Solomon king, and then to bring him up to the palace and enthrone him.
The swift execution of these decisive orders, and the burst of popular
acclamation which welcomed Solomon's accession, shattered the nascent
conspiracy, and its supporters scattered in haste, to preserve their
lives. The story may be best dealt with, for our purpose, by taking
this brief summary and trying to draw lessons from it.
I. It points anew the truth that 'whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap.' As Absalom, so Adonijah, had been spoiled by David's
over-indulgence (verse 6), and having never had his wishes checked, was
now letting his unbridled wishes hurry him into rebellion. Nor was that
fault of David's the only one which brought about the miserable
squabbles round his deathbed, as to who should wear the crown which had
not yet fallen from his head. Eastern monarchies are familiar with
struggles for the crown between the sons of different mothers when
their father dies. David had indulged in a multitude of wives, and his
last days were darkened by the resulting intrigues of his sons. No
doubt, too, Solomon was disliked by his brethren as the child of
Bathsheba, and the shame of David's crime was an obstacle in his
younger son's way. Thus, as ever, his evil deeds came home to roost,
and the poisonous seed which he had sown grew up and waved, a bitter
harvest, which he had to reap. Repentance and forgiveness did not
neutralise the natural consequences of his sin. Nor will they do so for
us. God often leaves them to be experienced, that the experience may
make us hate the sins the more.
II. The sad defection to Adonijah of such tried friends as Joab and
Abiathar has its lesson. The reason for Joab's treachery is plain. He
had been steadily drifting away from David for years. His fierce temper
could not brook the king's displeasure on account of his murders of
Abner and Amasa, and his slaying of Absalom had made the breach
irreparable. No doubt, David had made him feel that he loved and
trusted him no longer; and his old comrade in many a fight, Benaiah,
had stepped into the place which he had once filled. Professional
rivalry had darkened into bitter bate. Joab commanded the native-born
Israelites; Benaiah, the 'Cherethites and Pelethites,' who are now
generally regarded as foreign mercenaries. They were David's bodyguard,
and were probably as heartily hated by Joab and the other Israelite
soldiers as they were trusted by David. So there were reasons enough
for Joab's abetting an insurrection which would again make him the
foremost soldier. He wanted to be indispensable, and would prop the
throne as long as its occupant looked only to him as its defender.
Besides, he probably felt that he would have little chance of winning
distinction in a kingdom which was to be a peaceful one.
Abiathar's motives are unexplained, but if we notice that he had been
obliged to acquiesce in the irregular arrangement of putting the high-
priest's office into commission, we can understand that he bore no
goodwill to Zadok, his colleague, or to David for making the latter so.
Self was at the bottom of these two renegades' action. The fair
fellowship, which had been made the closer because of dangers and
privations faced together, crumbled away before the disintegrating
influences of petty personal jealousies. When once self-regard gets in,
it is like the trickle of water in the cracks of a rock, which freezes
in winter and splits the hardest stone. No common action for a great
cause is possible without the suppression of sidelong looks towards
private advantage. Joab and Abiathar tarnished a life's devotion and
broke sacred bonds, because they thought of themselves rather than of
God's will. Surely they must have had some pangs as they sat at
Adonijah's feast, when they thought of the decrepit old king lying in
his chamber up on Zion, and remembered what he and they had come
through together.
III. We may note the pathetic picture of decaying old age which is seen
in David. He was not very old in years, being about seventy, but he was
a worn-out man. His early hardships had told on him, and now he lay in
the inner chamber, the shadow of himself. His love for Bathsheba had
died down, as would appear both from her demeanour before him, and from
her ignorance of his intentions as to his successor. She was little or
nothing to him now. He seems to have been torpidly unaware of what was
going on. The noise of Adonijah's revels had not disturbed his quiet.
He had not even taken the trouble to designate his successor, though
'the eyes of all Israel were upon him that he should tell who was to
sit on his throne after him' (v. 20). Such neglect was criminal in the
circumstances, and brings out forcibly the weary indifference which had
crept over him. Contrast that picture with the early days of swift
energy and eager interest in all things. Is this half-comatose old man
the David who flashed like a meteor and struck swift as a thunderbolt
but a few years before? Yes, and a like collapse of power befalls us
all, if life is prolonged. Those who most need the lesson will be least
touched by it; but let not the young glory in their strength, for it
soon fades away; and let them give the vigour of their early days to
God, that, when the years come in which they shall say, 'I have no
pleasure in them,' they may be able, like David, to look back over a
long life and say, with him, that the Lord 'hath redeemed my soul out
of all adversity.'
