Scripture Daily

Context No. 4303 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 1:1-8: in context

1Now King David was old and advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he couldn’t keep warm. 2Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king. Let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm.” 3So they sought for a beautiful young lady throughout all the borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4The young lady was very beautiful; and she cherished the king, and served him; but the king didn’t know her intimately. 5Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?” and he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom. 7He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him. 8But 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.

As David grows old and feeble, his son Adonijah decides to seize the throne. He exalts himself, saying, I will be king, and gathers chariots, horsemen, and runners to make a show of royalty, winning over some of the king's men. Notably, the text observes that his father had never disciplined him, never once asking, why have you done this? Adonijah simply took for himself what he wanted, without waiting for God or his father to appoint him.

What stands out is Adonijah's self-exaltation: I will be king. He did not wait to be appointed; he grasped for the throne by his own initiative, promoting himself and gathering a following. There is a self-seeking here that grasps for position and honor rather than receiving them from God's hand. And the note about his never being corrected hints at how unchecked self-will grows into brazen self-exaltation.

We can do as Adonijah did, promoting ourselves, maneuvering for status and honor, grasping for what we want rather than receiving what God appoints in his time. But self-exaltation is a precarious thing; the one who lifts himself up is not the one God establishes. The better way is humility, receiving position and honor from God's hand rather than seizing them by our own.

Am I tempted, like Adonijah, to exalt myself, grasping for position, status, or honor by my own initiative rather than receiving what God appoints in his time, forgetting that the one who lifts himself up is not the one God establishes?

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