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1. Of all the Psalms that David wrote, I think the one that is best known and loved and best reflects his over all life is Psa.23.
Psalms 23:1-6 (AMP)
1 THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.
2 He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.
3 He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name's sake.
4 Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.
6 Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.
2. The Death of David.
I Kings 1:1-2:12
I. First, we have David's Condition.
1 Kings 1:1-4 (AMP)
1 AND KING David was old and advanced in years; they covered him with [bed]clothes, but he could not get warm.
2 So his servants [the physicians] said to him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin, and let her wait on and be useful to the king; let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may get warm.
3 So they sought a fair maiden through all the territory of Israel and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
4 The maiden was beautiful; and she waited on and nursed him. But the king had no intercourse with her.
David is about 70 years old, he is bed ridden and always chiled...Before the days of electric blankets they often used the warmth of a healthy person to care for a sick person. This procedure was noted by Greek physician Galen, and Jewish historian Josephus.
Remember the movie City Slickers with Billy Crystal? One day he goes to school with his son to tell them about his work. He suddently says, "Value this time in your life, kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices. It goes by fast.
When you're a teenager you think you can do anything and you do. Your twenties are a blur. Thirties you raise your family, you make a little money, and you think to yourself, "What happened to my twenties?"
Forties, you grow a little pot belly, you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud, one of your old girlfriends from High School becomes a grandmother.
Fifties, you have a minor surgery - you'll call it a procedure but its surgery.
Sixties, you'll have a major surgery, the music is still loud, but it doesnt matter because you can't hear it anyway.
Seventies, you and the wife retire to Ft. Lauderdale. You start eating dinner at 2:00 in the afternoon, you have lunch around 10:00, breakfast the night before, spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for ultimate soft yogurt and muttering, "How come the kids don't call?"
The eighties, you'll have a major stroke, and you end up babbling wiht some Jamaican nurse who your wife can't stand, but you call mama."
Any questions?
Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 (NKJV)
1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them":
2 While the sun and the light, The moon and the stars, Are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain;
3 In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, And the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look through the windows grow dim;
4 When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, And all the daughters of music are brought low;
5 Also they are afraid of height, And of terrors in the way; When the almond tree blossoms, The grasshopper is a burden, And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets.
6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well.
7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
8 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity."
Jack Gulledge is the retired editor of Mature Living. He said, "A mischievious man walked up to an elderly woman and asked, "Lady, how old are you?"
She snaped, "Sir, my age is my business!"
To which he countered, "Lady, it looks like you've been in business for a long time!
David has been in business for a long time...but like all business one day they close down.
II. Next Adonijah Conspiracy. 5-10
1 Kings 1:5-10 (NKJV)
5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king"; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
6 (And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, "Why have you done so?" He was also very good-looking. His mother had borne him after Absalom.)
7 Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah.
8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.
9 And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel; he also invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants.
10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon his brother.
He is David's oldest living son and decides that he is rightly the heir to the throne. God not man decides who is promoted.
Psalms 75:6-7 (NKJV)
6 For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south.
7 But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another.
We need to relax in God's ability to get us where He wants us.
Cliff Barrows and his girl Billie was able to scrape enough money together to have a simple wedding and buy two train tickets to a city where they were planning on spending their honeymoon at a hotel.
When they got their they discovered the hotel was shut down - stranded in a strange city they began to hitch-hike. A truck driver tookthem to a grocery store, where a lady allowed them to spend their honeymoon in the room above the store.
This lady then arranged for them to spend the rest of their honeymoon at a friends house. This lady invited them to a youth rally. The song leader that night was sick and so the young evangelist, being informed that Cliff had done some song leading, asked him to lead the music that night.
Of course that young evangelist was Billy Graham and they have been together ever since. That was back in 1945. If God wants us to do something, He will get things going.
III. Thirdly, Nathan's Concern. 1:11-14
1 Kings 1:11-14 (NKJV)
11 So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, "Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it?
12 Come, please, let me now give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
13 Go immediately to King David and say to him, 'Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, "Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne"? Why then has Adonijah become king?'
14 Then, while you are still talking there with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words."
IV. Bathsheba's Consultation. 15-21
1 Kings 1:15-21 (NKJV)
15 So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.)
16 And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, "What is your wish?"
17 Then she said to him, "My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your maidservant, saying, 'Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.'
18 So now, look! Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know about it.
19 He has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army; but Solomon your servant he has not invited.
20 And as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders."
A. The Promise - he had promised Solomon would be king.
B. The Proud - 18-19
C. The Procedure - the king was to decide who would sit on the throne. 20
D. The Protection needed. 21
V. Fifth, Nathan's Confirmation.
1 Kings 1:22-27 (NKJV)
22 And just then, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.
23 So they told the king, saying, "Here is Nathan the prophet." And when he came in before the king, he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.