IV. We note the flash of fire which blazed up in the dying embers of
David's life. The old lion could be roused yet, and could strike when
roused. It took much to shake him out of his torpor. Nathan's plan of
bringing the double influence of Bathsheba and himself to bear was
successful beyond what he had hoped. All that they desired was a formal
declaration of Solomon as successor. They knew that the king's name was
still dear enough to all Israel to ensure that his wish would settle
the succession; and they would have been content to have left the
actual entrance of Solomon on office till after David's death, so sure
were they that his word was still a spell. But the old king, shaking
off his languor, as a lion does the drops from his mane, goes beyond
their wishes, and strikes one decisive blow as with a great paw, and no
second is needed. Without a moment's delay, he sends for the trusty
three, and bids them act on the instant. So down to Gihon goes the
procession, with the youthful prince seated on his father's mule, in
token of his accession, the trusty bodyguard round him with Benaiah at
their head, and the great prophet Nathan, side by side with the high-
priest Zadok, representing the divine sanction of the solemn act.
It would take stronger men than the spoiled Adonijah and his revellers
to upset anything which that determined company resolved to do. The lad
is anointed with the holy oil which Zadok as high-priest had the right
to bring forth from the temporary sanctuary. That signified and
effected the communication from above of qualifications for the kingly
office, and indicated divine appointment. Then out blared the trumpets,
and the glad people shouted 'God save the king!' What thoughts filled
the young heart of Solomon as he stood silent there his vision in
Gibeon may partly tell. But the distant roar of acclaim reached
Adonijah and his gang as they sat at their too hasty banquet.
They had begun at the wrong end. The feast should have closed, not
inaugurated, the dash for the crown. They who feast when they should
fight are likely to end their mirth with sorrow. David's one stroke was
enough. They were as sure as Nathan and Bathsheba had been that the
declaration of his wish would carry all Israel with it, and so they saw
that the game was up, and there was a rush for dear life. The empty
banqueting-hall proclaimed the collapse of a rebellion which had no
brains to guide it, and no reason to justify it. Let us learn that,
though 'the race is not always to the swift,' promptitude of action,
when we are sure of God's will, is usually a condition of success. Life
is too short, and the work to be done too pressing and great, to allow
of dawdling. 'I made haste, and delayed not, but made haste to keep Thy
commandments.' Let us learn, too, from Adonijah's fiasco, to see the
end of a thing before we commit ourselves to it, and to have the work
done first before we think of the feast.
Nathan and Bathsheba and David all believed that God had willed
Solomon's succeeding to the throne. No doubt, the reason for their
belief was the divine word to David through Nathan (2 Samuel vii. 12),
which designated a son not yet born as his successor, and therefore
excluded Adonijah as well as Absalom. But, while they believed this,
they did not therefore let Adonijah work his will, and leave God to
carry out His purposes. Their belief animated their action. They knew
what God willed, and therefore they worked strenuously to effect that
will. We may bewilder our brains with speculations about the relation
between God's sovereignty and man's freedom, but, when it comes to
practical work, we have to put out the best and most that is in us to
prevent God's will from being thwarted by rebellious men, and to ensure
its being carried into effect through our efforts, 'for we are God's
fellow-workers.'
A YOUNG MAN'S WISE CHOICE OP WISDOM
'In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God
said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed
unto Thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked
before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart
with Thee; and Thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that Thou
hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7. And
now, O Lord my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead of David my
father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come
in. 8. And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people which Thou hast
chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for
multitude. 9. Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to
judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is
able to judge this Thy so great a people? 10. And the speech pleased
the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11. And God said unto him,
Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long
life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of
thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern
judgment; 12. Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have
given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none
like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto
thee. 13. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked,
both riches and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings
like unto thee all thy days. 14. And if thou wilt walk in My ways, to
keep My statutes and My commandments, as thy father David did walk,
then I will lengthen thy days. 15. And Solomon awoke; and, behold, It
was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace
offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.' - 1 KINGS iii. 5-15.
The new king was apparently some nineteen or twenty years old on his
accession. He stepped at once out of seclusion and idleness to bear the
whole weight of the kingdom. The glories of David's reign, his brother
Adonijah's pretensions to the crown, the smouldering hostility of
Saul's old partisans, made his position difficult and his throne
unsteady. No doubt, 'the weight of too much dignity' pressed on the
youth, and this dream found a point of origin in his waking thoughts.
God does not thus reveal Himself to men who seek Him not; and the offer
in the vision is but the repetition of what Solomon felt in many a
waking moment of meditation that God was saying to him, and the choice
he makes in it is the choice that he had already made. He who seeks
wisdom first is already wise.
