The Bible Recap - Day 149 (1 Kings 1-2, Psalm 37, 71, 94) - Year 4

Episode Date: May 29, 2022

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Two days ago, we read the chronicler's account of David's death, but today we caught up on some of the drama that the Chronicles didn't include in that narrative. Let's jump in. David is old and has bad circulation, and electric blankets still don't exist, so they figure the best way to keep him warm is to bring in a young woman whose sole job is to act as a human hot water bottle. Not the job description I'd want. So they bring Abishag to him, but scripture is clear on the fact that nothing sketchy is happening even though the situation is for sure

weird. Meanwhile, what we have to remember is that despite what we've already read in Chronicles, Solomon hasn't been anointed king in this book yet. All we know is David is close to death and one of his sons is supposed to succeed him. This is the hard part about reading two different books back to back. When we start out, David's other son, Adonija, is trying to take the throne. Adonija is his oldest living son, so it's a natural assumption that he'll succeed David. Joab, David's advisor, and Abiyathar, one of the priests, are both on board with this.

But the majority of the people in leadership are not on board, including Nathan the Prophet and Zadok, the other high priest. Adonija rides his horses and chariots through town, which is kind of like declaring himself king, and then he offers a public sacrifice and only invites the people who don't oppose him. Meanwhile Nathan the Prophet and Bathsheba both know that God has appointed Solomon to be king, and David knows it too.

But he's old, so Adonija was able to make himself king without it even catching David's attention. Nathan devises a plan to bring it to his attention in a creative way. He isn't being manipulative in the negative sense of the word. Yes, he's subtly influencing David, but for God's glory and God's will, not his own selfish gain. Nathan puts a plan together where Beth Sheba alerts David to Adonija's covert takeover. The reality is, if David doesn't do something about this, Adonija will likely kill Bathsheba

and Solomon both to eliminate the threat they pose to his regime. Bathsheba and Nathan speak with David and he agrees to make things right. Then, a group of leaders takes Solomon, anoints him with oil, and declares him king. Then, word gets back to Adonija. Solomon is king now, and he knows it, and he's afraid. So he goes up and grabs the horns of the altar, which is a gesture that indicates he's committed an accidental sin and is seeking asylum. We don't really have anything like this today, but probably the closest approximation is

when someone does something wrong or is in danger, and they make the sign of the cross over themselves. He begs Solomon not to kill him, and Solomon promises that if he acts in a worthy manner, he won't, he'll let him live. On David's deathbed, David has some final words for Solomon. He orders him to keep God's commands. All sounds good so far. But then he takes a hard lift and starts commanding Solomon to seek revenge on his enemies. David seemed to walk in humility toward Joab and Shimei in the past, but maybe he was just keeping up appearances.

Here behind closed doors, it seems like his heart spills out. He implores Solomon to kill Joab, who had killed two of his commanders and also his son Absalom, but David doesn't seem to know that. And David also commands Solomon to kill Shimei, the man who had once cursed him, but then came back and repented and became a servant. David had sworn to Shimei in second Samuel 19

that he wouldn't kill him, but technically he's not breaking that oath since Solomon will be the one killing him. He may have found a legal loophole, but God isn't fooled. This is what David did with Euryah, I remember, and he's doing it again. He's dying with murder on his heart. After David's death, Adonija wants to take Abyssaag to be his wife.

He asks Bathsheba if she'll make the request on his behalf since Solomon listens to her counsel. She makes the request for him, but since Abyssaag was a part of David's Herum, this is seen as Adonija's attempt to overthrow Solomon as King. Taking the King's cockabind is in a front to his kingship, so Solomon orders him to be killed. Then Solomon continues fulfilling David's wishes. He kills Joab and Shimei. Technically, they both deserve the death penalty because one murdered and one cursed the King, so it seems this isn't considered wickedness on Solomon's part. His first royal act is to kill the traders and the unrighteous. Then we flipped over to Psalm 37,

which is full of wisdom and also holds so many unexpected nuances, especially given the fact that it was written by David. For instance, in verse 4, he says, God grants the desires of those who delight in him. And this is coming from a man who got a no in response to one of his major prayers. Despite this talk of God giving us our desires, verse 16 points out that even if the righteous have less than the wicked, that's the preferable position to be in. It almost makes me wonder if the intention behind God will grant you the desires of your heart has more to do with God giving us the desire itself, that He'll put the right desires in us as we delight in Him.

We don't know who wrote Psalm 71, but it could have been David, and it certainly seems to fit his story based on today's reading. He's old and is strength asleep, but he's seen God carrying him throughout his life. And then he ends by talking about triumph over those who sought to harm him, which is also fitting. And Psalm 94 continues with the same theme. It ends by saying, he will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness.

The Lord our God will wipe them out. Wow. My God shot today comes from David's last words, and these last two Psalms we read as well. We're left with a bit of a question, maybe some unresolved tension about David's deathbed speech. It's a head scratcher. Lots of people repent on their deathbed, speaking words of peace and humility. But here, David just sounds like a bitter old man seeking revenge against two men, one

of whom had even repented. What do we make of this? David was right that both Joab and Shimi I had earned the death penalty. That's just us being meaded out. Would it have been nice if he had acted mercifully instead? Absolutely. But honestly, I'm less concerned with figuring out who David is and more concerned with figuring out who God is. So here's what we know. David died with revenge on his lips. How does that impact his eternity?

Does it? What if one of God's kids dies with sin in their heart and doesn't repent? Does that ruin everything? What if that sin is revenge or even murder? Hebrews 11 and 12 settle the score for us. David is listed there in the Faith Hall of Fame and is counted among the great cloud of witnesses the four fathers of our faith. Our position in God's family isn't and never has been about our works or our perfection. Even in the Old Testament, it was about faith in the God

who covers our sins. Even the sins committed in our final moments. Praise God, for examples like David, who demonstrate his all surpassing mercy and grace to us. They remind us of how incredibly forgiving our Father is. What a gift to know that all the sins of all of God's kids past, present, and future, intentional, confessed, and accidental, are all covered by the blood of Christ. He's where the joy is. The Bible Recap is brought to you by D-Goop,

discipleship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week. For more information on D-Goop, visit mydegroop.org. information on D-group, visit mydgroup.org.