24 And Nathan said, "My lord, O king, have you said, 'Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne'?
25 For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and look! They are eating and drinking before him; and they say, 'Long live King Adonijah!'
26 But he has not invited me--me your servant--nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.
27 Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not told your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?"
Under the law somethng had to be verified by two witnesses.
VI. Therefore, Bathsheba is Consoled. 28-31
1 Kings 1:28-31 (NKJV)
28 Then King David answered and said, "Call Bathsheba to me." So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king.
29 And the king took an oath and said, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress,
30 just as I swore to you by the LORD God of Israel, saying, 'Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,' so I certainly will do this day."
31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and paid homage to the king, and said, "Let my lord King David live forever!"
VII. Seventhly, David's Command.
1 Kings 1:32-37 (NKJV)
32 And King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." So they came before the king.
33 The king also said to them, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon.
34 There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, 'Long live King Solomon!'
35 Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah."
36 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, "Amen! May the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.
37 As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David."
VIII. Next, David's last Communication. 2:1-10
1 Kings 2:1-10 (NKJV)
1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying:
2 "I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.
3 And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;
4 that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
5 Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet.
6 Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.
7 But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
8 And see, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.'
9 Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood."
10 So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David.
A. Solomon Relationship to God. 1-4
1. We must Concede the Obvious. 1a
I go the way of all the earth - David like all people, has an appointment with death. Heb. 9:27
Larry King has had a long career, and proven to be a surviver in a highly competitive line of work. When interviewed on 60 minutes he was asked about any possible threats to his career. He said, "The only thing I worry about is dying!"
2. We need Obedience until then. 2b-4/Josh. 1:6-9
One word summs up a healthy relationship with God - Obedience!
1 Pet. 1:13-14/ I Jn. 1:5-7; 5:3
This is obedience when we don't want to or when we do not understand why God wants us to do something...
Glen Eyrie News had a true story about a poor widow who lived in Brazil. She had 4 children to care for and had only about 20 cents in her purse. She was trying to decide whether to buy food or milk - she could not afford to buy both.
Before leaving for the store she prayed two solid hours asking God if she should buy milk or food. She had a thought that said buy all the groceries needed for three months and go through lane 7. She went and filled up three carts overflowing with groceries and went to lane 7, but the cashier of that lane just closed it to go to lunch. Another cashier mentioned her to come to her lane. But she refused - God had impressed upon her heart lane 7.
After nearly an hour the checker came, as her groceries were being added up an announcement came over the loud speaker, "Good afternoon, shoppers! Today is the 7th anniversary of our store. Shopper on lane number 7 groceries are free!
B. Solomons Relationship with man. 2:5-9
1. Kill Joab. 5-6
2. Kill Shimei. 8-9
3. Be Kind to Barzillai. 7
We must always keep in mind that David lived under the dispensation of the Law.
"Both Joab and Shimei had lived a long time without requital for their wicked deeds. The aged king knew that these men would likely continue to be a problem to Solomon even as they had been to him." [Nelson's Illustrated Bible Commentary]
Summation: 2:10-12
1 Kings 2:10-12 (NKJV)
10 So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David.
11 The period that David reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.
12 Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.
Con:
1. I figure David wrote Psa. 23 when he was just a spry shepherd boy. I can visualize him laying in that bed, 70 years old looking that Psalm over:
"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me besides the sill waters. I can hear that young woman asking, "David taht sounds great but the sun is shinning, the water is cool, the grass is green, God is in heaven and everything is right with the world. But David, what did you do when the lust monster slammed you to the canvas and your hands were filled with Uriah's blood?
David continued, "He restores my soul; He leads me in the path of righteousness for His name sake."
The woman asks, "But waht about the time you stood over your infant sons grave? What were you feeling when your beloved Absalom died?"
He continues, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me."
She says, "But how did you live all those years being hunted relentlessly by Saul." He shakes his tired old head and says, "He prepares me a table in the presence of my enemies; my cup runs over."
She softly says, "David, you failed as a husband, a father, a king, and now its time to meet you Maker. Are you not afraid that God is waiting in wrath?"
David pauses, a tear rolls down his cheek, "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." [Quote]
Lutzer, "Were glad that David wrote Psa. 23 for parents who have children that rebel; for discouraged people who come to the end with wasted lives; for those of us who have experienced the sharp pain of disloyalty - all can take heart knowing that David has been through it all, and God was with him all the way. And so the curtain closes just as it opened: All there is, is David and his Lord. A sheep and his Shepherd. And David's epitaph? It is written by the very finger of God - Here lies David, a man after my own heart!"
Johnny Palmer Jr.
www.strugglingthruscripture.ning.com
www.blogtalkrado.com/strugglingthruscriptures
