David Makes Solomon King Series

Introduction:

A. A precocious 10 year-old asked her grandmother, “Grandma, how old are you?”

1. Well, honey, when you’re my age, you don’t share your age with just anybody.”

2. “Please, I won’t tell,” said the granddaughter.

3. “No, it’s my secret,” said her grandmother.

4. About 20 minutes later, the little girl bounced in and announced, “Grandma, you’re 75 and you weigh 140 pounds.”

5. The astonished grandmother said, “How in the world do you know that?”

6. “Easy,” the little girl replied, “I looked at your driver’s license and did the math. I also saw that you got an “F” in sex.”

B. Reader’s Digest offered this humorous quip:

1. A young man approached his grandfather to ask him about his retirement.

2. He knew that for over 40 years his grandfather had put in long hours at his job so he was more than a little curious about the way he filled his days since his retirement.

3. “How has life changed for you?” the grandson asked.

4. His grandfather, a man of few words, replied, “Well I get up in the morning with nothing to do, and I go to bed at night with it half-done.”

C. I hope that those of you who are retired, are enjoying your retirement, and I hope you are serving the Lord in your retirement.

1. We might retire from our careers, but we never retire from being a Christian!

I. The Story

A. King David was ready to retire, but before he did, there were a couple of more things to accomplish.

1. David had lived to be an aged monarch.

2. He was a king who was greatly revered by his people.

3. He is beloved for his music and poetry.

4. He is respected for his remarkable wealth and power.

5. He is famous far and wide for his military might and numerous victories.

6. And he is emulated for his great love and esteem for the Lord God.

B. Like so many elderly people, David, in the twilight of his years, had a diminished physical condition.

1. He became somewhat thin and feeble, and was unable to keep himself comfortably warm.

2. The Bible says: When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 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.” Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no intimate relations with her. (1 Kings 1:1-4)

3. So in a time before the invention of the heated blanket, or electric heating pad, they found a young woman who was “hot” in more ways than one.

4. She served the king, but did so in an upright and holy fashion.

5. I wonder what she thought about this assignment.

6. She likely was a teenager, perhaps only 14 years of age.

7. To be expected to tend to the personal and private needs of an aged king with tender affection called for a lady of a rare gentleness and generous spirit.

8. Abishag was her name, and it appears that she was a blessing to the old monarch.

C. Meanwhile, in the absence of David’s strong leadership, David’s son, Adonijah, took advantage of the situation and proclaimed himself to be the king.

1. Adonijah was David’s fourth son, but it appears that he was the next in line for the throne.

2. The oldest, Amnon, had been murdered by David’s 3rd son, Absalom as punishment for raping Absalom’s sister, Tamar.

3. He in turn was executed by Joab during Absalom’s revolt against David, his father.

4. Scripture does not reveal what happened to Daniel, David’s second oldest son, born to the lovely Abigail. We can only assume that he, too, died somewhere along the way.

5. This meant that the logical person to be in line for the throne would be the next born, Adonijah.

D. The Bible says: 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. (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.)

Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and David’s special guard did not join Adonijah.