In this sermon, the speaker discusses the importance of seeking God's wisdom and guidance in making important decisions. He emphasizes the biblical instruction to trust in the Lord and not rely on our own understanding. The speaker also mentions the presence of men available to pray for those seeking God's help. The sermon then transitions to the topic of the passing of a glorious era, specifically the end of the era of King David. The speaker expresses admiration for David's character and suggests that living during his time would have been exciting. The sermon concludes with a reference to a story from the book of First Kings, where a young virgin is sought to provide warmth for an elderly king. The speaker explains the cultural belief that the younger person's presence could bring strength to the older person.

Let's turn now in our Bibles to 1 Kings, chapter 1. The passing of a glorious era. And there's always something sort of sad and somber to come to an end of an era. And this has been the time of David. A very exciting person in the Bible. A person whose life really challenges us. David, a man's man. I think that, of course, if I had a preference of living any time in history, I would have lived at the time of Christ. I would have traveled with him and enjoyed just being among the many disciples that followed Jesus. But if there was a second choice, I think I would love to have traveled with David. He is the kind of fellow that excites me. When he speaks of the various things, the leaping over a wall and with the strength of the Lord, stuff like that, I sort of like that. And I would like to have been one of David's companions. And it doesn't seem that men like David should grow old. That they should become feeble. But such is the case. Now King David was old and stricken in years. That phrase, stricken in years, is bent over by the years. He's now a feeble old man. I don't like that. I don't like to think of him as that. I like to think of him in the days of his youth and in the days of his daring. He was such a daring fellow. But now he is old and he is bent over with years. He's not really that old. He's only 70 years old. And yet he had lived such a hard life, such a rugged life, that it is now beginning to take its toll upon him physically. And they covered him with blankets, clothes, but he got no heat. The circulation was not good. Feet were cold. Hands were cold. And the body wasn't able to generate the heat. And so his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord, the king, a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. Now it was a common thought that if a older, more feeble person would sleep with a younger person, that somehow they drew strength from that younger person. This was something that was sort of one of those old wives tales up until just really not too many years ago. When modern medicine began to help us understand more the physical body and all, people thought that if you would sleep with someone who was stronger than you were, that somehow the weaker person drew strength from the stronger. And so the idea was to have this beautiful young virgin come in and just cherish David, and sleep with David, so that he could draw strength from her. And so they sought for a fair damsel throughout all of the coast of Israel. And they found Abishag, the Shumanite. And they brought her unto the king. Now the damsel was very beautiful, and she cherished the king, and ministered to him, but he knew her not. She was there, she would sleep with him, but there was no physical kind of a relationship. And then one of David's sons, in fact his oldest living son, the younger brother of Absalom, Adonijah, the son of Haggath, now Haggath was also the mother of Absalom, exalted himself. That immediately causes our minds to think of the scripture that says, he that exalteth himself shall be abased. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. The interesting paradox of life, in the spiritual sense. The way up is down, and the way down is up. He that exalts himself will be abased. He that humbles himself will be exalted. Humble thyself, the scripture tells us, in the eyes of the Lord, and He will lift you up. If you want to be great in God's kingdom, then learn to be the servant of all. And so Adonijah is exalting himself. And he is saying, I will be king. And so he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. So Adonijah, like his brother Absalom, is planning to take over the kingdom from his father David. And without David's knowledge or permission, Adonijah takes it upon himself to succeed his father to the throne. And here is an interesting scripture, and it certainly gives us an insight into David. His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, why have you done that? And he also was a very handsome man, and his mother bare him after Absalom. David was an extremely poor disciplinarian. In fact, he didn't discipline his children, and that is why there were so many problems. No wonder Solomon had so many scriptures that dealt with discipline. As Solomon said, you know, that the iniquity of the world is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of instruction driveth it far from him. Speaks about the child that is not reproved will bring shame to his mother. And so Solomon had a first-hand experience with this, watching his father David and realizing what a poor disciplinarian David was, and the consequences in his family. His own children rising up in rebellion against him. And so that will give you a little understanding when we get to Proverbs and we find Solomon talking of the importance of disciplining children. David didn't do that. Never once did he say to Adonijah, son, why did you do that? He just sort of let him go. And a child left to himself will bring reproach to his mother. And so he conferred with Joab, who was, of course, David's general, and with Abiathar, the priest. And they following Adonijah helped him. So they sort of conspired together. Joab, realizing that David is old and will soon be passing