Final Words

Christian and Bridget and the kids stayed the night. Today, Christian, Bridget and Riley hiked Horsetooth Mountain; I went to Windsor to help with the LEAP booth at the Harvest Fest. Caed and Eliana came with me and then Debbie met up with us and took the grandchildren around some of the activities in the park. An afternoon storm ended our outside activities.

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… David said, “My time to die is near. Be a good and strong leader.  Obey the Lord your God. Follow him by obeying his demands, his commands, his laws, and his rules that are written in the teachings of Moses. If you do these things, you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go.  And if you obey the Lord, he will keep the promise he made to me….” 1 Kings 2:-4 NCV

The transfer of power from David to his successor was a rocky one. We see the rebellion of Absalom and then Absalom’s brother Adonijah puts himself forward as King when David was on his deathbed. David then has Solomon anointed as King and the rebellion of Adonijah is put to an end.

As David nears death he gives his final commands to Solomon for his personal life, rule and how to deal with “unfinished” business of the kingdom and his reign. This is similar to but different from the transfer of power from Moses to Joshua. David is King with the promise of the Lord of a family dynasty. This is his son as well as successor.

The summary of David’s instructions about the character of his rule was simply, “be a good and strong leader.” For a leader how you lead is an integral part of the strength of your leadership. You and be strong and ruthless, or good and weak. But having strong character along with strong leadership is an important combination. It was one that David knew Solomon would need to secure a safe and peaceful reign.

The next part of David’s instructions were related to Solomon’s success dependent upon obeying the law of Moses and the instructions and rules of the Lord. Success was not just reflected in the character and strength of leadership but on having the Lord’s favor and blessing.

Finally, we see that David reminded Solomon that obedience to the Lord would secure the promise of the Lord to future generations. “…obey the Lord, he will keep the promise….‘If your descendants live as I tell them and have complete faith in me, a man from your family will always be king over the people of Israel.’ (1 Kings 2:4 NCV)

As the reign of Solomon unfolds we see that the Lord did honor Solomon with unprecedented peace and an expansion and prosperity of Isreal that was never replicated. However, Solomon in the final years of his reign took the times and blessing of the Lord for granted. Compromise led to a divided kingdom. The Lord in His mercy allowed a descendant of David to rule over one tribe, the tribe of Judah.

In the end we see the Lord keeping His promise, even though Solomon failed. The lesson from the successes and failures recorded in the Bible reveal that obeying, following and trusting the Lord results in peace and unity, and even when failure occurs that Lord is faithful to accomplish His plan through those He chooses and will be allow the Lord to use them for His purposes.

We may not be rulers over a kingdom, but we have responsibilities in leadership roles that come our way, to a family and in our circle of influence. We can taken heart and warning from the life of David and Solomon and the history of God’s people.