^“Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶ His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. ⁷ He conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar, and they supported Adonijah. ⁸ But the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the prophet Nathan, and Shimei, and Rei, and David’s own warriors did not side with Adonijah. ⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fatted cattle by the stone Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, ¹⁰ but he did not invite the prophet Nathan or Benaiah or the warriors or his brother Solomon. ¹¹ Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king and our lord David does not know it? ¹² Now therefore come, let me give you advice, so that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then is Adonijah king?’ ¹⁴ Then while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.” 1 Kings 1:5-14

Solomon is appointed by David to be king, appointed over his brother Adonijah, for no apparent reason, just like Adonijah appoints or “exalts” himself over others to become king. Adonijah is the only living son of the first four sons born to David, and so assumes that the kingship is rightly his – and so he acts on his own account, even before David is dead. Solomon is appointed by others, and remains a passive figure appearing to have the will of G-d on his side. But, this is the way that the bible works things out. No matter how humans scheme, G-d’s will is worked out, often to our and their surprise. Recall these stories: Joseph is sold into slavery by his own family; Abraham is told to kill his only son, the one through whom the promise of generations were to come; a shepherd boy kills a giant; G-d’s son is put on a cross. No matter what we might think, G-d will do as G-d will do – we just need to hang on for the ride.

Pastor Dave