David gave his final charge to Solomon and told Solomon to show himself like a man, just like the words to Joshua after the death of Moses (Joshua 1:6-9). ‘Be brave and courageous’. David stressed that unless Solomon is going to trust and rely upon God he will not prosper (v1-4).
David’s charge to Solomon and all his people is fully outlined in 1 Chronicles chapters 23 – 29 which we shall briefly recount here. In 1 Chronicles 23:1 We read, “So when David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.”
In chapters 23 to 27 we have a record of his allocation and instructions for the Levites, the priests, the musicians, the gatekeepers, treasurers and other officials as well as the military divisions. The individuals are all listed by name.
In chapter 28 David assembled all the officials, tribes and officers, the commanders, stewards, palace officials, mighty men and seasoned warriors. (v1) in v 2 to 21 we find that David, although old, rose to his feet and addressed them. This was no short speech; it was long and detailed. Considering he was frail, cold and virtually at the point of death and possibly confined to his bed for much of the time, this was an important event. He was going to encourage his people and particularly Solomon, his son. He did not even remain seated, but he stood up upon his feet. He addresses them gently – ‘my fellow Israelites, my people’. He speaks in humility of what God has done for him to even to choose him king unworthy though he is. He doesn’t complain that God has told him that he will not build the temple even though it was his great desire. He accepts God’s judgement and prepares to throw his lot behind Solomon and has made thorough preparations for the building materials and the manpower.
How important that we are prepared to accept God’s will and even if it doesn’t include us, we fully support those who God chooses. Those of us who are older should be an example and an encouragement to those who are younger. Often, we can be guilty of thinking them too young to bear the work of The LORD. We need them as much as they need us.
He exhorts them to be careful. This was a great responsibility, and it needed their full attention. They were to seek the Scriptures and God’s commands and carry them out to the letter. He hadn’t always done that, but he realises that it was vital. He had made mistakes, some very serious, but he has experienced the goodness and mercy of God and wants to assure those coming after him of God’s faithfulness. It is clear that David loves his God even though he was not permitted to build the temple, which was his great wish, he drew up the plans and arranged the details for a
future generation. Even though he had sinned, God had graciously had mercy on him and he instructs Solomon that he too must have a personal relationship with God – “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.” (v9,10) Sadly, history shows us that Solomon did not always seek God, despite initially starting out so well.
How we need to know God and serve Him – “To know God is to serve Him. All failure in service is the result of loss of vision of God, misapprehension of Him, due to some distance from Him.” (G. Campbell Morgan)
In v 2-21 David also addresses his people and tells them that he had it in his heart to build the house for God. He had made the plans, but God told him that he wasn’t to build it because he had been a man of war. He reminds them of their history and that God chose him out of his family and made him king over all Israel. He also tells them that Solomon is the chosen one to succeed him and that God has promised to be a father to him and establish his kingdom forever so long as he carries out His commands and laws unswervingly. He goes on to charge them before God to follow His commands so that they will possess the land as their inheritance forever.
David then gives the plans which God had put in his mind to Solomon for the building and the dedicated things to be used there even to the weight of the gold and silver for each article. There were also the instructions for the priests and Levites and the plan for cherubim of gold to overshadow the ark of the covenant. All the plans were written down as God had instructed him. He ends by encouraging Solomon again to be strong and courageous, not to be afraid or discouraged. He assures him that God will be with him, will not fail him nor forsake him until all the work is done. He assures him that the priests and Levites are ready and willing and that all the people will obey his command.
He certainly has confidence in the priests, Levites and people which shows the great respect they have for him and the fact that he has shown them clearly that this is God’s command for them. How important that we spread God’s word, and we trust that those who hear it will obey.
In 1 Chronicles 29:1-5 we have what seems to be a plea by the king to the whole of the people who he has gathered together. He begins by saying that Solomon, having been chosen by God is still young and lacking experience. He stresses that the task before him is huge because the temple is not for man but for God (v1). David had provided the gold, silver, bronze, iron and wood as well as the precious stones, marble and fine stone, all in large quantities. He tells them of his devotion in the building but also having given his own gold and silver from his personal treasures. All the work to be done by craftsmen. Now he is asking them to be willing to consecrate themselves to the LORD. He is asking them to put their lives on the line.
Remember, this is a sick, dying man who has just addressed them all previously but here he continues. He reminds them of all that he has given in preparation. Note he refers to the gold of Ophir (v4) as the purest gold and silver to overlay the walls. What a magnificent place this going to be! Magnificent though it would be, there is no comparison to our LORD Jesus Christ Himself. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:7 “…. the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” And 3:8 “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ”.