I. Note the wide possibilities opened by the divine offer. Our
narrative brings that gracious offer into connection with Solomon's
lavish sacrifice before the Tabernacle at Gibeon. 'God loveth a
cheerful giver' and because these thousand burnt offerings meant
devotion and thankfulness, therefore He who lets no man be the poorer
for what he gives to Him, and is honoured most, not by our givings to,
but by our takings from Him, comes in the quiet night, and puts the key
of all His treasures into the young king's hands. In a very real sense
this divine voice is but the putting into words of the fact as to every
young life. The all but boundless possibilities before every young man
and woman give solemnity to their position, which they too often do not
recognise till youth is past. The future lies blank before them, ready
to receive what they choose to write on its page. Once written, it is
indelible. They are still free from the limitations of habit and
associations. They have still the capacity and the opportunity of
choice. There are limits, of course, but still it is scarcely
exaggeration to say that a man may become almost anything he likes, if
he strongly wills it when young, and sticks to his resolve. When the
liquid iron flows from the blast furnace, it may be run into any mould;
but it soon cools and hardens, and obstinately keeps its shape, in
spite of hammers.
If young men and women could but see the possibilities of their youth,
and the issues that hang on early choice, as clearly as they will see
them some day, there would be fewer wasted mornings of life and fewer
gloomy sunsets. But the misery is that so many do not choose at all,
but just let things slide, and allow themselves to be moulded by
whatever influence happens to be strongest. For one man who goes wrong
by deliberate choice, with open eyes, there are twenty who simply
drift. Unfortunately, there is more evil than good in the world; and if
a lad takes his colour from his surroundings, the chances are terribly
against his coming to anything high, noble, or pure. This world is no
place for a man who cannot say 'No.' If we are like the weeds in a
stream, and let it decide which way we shall point, we shall be sure to
point downwards. It would do much to secure the choice of the Good, if
there were a clear recognition by all young persons of the fact that
they have the choice to make, and are really making it unconsciously.
If they could be brought, like Solomon, to put their ruling wish into
plain words, many who are not ashamed to yield to unworthy desires
would be ashamed to speak them out baldly. Let each ask himself,
'Suppose that I had to say out what I want most, dare I avow before my
own conscience, to say nothing of God, what it is?
Looked at from a somewhat different point of view, God's offer to
Solomon presupposes God's knowledge and approval of his wishes. He does
not give blank cheques to those whom He cannot trust to fill them up
rightly. When James and John tried to commit Jesus to a blind promise
'that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall ask of Thee,' their
answer was a question as to what they wished. 'Delight thyself also in
the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.' God loves
us too well to let us have _carte blanche_ unless our wills run
parallel with His. He is a foolish and cruel father who promises
compliance with all his child's unknown wishes. Not such is our
Father's loving discipline. It is to those who 'abide in Christ,' and
have Him abiding in them, moulding their longings and prayers, that the
great promise is sealed: 'Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be
done unto you.'
II. Note next the wise choice of wisdom. 'Had not Solomon been wise
before, he had not known the worth of wisdom. The dunghill cocks of
this world cannot know the price of this pearl; those that have it know
that all other excellencies are but trash and rubbish unto it.'
Solomon's prayer shows the temper with which he entered on his reign.
There is no exultation; his serious and clear-eyed spirit sees in rule
a heavy task. He contrasts his inexperienced rawness with the 'truth
and righteousness' and veteran maturity of his great predecessor, and
trembles to think that he, a mere lad, sits on David's throne. But he
pleads with God that He has made him king, and implies that therefore
God is bound to fit him for his office. That is the boldness permitted
to faith, - to remind God of His own past acts, which pledge Him to give
what He has put us into circumstances to need. With beautiful humility,
Solomon dwells on his youth and inexperience, and on the vastness of
the charge laid on him. All these considerations are the motives for
his choice of a gift, and also pleas with God to grant his request.
He asks for the practical wisdom needed for ruling in these old days,
when the king was judge as well as ruler and captain. Was this the
highest gift that he could have asked or received? Surely the deep
longings of his father for communion with God were yet better. No doubt
the 'wisdom' of the Book of Proverbs is religion and morality as well
as true thinking, but the 'understanding heart to judge Thy people'
which Solomon asked and received is narrower and more secular in its
meaning. There is no sign in his biography that he ever had the deep
inward devotion of his father. After the poet-psalmist came the prosaic
and keen-sighted shrewd man of affairs. The one breathed his ardent
soul into psalms, which feed devotion to-day; the other crystallised
his discernment in 'three thousand proverbs,' and, though his 'songs
were one thousand and five' they touched a lower range, both of poetry
and religious feeling, than his father's, as may be expressed by
calling them 'songs,' not 'psalms.'
