Solomon Trusted God
Some reflections on a part of the story in 1 Kings Chapter 1.
Insights
Right at the very beginning of 1 Kings is this conflict over who will we be the next king of Israel after David.
Even though God and David had promised the throne to Solomon, Adonijah (one of David’s sons) tries to declare himself king, and gets the support of a couple important people in David’ government.
Nathan the prophet and Solomon’s mother, Bathsheeba, go talk to David, and David ends up resolving the issue and making Solomon is king.
There’s something notably missing from this drama over who gets the throne. We don’t find any mention of Solomon fighting to claim what’s rightfully his. We don’t hear about Solomon protesting, or complaining to his father.
The Bible doesn’t appear to say anything about Solomon’s reaction to all of this, but I’d like to think that this was an act of faith on Solomon’s part. That Solomon trusted God, and his father David, to deliver on the promise that he would be the next king.
How else would he keep his composure? If I were Solomon, I think I would have been freaking out. I was supposed to be made king, and now my brother has claimed that title and has powerful supporters. My father hasn’t done anything about it–he’s grown so weak, and it seems like it’s getting more and more difficult to arouse his interest in anything. If Adonijah keeps his position, I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me. I doubt Adonijah is just going to ignore a potential threat to his rule and leave me alone… What a huge reversal in fortune! From “next king” to “enemy of the state”.
Reflection
Perhaps, in my day today, there are promises that I doubt whether God will deliver on…?
- What am I troubled about today?
- I am fearful of my depression. It has proven recently to be so tenacious when I try to relieve it, and so unexpected when I can’t find obvious problems that are causing it.
- What promises has God made me, or rather what qualities do I know to be true of God, that might apply to this problem?
- I don’t expect God to snap his fingers and cure me of depression forever.
- I don’t even expect God to immediately bring me out of an episode of depression just because I ask him to.
- What I do know to be true of God, though…
- He brilliantly outmaneuvers evil, and finds ways to bring blessings out of hardships.
- Sometimes the hidden blessings appear right away, or just soon after the hardship.
- Other times they are developed over the years to culminate in a beautiful and long-awaited triumph.
- Jesus empathizes. He sees the deep hurt I feel from depression, and his eyes tear up for me. This is not what he wanted for me, for his creation.
- He is by my side in my pain.
- He doesn’t belittle my pain by telling me to ignore it and to instead focus on future blessings that may come.
- He merely sits with me to show me that I am not alone, that my pain does not go unnoticed.
- He brilliantly outmaneuvers evil, and finds ways to bring blessings out of hardships.
Prayer
Father, thank you for who you are. Thank you for your empathy, and thank you for continually out-witting the enemy. I praise you, Lord, for the work you to do to fix this broken world, and to fix my broken heart.
Don’t let me be deceived by the awful trials the enemy brings against me–don’t let me think for a moment that you don’t care, or that you are standing over me, looking at my suffering approvingly.
Help me find some comfort in you today if I do face depression and low motivation. Low motivation leaves me feeling so hopeless, discouraged, and powerless, as I think Solomon must have felt when his brother declared himself king. These challenges are too much for me, but not for you. You made Solomon king just as you promised. And I know that your work will continue on my heart and in my life regardless of how motivated or productive I am today.