Lesson. I like that word, penultimate. It means next to last. So this is lesson number 57, I think, if I remember correctly. Lessons from the life of David, the anointing of a new king. We've moved from Samuel, 1 and 2 Samuel now, into 1 Kings. 1 Kings, David had been through some rough waters, can we say that? David has been through some rough waters, but now in his closing days, there's more turbulence ahead. Don't you just hate that on the plane when they say, we're entering some turbulence? I never liked that at all. I used to sit in the plane, I used to worry because I thought I was thinking too much, you know. I'm thinking to myself, how much does this plane weigh? And I'm thinking, I have no idea. But, you know, let's say a hundred tons. I mean, it's a big plane, right? A hundred tons. And I'm thinking, now the plane's going bump, a bump, a bump. And I'm thinking, what's making a hundred ton plane go bump, a bump, a bump? I'm thinking, it must be a hundred ton force. And I'm thinking, a hundred ton force. I think, my word. I mean, what's out there? Of course, that's the wrong way to think about it, because it's not a 100-ton force pushing against it. The plane's just going with the air. And that's why I got that in my mind. I felt a little better, but not a lot. Turbulence, I never did like turbulence. And David here is not liking turbulence either in his life. It was his own doing, this turbulence, for the most part, these troubles. are breaking out, more serious troubles, due in no small part, may I say, to David's actions in the past. A fresh rebellion is threatening the stability of his kingdom here in his last days. We see a point one airline, a plot is born, a plot is born, David's descent. First Kings, chapter one, now King David was old and stricken in years. and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat. Wherefore, his servants said unto him, let there be sought for my lord, the king, a young virgin, let her stand before the king, let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord, the king, may get heat. So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel and found Abishag, the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. And the damsel was very fair and cherished the king and ministered to him, but the king knew her not." And we see this David's descent. is just marked here in these first four verses. David here is described as old and well-stricken in age, but if you add up his years through the text of Scripture, you find out he was in his late 60s. I mean, late 60s, old and well-stricken in years. Oh, dear. Well, medical care was a little more primitive back then, all right? And David did live a hard life. He'd been through some serious rough waters, some serious turbulence. He was thoroughly worn out. And David's health was deteriorating. So he couldn't keep himself warm, says in the scripture. I mean, I'm saying, well, get an electric blanket off Amazon. Oh yeah, they didn't have Amazon. They didn't have electric blankets either. Yeah, so there's a lot of things we take for granted, like my neck fan from Amazon. But anyway, a lot of things we take for granted that they didn't have. He couldn't keep himself warm. And his well-meaning, no doubt, no doubt well-meaning, his concerned servants have come up with a plan. with the plan. His servants said unto him, let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin. Let her stand before the king, let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom. A young maid to keep the king warm. This was, may I say, a bad plan. It was an ungodly plan, a bad plan. It was expedient. I mean, we've got to do something. Anything is something. Anything is better than nothing. How about some extra blankets? Or maybe some of those hot stones that they used to use in the pilgrim days. They put hot stones. I don't know. There could have been something other than this young maid. It was a bad plan, ungodly plan. It was ill-conceived. Sadly, David falls in line. He acquiesces. David gives his OK. David took the path, may I say, of least resistance. This is one of the snares, may I say, of old age. A snare of old age, and we're all getting there. Some of us quicker than others, I think. We find ourselves in the power of others. We find ourselves in the power of others. And the snare is that we find ourselves in the powers of others, but we fail to speak out. against that which is not right. You can't put your dad in this nursing home. I'm not going. Tough luck dad, off you go. Oh man, snare of old age. Here David takes a path of least resistance apparently, acquiesces to this plan. David here, may I say a little mini lesson, David should have consulted his prophets in addition to his physicians. His physician said, let us find a young maid to keep you warm. But the prophets would have said, David, that's not a good plan. But David does not consult his prophets. And David goes along. His descent is obvious here. And at the same time, David is descending Adonijah is ascending, Adonijah's ascent, point one B on your outline. It says, verse five, then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying, I will be king. And