But though the request is not the highest, it may well be taken as a
pattern by the young. Note the view of his position from which it
rises. To Solomon dignity meant duty; and his crown was not a toy, but
a task. The responsibilities, not the enjoyments, of his station were
uppermost in his mind. That is the only right view to take. Youth is
meant to be enthusiastic, and to feed its aspirations on noble ideals,
and if, instead of that, it does as too many do, especially in
countries where wealth abounds, namely, regards life as a garden of
delights, or sometimes as a sty where young men may wallow in
'pleasures,' then farewell to all hopes of high achievements or of an
honourable career. Youthful ideals will fade fast enough; but alas for
the life which had none to begin with! Note the sense of insufficiency
for his task. Youth is prone to be over-confident, and to think that it
can do better than its fathers, who were as confident in their time.
There is a false humility which flattens the spirit and keeps from
plain duty; and there is a true lowliness which feels that the task
must be attempted, though the heart may shrink, and which impels to
prayer for fitness not its own. He who tells God his consciousness of
impotence, and asks Him to supply His strength to its weakness and His
wisdom to its inexperience, will never shirk work because it is too
great, nor ever fail to find power according to his need.
III. Note God's answer. Solomon gets his wish, and much which he had
not asked besides. The divine answer is in two parts. First, the
reasons for the large gift; and second, the details of the gift. His
not wishing material good was the very reason why he obtained it. That
is not always so; for often enough a man whose whole nature is
sharpened to one point, in the intensity of his desire to make money,
will succeed. But what then? He will be none the better, but the
poorer, for his wealth. But this is always true, - that the people who
do not make worldly good their first object are the people who can be
most safely trusted with it, and who get most enjoyment out of it.
Whether in the precise form of the gift to Solomon or not, outward good
does attend a life which sets duty before pleasure, and desires most to
be able to do it. All earthly good is exalted by being put second, and
degraded as well as corrupted by being put first. The water lapped up
in the palm, as the soldier marches, is sweeter than the abundant
draughts swilled down by self-indulgence. 'Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, ... and all these things shall be added unto you.'
Note the largeness of the gift. When God is pleased with a man's
prayers, He gives more than was asked, and so teaches us to be ashamed
of the smallness of our expectations, and widens our desires by His
overlapping bestowments. First, He gives the wisdom asked. Dependence
on God, rising from the sense of our own ignorance, has a wonderful
power of bringing illumination, even as to small matters of practical
duty. Solomon asked it, to guide him in his judicial decisions; and the
first case to which it was applied, when received, was a miserable
quarrel between two disreputable women. A devout heart, purged from
self-conceit, is often gifted with a piercing wisdom before which the
crafty shrewdness of the world is abashed. We cannot be 'wise as
serpents' unless we are 'harmless as doves.' The world may think such
'wisdom' folly, but she will be 'justified of her children.' Is the
saying of James's Epistle a reminiscence of Solomon's dream, 'If any of
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, ... and it shall be given him'?
Then follows the grant of the unasked goods, - riches, honour, and
length of days. Surely we hear an echo of these promises in that
magnificent description of Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs: 'Length of
days is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour'
These and similar gifts may or may not follow our choice of divine
wisdom as our truest good If we have really chosen it, we shall regard
them as make-weights, to be thankfully received and rightly used, but
not as indispensable. If we pursue wisdom for the sake of getting
these, we shall lose both it and them. If we have set our desires most
earnestly on the most worthy things, which are God's love and a
character hallowed by His grace, we shall be rich indeed, whether what
the world calls wealth be ours or no; and our days will be long enough
if in them we have been prepared for the fuller wisdom and undying life
of heaven.
Solomon realised his youthful aspirations. The only way to be sure of
getting what we wish, is to wish what God desires to give, - even
Himself, - and to ask it of Him. Solomon, like many a young man, outgrew
his early 'dream.' Was he happier or wiser when he was a worn-out
voluptuary, smiling with cynical scorn at his young self, or when, with
generous enthusiasm, he felt the solemnity of life and the awfulness of
duty, and asked God to help his insufficiency? Was not the dream truer
and more real than the waking hours of profligacy and unreal
'enjoyment'?
THE GREAT GAIN OF GODLINESS
'And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under
his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. 26.
And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and
twelve thousand horsemen. 27. And those officers provided victual for
king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every
man in his month: they lacked nothing. 28. Barley also and straw for
the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the
officers were, every man according to his charge. 29. And God gave
Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of
heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 30. And Solomon's
wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and
all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan
the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and
his fame was in all nations round about. 32. And he spake three
thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. 33. And he
spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the
hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of
fowl and of creeping things, and of fishes. 34. And there came of all
people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth,
which had heard of his wisdom.' - 1 KINGS iv. 25-34
The glories of Solomon's reign kindle the writer of this Book of Kings
to patriotic enthusiasm, all the more touching if, as is probable, he
wrote during Israel's exile. The fair vision of the past would make the