Whoever Exalts Himself Will Be Humbled

1 Kings 1:1-14 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 1:1-14.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 1:1-4 (NIV) 
¹ When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 
² So his servants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to attend the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.” 
³ Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 
⁴ The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no intimate relations with her. 

On verses 1-4:  By this time King David is almost 70 years old and is not in good health.  To help keep him warm, they find a beautiful girl called Abishag to lie beside him and to serve him as his nurse, but not to have sexual relations with him.  Apparently this was in line with medical customs of the day, as both Jewish historian Josephus and a Greek physician Galen reportedly mention this practice in their ancient writings.^[1]

1 Kings 1:5-14 (NIV)
⁵  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 interfered with 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.
⁹  Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah who were royal officials,
¹⁰  but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special guard or his brother Solomon.
¹¹  Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king without our lord David’s knowing it?
¹²  Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
¹³  Go in to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’
¹⁴  While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and confirm what you have said.”

On verses 5-14:  In view of David’s failing health, David’s son Adonijah props himself up as the successor to his father’s throne.  Adonijah actively takes steps to promote himself as the next king, including arranging for his own military escort (v5), garnering the support of some of David’s more famous officials (v7) and holding a feast to proclaim himself as king (v9).  However, the fact that he did not invite Nathan the prophet (v10), David’s most important spiritual advisor, signals that Adonijah did not consult God’s heart or welcome God’s counsel in this matter.  He just wanted to be king.  However, Adonijah would not be successful in his grasp for the throne.

Verses 11-14 show the beginnings of Nathan the prophet and David’s wife Bathsheba planning how to notify King David of Adonijah’s self-promoting activities.

What can we learn from this?  You can try all you want to exalt yourself in front of others, but in the end it is God who decides who will be exalted and who will be humbled.  Moreover, we’ll see that God would end up humbling the self-promoting Adonijah and exalting his much quieter younger brother Solomon.  As Jesus says in Matthew 23:12, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”. In other words, if you live for your own self-exaltation, you will ultimately be humbled, but if you are humble before God and man, you will ultimately be exalted.  In the kingdom of God, the path to greatness is not self-exaltation but humility.

By the way, verse 6 is an indirect rebuke of David’s approach to parenting.  When verse 6 says that David never interfered with his son Adonijah by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?”, it’s a hint that David should have watched his son more closely, disciplined his son much earlier and dealt with his self-exalting ways.  However, David was largely absent from his children’s lives.  As a result, the entire nation was affected.  It took the intervention of Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba David’s wife to keep David’s neglect from ruining the nation.  It’s a reminder to parents and leaders that we must “know the condition of our flocks” and take proactive steps to guide those in our care in the right way.

Father, it is You who decides whom to exalt and whom to humble. May I not live like Adonijah for my own self-exaltation, but may I have a humble attitude toward You and toward others, trusting that You will lift me in due time.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!