1 Kings 1:5

1Kings 1:5 says, Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty before him.  David was now old, and another of his sons, his fourth born, decided that he would be king, and declared himself so, and armed himself with chariots and men.  David seemed to have a lot of problems with many of his sons.  Just because our father served as an important part of the church doesn't mean we can just assume his position when he gets old or dies.  God must call us to that position and we see nothing in this account about God choosing Adonijah to replace David.  We also need to understand that just because we are a Christian it doesn't mean that we won't have problems with our children.  Verse six adds, And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.  David had not displeased Adonijah at any time, though Matthew Henry says he had likely displeased David many times.  Our children may even look up to us and yet not do what God expects them to do.  Verse seven continues, And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.  Adonijah talked with Joab and Abiathar the priest and got them to support him.  Joab, as the head of the army might have just expected Adonijah to be the next king, but Abiathar as a priest should have consulted God about it.  We as followers of Christ are a part of the priesthood of believers, and we should never make any decisions without consulting God first.  Verse eight states, But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.  One military man and one priest might have supported Adonijah, but one priest, Zadok, and a prophet, Nathan, and three of David's mighty men, Benaiah, Shimei and Rei, didn't.  Sometimes, we may have divisions in the church today, but if we do, we need to be on the side following God.  Verse nine adds, And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants:  Adonijah prepared a feast and called all his brothers, the people of Judah, and the David's servants to it.  Matthew Henry says he was trying to win them over to support him by having this feast.  People still try to use their money and position to influence others to support them in whatever they may be doing or proposing to do.  Verse ten continues, But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.  Nathan, Benaiah, David’s mighty men, and Solomon were not invited to join Adonijah at this feast.  Unless we know for a fact that someone who is attempting to assume a position of power in the church today is acting under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, even if they attempt to influence people to support them by using some material method, we are better off not being invited and should not join them if we are unless we have sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit and been assured that we should. 

1kings 1:1

1 Kings 1:1 says, Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.   By now, David was old and couldn't stay warm.  The inability to stay warm seems to be a common malady of many older people today, but we need to make sure that we don't become spiritually cold as well as we get older.  That fire to do God's will should still burn.  Verse two adds, Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.  David’s servants had a solution to his being cold, though we are not told that they consulted God about this.  They proposed a young virgin be brought to cherish David and lie with him and keep him warm.  I would assume that at least some of his wives or concubines would have been alive, and we know that Bathhseba was at least, who could have fulfilled this role.  I can say that we should never do anything outside of God's will to meet a physical need, and we certainly shouldn't involve others if we do.  Verse  three continues, So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.  After their search, Abishag, a Shunammite, was chosen.   We are not told that she had any choice in this matter, and we certainly should not attempt to force others into doing anything that is not in God's will.  Verse four concludes, And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.  Abishag was very fair in looks and evidently cherished David in a platonic relationship.  Even if people are content in a relationship that God has not called them to, that doesn't make it right.  

2 Samuel review concluded

We are told of Nathan's getting David to condemn himself for having Uriah killed in order to have Bathsheba as his wife.  When we are condemning others for their sins, when it comes to deserving condemnation by God, as Nathan told David, You (we) are the man, or woman.  We have no right to condemn others.  We are also told of the death of the child of David and Bathsheba, and our sins may often affect innocent people.  In the first part of David's time as the anointed king of Israel, he spent a lot of time running from Saul, and later he was running from his own son Absalom, who attempted to make himself king.  We will always have someone who is waiting to destroy our Christian life as long as we are committed to doing God's will.  David allowed the death of Absalom to almost destroy him as he neglected those who had brought him victory.  We should never mourn the loss of people or things that would destroy us spiritually to the point where we ignore all the good people and things that God has blessed us with.  David also wanted to build a house of God, a temple, but God prevented him from doing so.  We may have a desire to do some particular thing for God, but we need to make sure that it is something God wants us to do before we do it.  David was nearly always at war during his time as king, and we can be certain that we are always going to be at war against evil in this lifetime.  Still, in spite of his failures, David was known as a man after God's own heart.  As followers of Christ, we are going to fail to remain true to God at times, but we must still live our life as people after God's own heart.  God's grace should always be at the center of our heart.  Next, we will look at 1Kings.