he prepared himself chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. Wow. Then the scripture takes a careful note that this was no coincidence that Adonijah is exalting himself as David is declining, Adoniah says, this is my chance, my opportunity. This is David's fourth born son. In order, they were Amnon, who was murdered by Absalom, Chelieb, of which we know nothing, the second born son, Chelieb. It's assumed by, I think, most commentators that he died in childhood at some point. But Chelieb, we don't, there's no record of him other than his birth and his mother. He was number two. Absalom was number three. We know what happened to Absalom when he rebelled against David, and when he killed his brother Amnon, he fled out of the country. And then David, at Job's insistence, brought him back, and he plotted and made himself great, and got himself 50 horsemen and chariots and rode throughout the cities with his long, fluid hair. Anyway, he's dead. So, number four. Adonijah, next in line for the throne. Now, where'd that come from, this lineage for the throne? Well, where'd the king come from? They got that idea from looking at the nations around them. The nations around them. It said, we want a king just like all the other nations. Well, they got the same idea from looking around them. They said, well, the line of lineage. It's the eldest son, second born, the eldest surviving son, Adonijah says, that's me. I'm number four. I'm next in line. Nothing is said of Adonijah earlier in scripture, but now we're told he's good looking. Adonijah, he exalted himself. It says, his father, verse six, had not displeased him at any time in saying, why hast thou done so? And he also was a very goodly man. He's good looking, just like his half-brother, Absalom. That seems to be, Apparently, an important quality. In Israel, for a king, we want a good-looking king. Somebody looks good on like a postage stamp or a coin. You know, we want a good-looking king. I mean, you know, we want to impress the other. You can't just see how the world has crept in. We want to impress all the other nations. A good-looking king. He followed after Absalom by birth, also by example. His ascent, Adonijah's ascent, is directly tied to David's descent by that word in verse five, then, then, Adonijah. David fell into moral decline, and God brought some consequences. I believe that one of the consequences of David's moral decline in accepting his young maiden to keep himself warm Was it adagenia? I think I've been an extra syllable there, but pardon me. He rebelled as a consequence. David had failed to discipline his children. We know that scripture takes note of that. His father had not displeased him at any time, verse six, saying, why hast thou done so? Now, first reading, you might think, well, Why hast thou done so? Why have you made yourself king in my place? You might think that that's referring to Adonai exalting himself. However, we find just a little bit later, David didn't know anything about it. So this clearly does not refer to his rebellion. This is referring to his upbringing, his upbringing. David was too easygoing in his father responsibilities. He was too distant from his children. And so here at Adonai, David has never corrected him. Why hast thou done so? His father had not displeased him at any time. Whatever you want, son. You can have it. Well, David is reaping the fruit of his laxity here. And I'll repeat it, probably for the last time, in no small part to his many wives. I mean, just think of it from a human perspective. David had an umpty-dumpty number of wives, and all sorts of kids run around the place. How much attention are you going to give to any one of them? I mean, maybe you're there for their birthday, a party. Hey, who's that? That's your father. Oh, yeah. Hey, Dad, what'd you get me this year? Wow, can I have a new horse? Jenna had always wanted a pony. I'm sorry, we never bought her a pony. We got her a My Little Pony. I guess that's the closest we came. I said, there's your pony. She never got a pony. She wanted to keep it in her bedroom. Out of denial, his father didn't say no. He got whatever he wanted, apparently. And he decides now, his time has arrived. David is dissenting. His father's weak. most likely getting near to death. The crown, Adige and I think, is mine for the taking. I'm next in line. Solomon, my brother, is only a youth. And Solomon was probably less than 20 years old at this time. We'll say he's 18. He's an adult. I don't know where we get that idea, you turn adult at 18. That was never the case when I grew up. I never became an adult suddenly when I turned 18. I mean, we just, of course, I grew up in the West, in Nevada. We never talked about those kind of things. There's a lot of stuff we didn't talk about that sort of seems to be part of the culture here. But in any case, I will say Solomon was 18 and Adonijah, no doubt, was certainly aware of the Lord's design that Solomon would rule. In fact, in 1 Kings 2, verse 15, Adonai says, quote, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign. Howbeit, the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother's, for it was his from the Lord. It was his from the Lord. So Adonijah knew that David's desire was that the kingdom go to Solomon, and he knew it was the Lord's desire, the Lord's wishes, the kingdom would go to Solomon. So Adonijah is proclaiming himself king before his father's even dead, was in distinct, direct defiance of both his father and God. But Adonijah's confidence was to be short-lived, shorter even, may I say, than his brother Absalom's. Psalm 33, words of David here, verses 10 and 11. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught. He maketh the devices, I want to say, he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever." Adonijah here is joined in his rebellion by some other folks. And he conferred, verse 7, and he conferred with Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and with Abathar, the priest. And they, following Adonijah, helped him. But Zadok, the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Shimei, and Ray, and a mighty man which belonged to David were not with Adonijah, and Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zareth. which is by Enrogel, and called all his brother, and the king's son, and all the men of Judah, the king's servant. But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty man, and Solomon his brother, he called not. Adonijah is joined in his rebellion by David's general, no less. David's general, Joab, and Abathar the priest. Now these two men, may I say, are looking out for number one. Themselves, they're not after Adonijah, they're after themselves. They're looking out for themselves, each looking out for their own interests. Disinterested loyalty. is a rare thing. It's rare for a person of power to be surrounded by people who are just loyal, loyal. President Trump has been trying to purge out the disloyal people from around him. However, I don't think he will ever be successful. It's the same way in our day as well. Those in high places, whether it be political, or business, those in high places are often afraid to trust those closest to them in power. Often afraid to trust those closest to them in power. I was reading an article, a thoughtful article on China and their designs on Taiwan. And this article was saying that President Xi was likely to invade Taiwan within two years. 27, 2027. However, they said he was afraid of his loyalty of his generals. Afraid of the loyalty of his generals. You see, there's corruption in high places. And his generals said, then, Syphe needs some money. They were supposed to go for the missiles, and instead, buying a car. Same way in Russia. Same way, you know, that's why we got a more or less free press that tries to call out some of these people, because it's the same way everywhere. Same way everywhere. You know, that's why even in the church, that's why we have checks and balances we watch carefully over every dollar that's spent, because no doubt you can recount some sad instances of people who have attempted to make themselves a little better off at the church's expense. Those in high places are afraid to trust those nearest to them in office. So maybe President Xi never will attack Taiwan because he doesn't trust his generals, his army. Adonijah's logic here is that of the world, 100% world. This is his logic. David is too old and too weak. to be king. I mean, he's like old history. He's old stuff. And Solomon, on the other hand, he's too young. I mean, Adonijah, I don't know how old, might be 20 years his senior, 30 years. But Solomon, he's not even 18 yet. I don't know how old he was, but he's too young. He's too inexperienced. I mean, what Israel needs is a king like me. So he has his chariots and his 50 men. Wow. Verse 5, he says, I will be king. He prepared him chariots and horsemen, 50 men. You got that idea, obviously, from his brother. And he's charging through the streets of Jerusalem. You know, you can't ride a chariot outside of Jerusalem because it's on top of a hill. So he's going around through Jerusalem riding his chariot with his 50 men right beside him. Wow, that's the plot. The plea, point two in your outline, the plea is brought forward. I'll begin in verse 11. Wherefore, Nathan spoke unto Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggath, doth reign, and David our Lord knoweth it not? Oh, the plan here. Adonijah's plot seemed foolproof. I mean, he actually had a lot of men behind him. It said he had a, the king's sons, and the king's servants, and all these other important people were coming to his big feast that he was gonna throw, where he's gonna announce himself to be king. It seemed like a foolproof plot, but God had a man and a plan. May I say? Nathan, the prophet, Nathan, the faithful prophet, he goes to Bathsheba, he says, hast thou not heard? Not only was David blinded to the rebellion, of his own son. Bathsheba was living in seclusion, knew nothing of what was going on. But Nathan has a plan given to him by the Lord. Bathsheba could remind David of God's promise. Out of his own promise, David had promised Bathsheba that Solomon would be son on the throne. That's his plan. Verse 12. Now therefore, come, says Nathan, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayst