, ruling with justice and righteousness over his people? Or will he rule to serve his own interests? Remember that God warned the Israelites when they first demanded a king, so they could be like the other nations. He told them that he would give them a king, but that the king would rule over them, taking their young men to serve as soldiers, young women to serve in his palace. He would take their land and tax them.

David is charging Solomon to be a good king - and to be a good king by first and foremost, being faithful to the Lord. “Be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his law and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses.”

It’s helpful to remember here that David can speak to this personally, as he’s done it both ways. For most of his life he was faithful to this, he lived according to the Lord’s decrees and commands. And as we saw, there was a time in his life when he absolutely did not, sinning terribly. And he knows the consequences of both, he knows what it’s like to prosper in the Lord - and what it’s like to experience the ramifications of sinful behavior.

And David does a couple of things here to impress on Solomon on vitally important this is - first, simply by the fact that these are the final instructions David passes on to him as he takes the throne. He could have given Solomon counsel on political alliances, battle strategies - insight into his enemies, dealing with all his officials, who to trust, who not to trust, how to work with them - the priests, the military commanders, his advisors. Any of that. But more than anything else, this is what David wants for Solomon - to pursue faithfulness to the Lord. More than anything else, David knows this is what Solomon needs to be a good king - to be obedient to all that God commands.

Then David begins the charge with telling Solomon to essentially, man up. Be strong, act like a man. Another translation reads, show yourself a man, show what you’re made of. He’s telling him that this is what he should use his strength for, this is what he should put his energy and effort toward. Because where you put your energy and effort reveal what you value, what’s important to you.

Adonijah showed what kind a man he was - he put his effort into trying to secure the kingship that was never given to him - his father was still alive. It seems likely he know David had promised the kingship to Solomon. Later, all that business with him asking Solomon to give him Abishag as his wife.

How do we show ourselves, show what we’re made of? There are lots of things we put energy and effort toward, many of them good things - our physical health people who work out, pursue tremendous athletic feats - health, appearance, challenge of it), raising our children, being good grandparents, our careers / providing for families, our own comfort and leisure, our own success, some sort of activism / cause, our pets - the list goes on. I hope at the top of the list is what David is passing on to Solomon - walk in obedience to the Lord.

And I want us to consider that imagery for a second, walk in obedience, because it’s powerful - slow, gradually, consistent, day-by-day. It’s what Eugene Peterson beautifully describes as “a long obedience in the same direction” (though he got it, oddly enough from Friedrich Neitzsche, philosopher who famously declared “God is dead”). To think about that for a moment, that would be the primary commitment of our lives (I don’t say that lightly) - I want to live a long obedience toward Jesus.

This is over and against “our instant society” mindset - we’re so used to thinking we can have things “quickly and efficiently,” assume everything in life can be done this way. But obedience, but living out what Jesus teaches us to do, there’s nothing quick or efficient about that. It is a long, slow, very gradual process. Journey that we walk, take step by step by step by step. Day in and day out. A long obedience in the same direction. A commitment to keep pursuing life in Jesus. Obedient to what he teaches. Sadly, Peterson points out that there is a dreadful attrition rate for those who make a commitment to Christ (almost true for David). Will we be those who stay true to this path, the way of Jesus?

Peterson says this long obedience, this walk in obedience involves a lot - but it begins with something we talk about a lot here, repentance. Listen to Peterson’s description of repentance, purpose it serves in our lives: Repentance is not an emotion. It is not feeling sorry for your sins. It is a decision. It is deciding that you have been wrong in supposing that you could manage your own life and by your own god; it is deciding that you were wrong in thing that you had, or could get, the strength, education and training to make it on your own; it is deciding that you have been told a pack of lies about yourself and your neighbors and your world. And it is deciding that God in Jesus Christ is telling you the truth. Repentance is a realization that what God wants from you and what you want from God are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, thinking the same old thoughts. Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace.

Decision that you were wrong - about the most fundamental things in life. Essentially, that you and I could do this ourselves - manage our own lives (it doesn’t get more basic than that!). That we believed that lie - we believed a lot of lies. Decision that the truth is found only in Jesus Christ. He knows. He’s the one who has to manage my life. I need him.

And I need him today and I’m going to need him tomorrow, and the day after that, day after that, and on and on, for the rest of my life. I walk in obedience with Jesus every day because I need him every day. I need him every day because the same old things, same old thoughts aren’t working - I need Jesus to teach me, to show me, to work in me. This commitment, this decision is so fundamental - because if I’m not convinced of this, I’ll be part of that dreadful attrition.

I know in my own life that as soon as I start thinking I can manage this on my own, I start drifting. As soon as I think I’ve got the strength, the smarts to manage my own life, I cease to follow Jesus. This is what happened to David. As we’ll see, it’s going to happen to Solomon. It’s why David is taking the time to impress this upon Solomon, because he knows, he knows how easy it is.

Spiritual Disciplines - A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, those two practices

I want to finish with this, because walking in obedience to Jesus is a full life commitment - we talk about engaging in spiritual disciplines all the time. Certainly, discipline of confession, of repentance, is central here. But I want to commend one this morning that Eugene Peterson emphasizes, and that’s worship. Throughout all of Christian history, one thing that has remained consistent among God’s people is coming together to worship. It is one of the most important acts of discipleship - certainly not the only one, but absolutely central.

There’s no shortage of reasons why we don’t make it to worship. But what’s more important is why we do. Worship centers us, it becomes part of the structure of our lives - centered around Jesus. It centers us on our need for Jesus, to be in relationship with him (and to do that together, not individually, but with the community of faith), and it centers us on what Jesus would teach us, how we are to live, letting him be Lord, the one who manages our lives.

So be strong, act like a man (or woman, and observe what the Lord your God requires: walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands. Begin that by committing yourself to worship, to being here every Sunday together so we can center our lives on him.