2 Samuel Reviewr continued

We learned of David mourning the death of Abner, even though he had once been David's enemy.  I believe Abner was honestly doing what he believed to be the right thing to do when he set Ishbosheth up as king, but it still wasn't God's will.  Sometimes,  Christians will oppose each other both thinking they are doing what God wants, though only one can be right.  That doesn't mean we shouldn't mourn them when they die, especially if we have been reconciled.  Then, we have the record of the death of Ishbosheth and the death of the two who killed him, who came to David expecting him to be pleased by their killing Ishbosheth.  I believe that they were looking for self-glory, but were killed instead.  David was always reluctant to act against his own people.  We should never take action against others seeking self-glory, and we certainly should not do so without making sure it is God's will that we do so.  After this all the people of Israel came to David and made him king.  David was thirty at the time, and several years had passed from the time Samuel under God's guidance had anointed him king.  Sometimes, it may take a while for us to fulfill the role that God has called us to.  The Philistines were still at war with Israel and David and his forces were still consistently defeating them.  We as Christians are always going to be at war with the world, but through faith in God we should be consistently defeating them at least spiritually.  David recovered the Ark of the Covenant, but didn't really want to have anything to do with it personally. He left it with Obededom for three months and God blessed Obededom.  When we take care of the things of God, He will bless us at least spiritually.   When David did have the Ark returned to Jerusalem, he danced in joy and was ridiculed by Michal.  We should never ridicule others for joyously celebrating in the Lord.  Because of her actions, Michal had no children.  Actions bring consequences in this lifetime, even if we are followers of Christ.  When David inquired of God about building Him a house, he was told that one of his descendants would do it, and that God had established the house off David to rule forever, and this promise was fulfilled through Jesus Christ, a descendant of David.  David continued to fight with and defeat the Philistines, just as we will never destroy all of the enemies of God today and will always be at war with them.  David also asked if any of Saul's descendants were alive, so that he might honor Jonathan by taking care of them, and only lame Mephibosheth remained, so David honored him by giving him his own land and having him eat at David’s own table.  We might have expected David to kill all of Saul's descendants since they could make a claim to the throne, but he was looking to honor them instead because of his relationship with Jonathan. Since we are all followers of Christ as Christians, we should never seek the destruction of other Christians, even if we are having problems with them.  David was not just at war with the Philistines, but with other countries as well,some of which he had attempted be nice to.  We can expect to have more than one enemy today as followers of Christ.  We are told of David's relationship with Bathsheba and his treachery in having Uriah her husband killed after she became pregnant when Uriah could not have been the father and David was unable to get him to place himself in a position where he could have been.  What began with a lustful look ended with a treacherous murder.  What starts as a small sin may often end with even greater sins.

2 Samuel Review

The first thing to acknowledge is that Samuel had died before events in the book of 2 Samuel occurred.   Still, his influence on the events was still felt, because he had anointed David as King.  Our deeds for God should outlast us.  We first find the record of the death of Saul and Jonathan, and the young man bringing what he thought would be good news to David, but David had never sought Saul's death.  I don't believe that the death of our worst enemy who dies without salvation should ever be considered good news to Christians.  The young man who had killed Saul and brought David the news was killed because he had killed God's anointed.  We will one day have to answer to God, and it is because of His mercy that we have forgiveness if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, since we in effect killed Him, God's anointed.  Instead of just assuming the role of king, even though he had already been anointed, David asked God if he should do so.  Even if we believe that God has called us to a particular place or service in the church, we need to pray and make sure that He has and that it is time to so.  God told David to go to Judah and he went.  When David sent word to Israel that Saul was dead and he had been anointed king by Judah and invited them to join him, Abner, Saul’s captain, opposed him.  He thought one of Saul's relatives should be king and not David.   We should not be surprised if some people oppose us as we do what God has called us to do today.  Abner, not God, anointed Ishbosheth, Saul's son, as king.  We need to make sure that we are never guilty of doing what we want instead of what God ordained.  This was the first time someone opposed David as king after Saul's death, but it wasn't the last.  We have a record of a battle between Abner’s forces representing Saul’s house and Joab’s forces representing David, and Abner’s forces lost.  They should have been united under David and fighting together against the Philistines instead of fighting each other.  We as Christians today should likewise be united in fighting against the enemies of God and never be guilty of fighting each other instead.  Asahel pursued Abner, and even though he didn't want to, Abner killed Asahel.  This would Abner lead to problems later on with Joab.  We also know that later Abner would be reconciled to David and placed in charge of his army, but Joab would murder him to avenge Asahel's death.  Though Abner had only killed Asahel in self-defense, Joab did not forgive him.  Some people today, even those who are or profess to be Christians refuse to forgive others, and some even do everything they can to destroy them. 

