Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 8.

There were several things which I thought about writing for today’s passage.  I decided that the things I wanted to write about come from Solomon’s prayers of blessing over the temple.  The first things I wanted to write about come from the portion where Solomon was asking God to bless the temple.  Solomon asked that when God’s people are suffering bad things because of their sin, but repent of their sins, turn to God, and beg His forgiveness that God give them that forgiveness and rescue them from their suffering.  The other thing Solomon asked of God that I wanted to highlight was that when people who are not already one of God’s people comes to God and makes a request that God fulfill that request so that people everywhere might come to worship and honor God.  These are prayers which we know God will answer and has answered time and again.

The other thing I wanted to write about comes from Solomon’s benediction to his prayer.  Solomon prayed that not one word had failed from the promises which God made to His people through Moses.  And I want us to think about the fact that not one word has failed from the promises which God has made to His people ever.  God has promised to be with each and every one of us in the troubles we face, and He will redeem us from those troubles if we put our faith in Him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 7.

At the end of yesterday’s passage the writer told us that Solomon spent seven years building a temple for God.  He starts today’s passage by telling us that Solomon spent thirteen years building his palace.  I am convinced the writer is foreshadowing what went wrong in Solomon’s reign.  He is telling us that Solomon put more time and effort into building a house for himself than he put into the house he built for God.  Solomon did right by building the Temple before he built his own palace.  Solomon’s mistake was not necessarily the extra time he put into his own palace.  Rather, during that time he focused more on himself than on God and on serving God.  We can learn an important lesson from this.  While we need to care for ourselves and our needs, we must never allow our self-care to distract us from worshiping and serving God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 1.

Every time I read today’s passage I struggle to understand why Joab and Abiathar gave their support to David’s son Adonijah, when Benaiah, Zadok, Nathan, and several other key people did not.  Joab had repeatedly demonstrated an understanding of the political implications of David’s actions and an understanding of how people think.  Yet here he makes what was clearly a miscalculation: he chose to go against what was clearly going to be the winning side.  And that is not just in hindsight.  For that matter, if Joab was going to back one of David’s son to become king at this point, why didn’t he back Solomon?  While we must be careful not to draw too much from what is said here, since it was written from the perspective of those who favored Solomon, it is still clear that Solomon was the only other contender to be David’s successor.  The fact that Adonijah invited all of David’s sons to his coronation feast except Solomon indicates that he viewed Solomon as a threat to his claim to the throne.  I mentioned struggling with trying to understand why Joab and Abiathar supported Adonijah, but, to a degree, the reverse is also true: why did Benaiah, Zadok, Nathan, and the others oppose Adonijah becoming king?  I will note that this is the first reference we have to a promise from David to Bathsheba that Solomon would succeed him as king, and, to be honest, it seems as likely something Nathan made up for Bathsheba to tell David as something David had previously promised.  On the other hand, as I said, Solomon was clearly the only alternative to Adonijah as David’s successor.

I want to close this out by noting that there is a clear lesson for us in all of this.  Solomon did not become king because he put himself forward to be king.  He became king because others championed his cause.  Adonijah, on the other hand, attempted to secure for himself the honor of becoming king, and failed.  Things ended badly for Adonijah, and for those who supported his cause.  Let us not make the mistake which Adonijah made, nor the mistake which Joab and Abiathar made.  Instead let us humbly follow the example of Solomon.  Or, if we find ourselves in the position of Benaiah, Nathan, or Zadok, let us support the humble claimant to leadership rather than the one who grasps it for themselves.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.