David has set the example and then asks, “Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?” (v5)
v6-8 “Then the leaders of the fathers’ houses, leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the officers over the king’s work, offered willingly. They gave for the work of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, into the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.”
Again, the people rejoiced at the example set by their leaders. Note it was a willing response, given freely and wholeheartedly to The LORD. It thrilled David to see it. (v9) The giving is reminiscent of the giving of the Israelites in
Moses’ day (Exodus 35:20-29). Leaders must always set an example. It is no use asking others to do what we are not prepared to do ourselves.
This leads to David’s prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God in v10-13. “Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honour come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. “Now therefore, our God, we thank You And praise Your glorious name.”
He continues with great humility (v14,15) – “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You. For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, As were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, And without hope.”
Once again, he confesses to God of his unworthiness and that of his people, even to the point of being able to give so generously. He acknowledges that everything comes from God, and they are only giving back what He has given. He admits that they are nothing in the sight of God. “O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand and is all Your own. “ (v16)
There is no doubt that this was the great ultimate scene of David’s life. He thanks God for everything including the future building of the temple. The leaders and the people were caught up in his enthusiasm and gave bountifully.
He concludes by saying, (v17-19) “I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here to offer willingly to You. O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your people, and fix their heart toward You. And give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision.”
A plea to keep the people’s hearts loyal to The LORD and then for Solomon.
And finally, in v20 – Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the LORD your God.” So, all the assembly blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the LORD and the king.
They all obeyed and worshiped The LORD and accepted Solomon as their future king.
The next day they made sacrifices and presented burnt offerings and ate and drank with great gladness in the presence of The LORD. (v21,22) What an offering it was! – a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, drink offerings and other sacrifices in abundance.
We don’t need a magnificent temple building; we come to Christ Jesus Himself and no longer do we need to offer sacrifices because Jesus Himself has made Himself the sacrifice once for all for our sins. This is a far greater sacrifice than all these myriads of animals.
The people then acknowledge Solomon as king for the second time and anointed before The LORD (v22) The first time was during Adonijah’s conspiracy (1 Kings 1). He sat on the throne in place of his father David although it may well have been and is almost certain that David was still alive at this point. It appears that Solomon was ‘governor’ until such time as David died. David himself had been anointed by Samuel long before he actually became king and Saul was still alive.
All pledged their submission to Solomon as and when he actually became king. (v24) “So the LORD exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.” (v25) It would be of great assurance to David to hear their allegiance to Solomon especially when Adonijah had tried to usurp the position.
It is clear that David was by no means perfect, but he recognised his failings and confessed them to God. Even though, what some might call great sin, in God’s sight sin is sin whatever form it takes, it is encouraging that God forgives us and restores us when we come in repentance. We do not need to think that God gives up on us. He can and will use us for His glory if we are fully yielded to Him.
He was described as a man after God’s own heart which is amazing when we consider his failings. We too can be men and women after God’s own heart as we seek to honour Him in everything we do. May we be people after the heart of God.
David gathered together the leaders, the priests and the Levites for the purpose of organising them to help Solomon with the work of building the temple and looking after the affairs of the kingdom. Levites of thirty years old and upwards were counted and numbered 38,000. 24,000 of these were to be in charge of the work of the temple and 6,000 to be officials and judges. There were to be 4,000 gatekeepers and 4,000 musicians to praise the LORD. David split up the Levites into divisions in accordance with the three sons of Levi – Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
Numbers 4:1-3 stated that a Levite was to be 30 yrs. of age when they commenced their service. However, David reduced the age to 20. In 1 Chronicles 23:24-27 David said that since The LORD had granted rest and they were no longer on their travels but in Jerusalem, there was no need to carry the tabernacle and articles used in service, so the work was not as arduous as it had been when they were moving around.
The duty of the Levites – “was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God, both with the showbread and the fine flour for the grain offering, with the unleavened cakes and what is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of measures and sizes; to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening; and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the LORD; and that they should attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the LORD.”
David recognized that the temple would require more workers – the Levites. They would not of course have to transport the ark anymore but there would be more work for them to do. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron would continue their work as priests. The Levites were the servants of the priest and of the house of The LORD, to stand at morning and evening to praise the LORD. No ordinary, menial task but a holy calling. They were in effect the helpers, often behind the scenes.
Let us remember that we may be called to do the unrecognised work for God, to work behind the scenes or simply not in the limelight. Whatever we are called to do let us do it with all our heart, mind and will to bring Glory to God, that should be the aim of all our service for the LORD.
The priests had to have an active concern for holiness, and to be able to discern between what was holy and what was not. This means that holiness had to touch the life of the priest; he had to represent God before the people.
The priest also had to represent the people before the LORD.
