You Got The King On Your Side

1 Kings 1:28-40 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 1:28-40.  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 1:28-31 (NIV)
²⁸ Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him.
²⁹ The king then took an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble,
³⁰ I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.”
³¹ Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling before the king, said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

On verses 28-31:  Despite the fact that many people had already sided with Adonijah, David decides to install Solomon as the new king in place of David.  By doing this, David was fulfilling a promise he had made to his wife Bathsheba to make Solomon the next king (v29-30). In response, Bathsheba bows before David and blesses him.

What can we learn from this?  Just as David kept his promise, even more Jesus your King keeps His promises.  Even when the odds and circumstances appear to be against you, not a single promise your King has made will fail.

Likewise, let’s be people who keep our word and fulfill our promises too.  When you are committed to keeping your word, you will earn the reputation of being trustworthy, someone others can count on.  But the opposite is also true: we lose credibility and respect when we break our promises.  That promise might seem small, like “I’ll message you tomorrow”.  But if you don’t take your own word seriously, eventually others will not take your word seriously either.  Don’t commit reputational suicide by failing to keep your word.  Just as the Lord was faithful to His promise to deliver David each and every time (v29), keep your word consistently and you’ll earn others’ respect.

1 Kings 1:32-40 (NIV)
³²  King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king,
³³  he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and set Solomon my son on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.
³⁴  There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’
³⁵  Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.”
³⁶  Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so declare it.
³⁷  As the LORD was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!”
³⁸  So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and put Solomon on King David’s mule and escorted him to Gihon.
³⁹  Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!”
⁴⁰  And all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.

On verses 32-40:  Adonijah had gone to great lengths to garner the support of different royal officials.  He did everything he could in his power to take the throne.  But a single decision and a single statement from King David — “Solomon…shall be king after me and he will sit on my throne in my place” (v30) — changed everything.  By making one decision and one statement, King David effectively nullified all of Adonijah’s efforts and plans.  David was too weak to hold a sword, but his word could still move a nation.

What can we learn from this?  It helps to be friends with a king.  When the king is on your side, it doesn’t matter who is against you.  Because Solomon had the king in his corner, he didn’t have to lift a finger or say a thing, and he still became king.  (Notice Solomon doesn’t even speak in 1 Kings until verse 52, after he is already king.)

Just as Solomon had David in his corner, you have the King on your side.  His name is Jesus.  And keep this in mind: Jesus is a lot more powerful than David.  In 1 Kings 1, David could hardly take care of himself physically and yet his word could still move a nation.  Jesus is alive and with a single word He can calm the storm, heal the sick, raise the dead and create new worlds.  It’s because Jesus has authority like no other.

So it doesn’t matter who or what you’re up against today.  Jesus, the king of kings and the name above all names, is on your side.  And with one word, one decision, one statement, Jesus can change anything.  

Are you trying to figure it all out by yourself like Adonijah?  Stop it.  Remember you’re like Solomon.  You’ve got the King as your friend.  He has already made great promises about you.  So let His Word lead the way for you.

Father, just as You always keep Your Word, may I be known as someone who keeps their word.  And thank You that because I got Jesus the King on my side, it doesn’t matter who or what is against me.  Thank You that it is Your Word and Your promises that will prevail in my life.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!