1 Kings 1:23

1 Kings 1:23 says, And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.  After Bathsheba told David what was happening, Nathan came in, as he had arranged to do before hand.  Verse twenty-four adds, And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?  Nathan first asked David if he had said Adonijah would succeed him as king.  He allowed David to make the decision instead of just telling him what was happening.  We cannot make the decision to accept salvation for anyone else, but we must always present accepting the gospel as what it is, their choice.  Verse twenty-five continues, For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.  Nathan then told David about Adonijah having a feast with several of David's key people and declaring himself king.  Sometimes today, in government or even in the church, someone will attempt to declare themselves ruler, even if they have not been selected by the people.   Verse twenty-six states, But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called.  Nathan then said that Zadok the priest, Benaiah, Solomon and Nathan himself had not been called.  If something is happening that isn't in accordance with God's will, we want to be like those who were with Nathan and not a part of the crowd who are acting against God's will.  Verse twenty-seven adds, Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?  Nathan then asked David if he had endorsed Adonijah to be king and not told Nathan.  Today, when we see someone attempting to grab a position of power, we as followers of Christ need to ask God if it is His will.  Verse twenty-eight declares, Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king.  David told Nathan to call Bathsheba, who had evidently left the room, and she came to him.  When there are decisions to be made today, whether they are big or little decisions, Godcwill always call Christians to come to Him for answers, and we simply need to come in faith.  Verse twenty-nine adds, And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress,  David told Bathsheba God had redeemed his soul out of distress, even though he had allowed himself to turn away from God when he first saw her.  We have to assume that after the death of their first child that God had forgiven them, and even if we start in disobedience to God's will, if we repent, we can be forgiven and restored to Him by asking forgiveness and putting our faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse thirty continues, Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.  David told Bathsheba just as he had sworn to God that Solomon would reign that day.  What we promise to God we always need to fulfill if we can, and we must do it by His power and leadership.  David said he had also promised this to Bathsheba, but his promise to God was the one that ultimately was of importance.  Verse thirty-one concludes, Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.  Bathsheba bowed in reverence to David and asked that he live forever, even though that is never going to happen in this lifetime.  Likewise, we as followers of Christ must bow in reverence to God, because He does live forever. 

1 Kings 1:11

1 Knigs 1:11 says, Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not?  Nathan spoke to Bathsheba about the fact that Adonijah without David’s knowledge had pronounced himself David’s successor as king, and asked if she as Solomon's mother had not heard this.  We, as God's people, need to be aware of what is going on in the church today, especially when it comes to the leadership of the church.  Verse twelve adds, Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. Nathan told Bathsheba to listen to his counsel in order to save her life and the life of Solomon.  Of course, the only advice that we can give anyone today in order to save their life spiritually is to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.  Verse thirteen continues, Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign?  Nathan told Bathsheba to go to David and ask him why Adonijah was reigning as king since David had promised her that Solomon would reign.  We actually have no record of David doing this, but he may have.  We may have no record of certain people hearing the gospel, but they may have.  This should never stop us from sharing the gospel though.  Verse fourteen states, Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.  Nathan said that whils Bathsheba was talking to David, he would come in and confirm her worlds.  Matthew Henry says that Nathan knew that it was God's will for Solomon, whom David had called Jedidiah, meaning Beloved of Jehovah, to be the next king, even if Solomon himself seemed to be somewhat indifferent to the situation.  We need to do all that we can in order to ensure that the people that God calls are really in place in the church.  Matthew Henry also said that Nathan seemingly coming to him almost by accident at the same time Bathsheba was there asking about Solomon would be seen as a sign from God that what she was saying was God's will, which it really was.  Verse fifteen adds, And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king.  Bathsheba went into David's chamber as Abishag ministered to his needs, and Bathsheba was not upset about this, but humbled herself before David.  Verse sixteen continues, And Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou?  After Bathsheba humbled herself before David, he asked her what she wanted.  Even though David had desired Bathsheba enough to have her husband killed, they were now old and evidently weren't that close at this time.  Of course,  David had not really followed God's design for marriage to start with.  Verse seventeen declares, And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.  Bathsheba said that David had sworn by the LORD his God that Solomon would succeed his as king.  Again, we have no record of this happening, but can assume that maybe it did. Verse eighteen adds, And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not:  Bathsheba said that Adonijah had assumed the throne and David didn't even know about it and therefore couldn't have endorsed it.  Once more, I say that we must know what is going on in the church today to keep it true to God's will.  Verse nineteen continues, And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.  Bathsheba said that Adonijah was throwing a feast for  Abiathar the priest, Joab the head of David's army, and all David’s sons except Solomon in attendance.  This would seem to indicate that Adonijah knew Solomon was supposed to succeed David.  It shouldn't matter to us how many people in a position of power are endorsing a certain person or position in the church today if we know that what they are doing is not in accordance with God's will.  Verse twenty states, And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.  Bathsheba said that all of Israel was looking to David for him to name his successor.  We must look to our King, Jesus Christ, to name the next leaders in the church today.  Verse twenty-one adds, Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.  Bathsheba then told David that if he didn't take action and name Solomon as the next king, that when he died, she and Solomon would be sseen as offenders to Adonijah who had claimed the throne. since Solomon was supposed to be the next king. We need to pray that Christians who are being true to God's word will never be seen as offenders in the church today, but if we allow error into the church, we may.  Verse twenty-two continues, And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.  As planned, while Bathsheba was still speaking to David,  Nathan came in to him as well.  It is always good to have fellow Christians stand with us as we are presenting God's truth to the world, especially if many others who profess to be Christians are teaching something else.

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.