Scripture Daily

Context No. 946 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 1:15-21: in context

15Bathsheba went in to the king in his room. The king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king. 16Bathsheba bowed and showed respect to the king. The king said, “What would you like?” 17She said to him, “My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your servant, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ 18Now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and you, my lord the king, don’t know it. 19He has slain cattle and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the army; but he hasn’t called Solomon your servant. 20You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals.”

David is very old and failing, and while he lingers, his son Adonijah has quietly declared himself king, throwing a feast with the army commander and the priest, but pointedly not inviting Solomon. The prophet Nathan and Bathsheba move to act. Bathsheba goes in to the dying king and reminds him of his own oath, that Solomon would reign after him. Adonijah is already acting as king and you do not even know it, she says; the eyes of all Israel are on you to say who will sit on the throne, and if you do not act, Solomon and I will be treated as criminals once you are gone.

The scene turns on a promise made and a promise nearly forgotten. David had sworn that Solomon would succeed him, but now, aged and withdrawn from the world, he is on the verge of letting the oath lapse by simply not acting while events run past him. Bathsheba's role is to bring the old commitment back before the king at the decisive moment, to say in effect, you gave your word, and it is about to be overtaken; will you keep it. There is a lesson in that alone, that promises do not keep themselves, and good intentions left passive get overrun by whoever is willing to move. Adonijah acts; David has to be roused to respond. Bathsheba is also protecting the vulnerable, herself and her son, who will be counted as rivals and killed if the succession goes the other way. She is not scheming for power so much as calling a fading king back to his own sworn word before it is too late to honor it.

Is there a commitment I made and have let go passive, drifting toward default because I have not roused myself to act on it?

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