David had made Solomon king, he now gives him instructions and guidance. This is based on his own vast experience and his walking with the Lord. Solomon is to act like a man and to live in obedience to the Lord observing all his commands, as written in the Law of Moses. These are key principles that we would do well to observe today. We are to act like men, ie we are to be the people God has made us to be. God created us to have dominion. Now sin has corrupted all that so that we tend to go one of two ways, and sometimes a mixture of them both. On the one hand we become self-seeking, exploiting others. On the other we become weak and enfeebled. Instead we are to live in a godly manner, using whatever authority and abilities we have for the good of others, building others up, executing justice and mercy. And the key guidepost in doing all this is to follow the commands of the Lord as they are written down. Today our society, and much of the church, is doing the exact opposite.
If we do these things then we will prosper. And Solomon would never fail to have a successor on the throne.
David then urges Solomon to make sure that Joab pays for his behaviour, mainly the shedding of innocent blood. This does lead one to ask why David did not do something himself? Maybe it is just another sign of the weakness of all men. No matter how good a leader we may or may not be, we will always have failings, there will be somethings that we do not address properly. Conversely, the sons of Barzillai are to be shown kindness for their standing by David during the Absalom insurrection. Shimei, he of the stone throwing tendency, is to be killed. Again, the morality of David in all this is questionable at best.
David then died.
No comments:
Post a Comment