2 Samuel 24:17

2 Samuel 24:17 says, And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.  As the angel of the LORD was destroying the people of Israel, David confessed his sins to God and said that they weren't guilty.  He then asked that the punishment come on him and his father’s house.  If our sins are leading others to suffer, then we need to acknowledge our sins and pray that they no longer suffer because of them.  Verse eighteen continues, And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.  Gad, David’s wise man, told him to build an altar to God on the threshingfloor of Araunah, a proselyite according to Matthew Henry.  If we have truly repented of our sins, then our actions should begin to bring honor to God and we should worship at His altar.  Verse nineteen states,And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.  David did as God through Gad had commanded.  Though God's word may be spoken to us by others, we must recognize it when it is and act on it by the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse twenty adds, And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.  When Araunah saw David, the king, coming, he went out and bowed himself humbly before him.  When we meet Jesus, the eternal King, we must humbly bow ourselves before Him if we are to be saved.  Of course, we must first recognize Him for Who He is for this to happen.  Verse twenty-one says, And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.  Araunah asked David why he had come to him, and David said to buy his threshingfloor to build an altar to God so the plaque on Israel could be stopped.  Though we cannot buy salvation, we should be willing to pay whatever we can to bring the gospel of Christ to others.  Verse twenty-two adds, And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.  Araunah offered to give David everything he needed in order to make the sacrifice.  We might be willing to pay the price for someone's salvation, but salvation does not work that way.  Though salvation is free to anyone who accepts it, each person must give all that they have to God when they accept it.  Verse twenty-three continues, All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.  Araunah offered to give this all to David.  Again, we might be willing to give everything we have to ensure the salvation of others, but we cannot pay for their sins.  Only Jesus Christ can and each person must accept His sacrifice for themselves in order to be saved.  Verse twenty-four states, And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.  David told Araunah that he could not accept his offer, but he must pay the cost of his own sin.  As already stated, no one can accept salvation for us even if they are willing to do so, and we cannot buy it.  Still, we should give everything we own in this world to God as we use it to carry out God's work.  David paid Araunah for the threshingfloor.  Verse twenty-five adds, And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.  After David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, God stopped the plague on Israel.  If we as a nation were to sincerely individually and collectively repent and offer sacrifices to God and commit to doing His will, the plague of sin would be stopped. 

2 Samuel 24:10

2 Samuel 24:10 says, And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.  David realized that he had done foolishly by numbering the people of Israel, since God had not told him to do so.  Matthew Henry says David had numbered the people of Israel out of self-pride and because of this it was wrong.  Anytime we count attendance in church for reasons of self-pride, we need to repent for doing so, although I don't believe counting attendance is necessarily wrong.  Verse eleven adds, For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,  When David was up in the morning, God's word came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer and not to David himself.  As followers of Christ, we don't need a seer or anyone else to tell us God's will for our life.  God will speak directly to us.  Verse twelve continues, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.   God told Gad to go to David and tell him he had three choices as punishment for his sin.  Still, there is really only one choice for anyone to find forgiveness from sin, and that is by putting one's faith in Jesus Christ.  There are no more options.  Verse thirteen states, So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.  Gad told David that God gave him three choices for punishment, and two involved all the people of Israel more than they did David himself.  We cannot expect others to bear responsibility for our sins.  Only Jesus Christ can, and we must personally confess our sins and put our faith in Him to claim this forgiveness.  Verse fourteen adds, And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.  David said he didn't know for sure what the best choice was, so let him fall into the hand of God and not the hand of man.  Any of these things would decrease David’s self-pride.  God may at times today have to allow us to be defeated materially in order to decrease our self-pride, but if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, He will never allow us to be defeated spiritually.  All of these choices were for a limited time period and not forever.  Verse fifteen continues, So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.  God sent a pestilence on the people and seventy thousand men died.  We might think this to be an unfair punishment, but we need to remember that God sees things from an eternal perspective.  Verse sixteen says, And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.  When the angel of the Lord was about to destroy Jerusalem, God said that enough punishment had occurred and stopped him.  We need to understand that one angel carried out God's punishment of David and that the angel was totally obedient to God.  God has already pronounced the death of Jesus Christ on the cross to be enough punishment for the sins of mankind, and if we put our faith in Him, we will never face everlasting punishment of our soul.