save thine own life and the life of thy son Solomon. Go and get thee in unto King David, and say unto him, Dist thou not, 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? Oh, wow. That's the plan. Furthermore, Nathan will come in to confirm the veracity, the truthfulness of Bathsheba's statement. Verse 14, Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee and confirm thy words. Here's the plea beginning in verse 15. Bathsheba You might note here, take note of this, Bathsheba not only, only now does she hear of the rebellion from Nathan the prophet, comes in, I mean, a lightning bolt out of the blue, Bathsheba's sitting there, you know, watching her soaps on television or whatever she was doing. And here comes Nathan the prophet, knock, knock, knock. I mean, it was the last news she was expecting. She agrees, like right away. Okay, I'm in. See, here's the order. Nathan gives the counsel. Bathsheba immediately responds. And then David. says, we got to do something right now. Call in, and he takes action. I mean, everybody's boom, boom, boom, boom. You see, each person involved here, Nathan and Bathsheba and David, they're all acting 100% voluntarily. It's of their own volition. No one ordered them. I mean, Bathsheba doesn't say, well, you know, I'm going to have to pray about that for a couple of days. That's too late. Adonijah is going to be king and all the people are going to be following him. David doesn't say, you know, let me think about that. David says, you know, go away, don't bother me, I'm not feeling well. Wow, they're 100% voluntary, but on a divine impulse, they accomplish God's predetermined will. God had already decreed that Solomon would be king. It's predetermined will. And so again, we see that meshing of human responsibility and divine sovereignty. And no one is forced or bent out of shape here. Bathsheba here goes into David, treats him with great respect. Verse 15, Bathsheba went unto the king, into the chamber, and the king was very old. And note this, Abishag, Sunamite ministered unto the king. Wow. Bathsheba goes in and she doesn't say, get that wretched wench out of your bedroom. I mean, she doesn't blow up. No doubt her blood pressure was increasing a little bit. There's Abishag there, but she expresses no outward displeasure. at Abishek's presence. She carefully reminds David of his oath regarding Solomon. Bathsheba bowed, did obeisance unto the king, verse 16, and the king said, what wouldst thou? And she, verse 17, she said unto him, my lord, thou squarest by the lord thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, quote, assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. And now behold, Adonijah reigneth, and now my lord the king thou knowest it not. And he hath slain oxen, and fat cattle, and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king. Abathar, the priest, and Jorab, the captain of the host. But Solomon thy servant hath he not called. Well, she goes into him, she carefully reminds David of his oath regarding Solomon, and she informs him of the rebellion that's like in progress right now. This feast that Adonijah was holding, no doubt had some religious overtones to it. You know, there's a lot of evil sometimes wrapped up in religious garb and he's slaying oxen and proclaiming himself, he's ready to proclaim himself as king. Note, what we just read was a masterful, did I say masterful? Did I say masterful again? It was a masterful demonstration of the performance and the power of persuasive reasoning. of persuasive reasoning, thanks to Nathan, who brought that news to Bathsheba, and thanks to the Lord, who gave him the words. Bathsheba presses upon David of the urgency, both for the nation and for herself and Solomon. I mean, hey, King David, we're toast. If Adonijah becomes king, we are dead. We are dead. Solomon is dead. I'm going to be locked up in prison for the rest of my declining days. The proof, verse 22. Well, I guess you didn't read verse 21. Let's read verse 20, 21. And thou, my Lord, O King, the eyes of all Israel upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my Lord the King after him. This is that masterful and powerful persuasion. Otherwise it shall come to pass from my Lord the King shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders. And lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. And they told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the Lord, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. For he has gone down this day, and hath slain oxen, and cattle, and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the hosts, and Abitar the priest. And behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save King Adonijah. But me, even me, thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, Hath he not called? Is this thing done by my lord the king? And thou hast not showed it unto thy servant? Who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? Wow, Nathan the prophet comes in. Enter Nathan. Nathan's gonna, using that phrase from carpentry, he's gonna hammer that nail home. Hammer that nail home. Now, Brother Doug will probably tell you not to do this if you're building