Having been involved in Christian music for over fifty years, I find it interesting that David appoints musicians to praise The LORD on the instruments he provided (made). Some translations of Amos 6:5 seem to suggest he invented the instruments. This would be some orchestra if four thousand were to play together, even if they were ‘bands’ of a thousand each!
We return to 1 Kings 2. David told Solomon of God’s promise to him, ‘If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ (v4)
We are to ’Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness …. and all things will be added to us.’ (Matthew 6:33)
Thus, we have a similar promise. How important those qualities are for us as Christians? Obedience to God’s word is essential. We have no other guidebook!
In verse 5-9, David also warns Solomon as to whom he can trust and who he must be aware of – Joab is in the latter category, but he also reminds him of Barzillai who loyal to him and to treat him well. Joab was loyal but ruthless, and he was cunning. He looked after his own ends. One wonders why David mentioned some murders which Joab carried out but not the one on Absalom. It is thought that, whilst David may not have forgiven him for it, he also knew that David himself had plotted the murder of Uriah. Thus, he was treading carefully. Shimei is mentioned too. He was a rebel, but David had promised (1 Samuel 16:5-13) not to kill him, so, he advised Solomon to let him die of old age.
David reigned over Israel 40 years, 7 years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem, and he passed away (v10-12). The term used in the books of Kings was ‘he rested with his fathers’ and was buried in the City of David. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 29:28, states, “So he died in a good old age, full of days and riches and honor.” One might have thought that his sins would have been mentioned, but we must not forget that he repented, and God forgave him. Solomon sat on his father’s throne and his kingdom was established, as was promised to David in 2 Samuel 7.
History tells us that David died in the year 970 B.C.
Adonijah came to Bathsheba. She asked him if he came in peace, he replied, “Yes” (v13-18). Adonijah stated that the kingdom was his, and all Israel had supported him. This was not true, only a small number had supported him, and he had tried to make himself king, but his followers had soon deserted him when Solomon was crowned king.. He acknowledged that David had made Solomon king, and he asked for a favour – for Abishag, the Shunammite, to be his wife.
Abishag had been one of David’s concubines, but on David’s death she had become a widow and free. It seemed a perfectly reasonable request. At least, he had not done like Absalom, who simply took his father’s concubines in his rebellion against his father. Bathsheba went to Solomon and made the request (v19-21). It is clear that Solomon was not impressed by Adonijah’s request. He knew what was behind it and said that Adonijah might as well be asking for the kingdom (v22-25). David had made Solomon king and had stated (1:52) that if he (Adonijah) proved himself a worthy man, not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die. Maybe Adonijah thought that Solomon was naïve, but it was clear to Solomon that Adonijah was scheming against him, and his request was wicked, therefore, he condemned him to be executed by Benaiah.
Abiathar, one of Adonijah’s followers, had been guilty of treason against God and David. Solomon told him to go to his own place, but he would not put him to death at that time because he had carried the ark of The Lord before his father and been in support in difficult times. Abiathar was a priest, but Solomon removed him from his position in fulfilment of the prophecy about Eli made around 100 years before (v26,27). (See 1 Samuel 2 and 3)
Joab heard the news, probably about Abiathar, and realised that he may be next because of his treason, so he went quickly to the tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar (v28-35). This was a common act where people went for refuge. Joab had not been a godly man, but he took advantage of the house of God for protection as a form of asylum, but to no avail. Solomon heard of it and sent Benaiah to bring him out. Joab refused and Benaiah went and told the king. Solomon told Benaiah to go and strike him down and bury him. Benaiah did as he was commanded and took Joab, and he was buried in Joab’s own house in the wilderness. Solomon knew that going to the horns of the altar was not for a guilty person, thus it was in order to put Joab to death (see Exodus 21:14). Solomon made Benaiah chief of the army in place of Joab, and Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.
Solomon sent for Shimei (v36-46) to settle what he had done. He had threatened the house of David (2 Samuel 16). Shimei had cursed David and thrown stones at him, but David had spared his life despite some of his followers wanting to take off his head. Solomon told Shimei that he could build a house in Jerusalem and live in it, but he must not go out anywhere. It was a form of house arrest or wearing a tag, with the proviso that if he crossed the Kidron brook, he would die. Shimei, acknowledged that this was fair, agreed to this and stayed there for three years until two of his slaves ran away to Gath. Shimei saddled his donkey and went to look for his slaves. Perhaps he went on the spur of the moment without giving it much thought. Solomon was informed that Shimei had been and returned.
The king told Shimei that he had evidence that Shimei had not kept the orders of the king, and had, therefore, brought his punishment on his own head. Solomon instructed Benaiah to kill Shimei. Thus, Solomon’s kingdom was established.