a piece of fine furniture. You know, you got that nail and it's sticking out about a quarter inch, you take that hammer, you go, cop. Pow! And you nail that. I mean, you make a dent in the wood and that nail's in there. I think that's good construction if you're building like two by fours on a house. You want to hammer that nail home to make sure it doesn't come out again. But fine cabinetry, you shouldn't use nails at all. Right? Anyway, Nathan is hammering the nail home. Bathsheba's just left and Nathan comes in. Wow, this was smart. May I say this was more than a smart political maneuver. It indeed was a smart political maneuver on Nathan's part, but this was no snow job, you know, I've got this planned, you know, and if you come in and then I'll come in, boom, I'll confirm it, we'll get David to act. No, this is an act of obedience to the word of God. This is what the word of God requires. God's law required that matters of solemn importance be confirmed by one or more witnesses. be confirmed by one or more witnesses. Nathan is coming in to confirm the veracity, the truthfulness of what Bathsheba has just related. Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse 15. One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin in that he sinneth. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. Fact checking. Fact checking, check the facts. How much trouble could be avoided, both in the church and in our personal lives, if we took time to check the facts? We took time to get another witness, another witness. witness to the fact. Nathan here presses the dangers and he stresses the urgency required. He says the confidence of the rebels, the rebels, he says, Nathan says, they're confident in their success and their vile intent is revealed by who they excluded. Nathan says, if this was done with the king's knowledge and approval, without the king's knowledge and approval, it's sure proof that they intend to violently take over the throne. The pronouncement, verse 28, David, then King David, answered and said, call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. And the king swear and said, as the Lord liveth that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even as I swear 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. Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth and did reverence to the king and said, my lord, King David live forever. And King David said, so King David's going to give some orders here. But David's fully aroused here, fully aroused. Although he is weak and governing his family, David was never hesitant when the honor and glory of God was at stake. David acknowledges God's faithfulness, he reaffirms his oath, he determines Solomon will take his face. We see his proclamation, point three in your outline, verse 32. And King David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the Lord, and the king said unto them, Take with you the servants of your Lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon, and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him their king over Israel, and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save King Solomon. Then he shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne, for he shall be king in my stead, and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. The proclamation, we see the announcement on point 3A, decisive measures are taken. Orders are given to proclaim Solomon and put a public, a great public display. These actions are designed to frustrate and frighten Adonijah, frustrating their plans, preempting the people's support. David entrusted this transaction to godly men whom he had thoroughly proven in the Lord's service in the past. Their presence gives Solomon the authority needed to govern until his father's death. It was quickly, this group was quickly assembled out of necessity, but David makes it as large and as formal as he could, take with you all my servants, David said, empty the house out, take the elite guard, the palace guard, blow the trumpets, shout, God save King Solomon. Just a note on this, the transition of power is an uncertain time at best. Transition of power. Have we, you know, for many years in our country, we've taken that for granted. Transition of power for granted. It just was smooth, you know, one party stepped down, the other party stepped up, but that has not been the case recently. Transition of power is always an uncertain time. It would have been wise for David to have done some, given some thought to this earlier, but Better late than never. And so David takes action. The announcement, the approval, begin in verse 36. And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king and said, amen, amen. The Lord God of my lord, the king, say so too. Benaiah, speaking really for all the people, voices a hearty amen. This is an affirmation of faith. It means, may God make good. on his promise. May God make good on his promise. It's an affirmation not only of faith, it's an affirmation of fervent piety. David's plans, no matter how well conceived they were and how well carried out they were, they would not be successful. unless they had the blessing of divine providence. Hence the amen. Benaiah's approval is followed by a prayer. Verse 37, as the Lord hath been with my Lord, the King, even so be he with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my Lord, King David. Matthew Henry commented on this. He said, the wisest and best man in the world, the wisest and best man in the world desires his children may be wiser and better than he. The wisest and best man in the world desires that his children would be wiser and better than he. Wisdom and goodness are true greatness." Matthew Henry. You see David's actions, no time is lost. Verse 38, so Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and here's David's elite palace guards, the Cherithites and the Perithites, Pelethites, these are not like Canaanites. So don't get that mixed up. David's elite palace guard went down and caused Solomon to ride upon King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. And Sadaq the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet, and all the people said, God save King Solomon. And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them. The action, no time is lost. David's orders are executed immediately. And the proclamation resulted in great joy and rejoicing. Solomon's rule here is forced on no one except perhaps Adonijah. Yeah, Adonijah, that rule was forced upon him, but it forced on no one else. In the epilogue, beginning in verse 41, Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard of it as they made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he says, wherefore is this noise of the city being being in an uproar. What's happened, says Job, ever astute, thinking of himself, of course. And while he had spake, behold, Jonathan, the son of Abathur, the priest, came and said, Adonijah, it came, and Adonijah said unto him, come, come in, for thou art a valiant man, and bring us good tidings. Not this time. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, verily, our Lord, King David, hath made Solomon king. And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Charitites, and the Pelitites. And they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule. And Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. And they are come up from thence rejoicing. So the city rang again. This is the noise you've heard. Whoa. And also Solomon sitteth now on the throne of the kingdom. And moreover, the king's servants came to bless our Lord, King David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also thus said the king, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath given me one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. Wow, big news. And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid. They rose up. Yeah, they weren't such loyal guests where they took off. They left the steaks half-cooked and went every man his way. And Adonijah feared because of Solomon and rose, went, caught horn of the horns of the altar. Thinking that was a safe place, it was temporarily. But later on, Solomon actually kills someone. I forgot who it was. Maybe it was Adonijah. Holding to the horns of the altar. But anyway, so it wasn't a safe place. But Adonijah's there. And it's told Solomon, saying, behold, Adonijah feareth King Solomon. For lo, he hath caught hold of the horns of the altar, saying, let King Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword. His feast has ended in great consternation, all the guests fled, no one wanted to be labeled a traitor, you know, cover your face with those face masks, whatever, let's get out of Dodge here. Adonijah had the most to fear, did he not? So he caught hold of the horns of the altar. Adonijah, just as a note, had despised Solomon as being unworthy to be a guest. But now, he dreads Solomon as his judge. Isn't that the same with the Lord Jesus Christ? If you're not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, are you thinking the Lord himself is unworthy to be a guest into your life and your heart? Unworthy to be a guest, but then the day will come when you will dread his judgment. Adonijah sews for mercy from Solomon. Solomon's wisdom is seen. He says, verse 52, and Solomon said, if he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth, but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar, and he came and bowed himself to King Solomon, and Solomon said unto him, go to thine house. Solomon's wisdom even at age 18, or whatever age he was, is seen even here. He discharges his half-brother upon good behavior, good behavior. He was his elder brother. And as far as we can tell, this was his first offense. He gives him another chance. His chance, of course, is short-lived because Adonijah wishes to have Abishag, asks for Abishag as his wife, and Solomon recognizes it immediately as another play for the throne and has Adonijah put to death. So that's a view ahead. We're not going to study that because that's the life of Solomon. But our final lesson from the life of David will be next week. We'll see David's final charge to his son. I thought that was just by chance, by providence. Happened to be an appropriate topic for Father's Day. Amen? Let's talk to the Lord in prayer.