on, seeks to sort of fasten himself to the rising star. It looks like Adonijah's star is rising. And so he pledges allegiance to Adonijah, as does the priest Abiathar. And they are trying to sort of position themselves for when David died, that they would still be on the inside of the government. But Zadok, the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Shimei, and Reah, the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. So it was sort of a division there. Adonijah slew sheep, oxen, fat cattle, by the stone of Zohaleth, which is by En-Rogel. Now En-Rogel was a well that was down near where the Kidron Valley meets the valley of Hinnom. The well is still there. It's about 125 feet deep. The water is crystal clear. However, not cold. Sort of a warm water, but good water. And it's a large flat place, and a place where many people could gather. And so they were down there by this well of Rogel. And he called his brothers, the king's son, and all of the men of Judah, and the king's servants. But Nathan, the prophet, Benaniah, the mighty men, and Solomon, his brother, he did not call. So he called those that he felt would support him. Those of which he had questioned, especially Solomon, he did not call. Wherefore, Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. And he said, Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Hagath, does reign, and David, our Lord, doesn't know it? Actually, he set himself up down there as the king, and Nathan is reporting to Bathsheba what's going on, and David doesn't know it. Now therefore, he said, Come and let, I pray thee, give you counsel, that you may save your own life, and the life of your son Solomon. Adonijah realized that the greatest threat to his becoming king was Solomon. And that had Adonijah taken over the throne, he would have slain Solomon in order to remove any rival to the throne. So Nathan is saying, Let me give you some counsel, that you might save your own life, and the life of your son Solomon. Go and get unto the king David, and say unto him, Did you not, my Lord, O king, swear to your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and shall sit upon my throne? Why then does Adonijah reign? Now we don't have any place in the scripture that tells us that David made this covenant with Bathsheba, but evidently he did. He assured her that after his death, her son Solomon would reign in David's stead. And so, while he said, You're still talking to him, while you're saying this to him, I will also come in after you, and I will confirm the words that you say to David. So Bathsheba went into the king's chamber, and the king was very old, and Abishag the Shumanite ministered unto the king. And Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance unto the king, and the king said, What would you? And she said unto him, My lord, thou, that's an interesting thing to her husband, my lord. Women, how about that, you know. Sarah was commended because she called her husband Abraham, Lord. You swore by the Lord, thy God, unto your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. David had made an oath to her. He had sworn by God that Solomon would reign on the throne after David. And now, she said, Behold, Adonijah reigns. And now, my lord, the king, you don't know that. And he has slain oxen, and fat cattle, and sheep in abundance. And he's called the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host. But Solomon, your servant, he is not called. And you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord, the king, after him. Adonijah is seeking to usurp. David, they're all looking to you to announce who is to be king after you. And you swore, remember, to me by God, that it would be Solomon. And so, otherwise, she said, it will come to pass that when my lord, the king, shall die, or sleep with his fathers, that I and my son, Solomon, will be counted offenders. That is, we will be put to death. Adonijah will count us as enemies and put us to death. And while she was still talking with the king, Nathan, the prophet, also came in. And they told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan, the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. Now, at this time, Bathsheba exited the room. And David is now talking with Nathan, his close friend. Nathan said, My lord, O king, did you say that Adonijah would reign after you and he should sit upon your throne? For he has gone down this day and has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance. And he's called all of the king's son and the captains of the host, Abiathar, the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him. And they're saying, God save King Adonijah. But me, even your servant and Zadok, the priest, and Ben-Ananiah, the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon have not been called. Is this done by my lord, the king? And you didn't show it to me, lord? David, is this what you intended? I mean, was this in your mind and heart to do? You didn't show it to me, David. And you have not showed your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord, the king, after him? Then King David answered and said, Call Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. And the king swore and said, As the lord liveth. And this is when he swore by God. And this is the way they would swear. They'd take an oath. As the Lord lives, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress. What an interesting statement. The Lord who has redeemed my soul out of all distress. This is one of the wonderful things, one of the wonderful benefits of being a child of God. He redeems our soul out of all distress. Even as I swore to thee by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, Assuredly, Solomon your son will reign after me. He'll sit upon my throne in my place. Even so will I certainly do this day. Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth and did reverence to the king and said, Let my lord, King David, live forever. And King David said, Call me Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaniah, the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord. Cause Solomon, my son, to ride upon my own mule and bring him down to Gihon. Now the king had his own special steed, a mule, and no one was to ride on that at the really fear of death. It was reserved only for the king. And thus to have Solomon riding on it was a tremendous statement to the people. It was David actually seceding the throne to Solomon by allowing Solomon to ride on his own mule. Bring him down to Gihon, that is the spring. And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him as the king over Israel. And blow the trumpets and say, God save King Solomon. So David is now setting up the coronation of Solomon down there by the spring of Gihon. And then you shall come after him, that he may sit upon my throne, for he shall be king in my stead. I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. So Benaniah, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king and said, So be it. And the Lord God of my lord the king say, So also. And as the Lord hath been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David. So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, Benaniah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherithites and the Pelethites, and they seem to be the royal guard, went down and caused Solomon to ride upon King David's mule, and they brought him to Gihon. And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon, and they blew the trumpet, and all of the people said, God save King Solomon. They have been doing some interesting archaeological excavations down by the spring Gihon, and they have discovered the platform, the rock, where Solomon was anointed king. And now going over to Israel, you can go down and you can see the very place where Solomon was standing, when Zadok the priest poured the oil over him, anointed him king as Israel, and the people cried, God save the king. We plan in April, when we go over to Israel, to go down to this very site. It's just recently opened. It's a very exciting place, when you realize that you're looking at the very platform upon which Solomon was standing, when the oil was poured over, and he was anointed king over Israel. And the people came up after him, and the people were playing with their pipes, and they rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth was split with the sound of them. And Adonijah and the guests that were with him heard it, as they had made an end of their eating. And Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, and he said, What is this noise? The city is in an uproar. And while he was yet speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came, and Adonijah said unto him, Come in, for you are a valiant man, and you bring good tidings. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily, our lord, king David, has made Solomon king. And the king hath sent him with Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Ben-Ananiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherithites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and they are come up from their rejoicing, so the city is ringing again, and this is the noise that you hear. And so Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom. And moreover, the king's servants came to bless our lord, king David, saying, God, make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also thus the king said, Blessed be the lord God of Israel, who has given me one to sit upon my throne this day, my eyes even seeing it. And all of the guests that were with Adonijah were fearful. They rose up. They went every man his way. The party is over. People are splitting. The news that Solomon has been anointed king, Adonijah realizes that his ruse has failed. And of course, those that had joined with him also came to that same recognition. And so Adonijah feared because of Solomon. He arose and he caught hold of the horns of the altar. Now, the altar had horns on the four corners. And it was with these horns that they would bind the sacrifice to the altar. And when the sacrifice was made, they would take the blood of the sacrifice and put it on the horn of the altar. And it was the feeling, it was the general idea that the horns of the altar were a place of refuge. Where if you were in trouble, someone was pursuing you. You could find safety and refuge there at the horns of the altar. Holding on to the horn of the altar. And so Adonijah, because of fear, ran to the altar and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. And he said, let King Solomon swear unto me today that he'll not slay his servant with a sword. Now, it was Adonijah's intention of killing Solomon. But now he is pleading for mercy from Solomon. And Solomon said, if he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth. But if wickedness will be found in him, he shall die. So gave him the choice. Behave yourself, do what's right, nothing will happen to you. But if you begin to show mischief, then it's your life. So King Solomon sent and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, just go home. Now, the days drew nigh that David should die. And he charged Solomon, his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. Now, Solomon was probably what we would call a sissy. He grew up in the comforts of the palace around the women. Whereas David was a man's man, every bit. But Solomon, sort of soft. And not a warrior at all, but just sort of a softy. And so David says, now, look, be a man. Show yourself a man and keep the charge of Jehovah thy God to walk in his ways. Now, this is what he's told him to walk in his ways, keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies, as was written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and whethersoever you turn yourself. Now, David had written in Psalm 1, Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law does he meditate day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. David is saying, follow the commandments, the statutes, the judgments, the testimonies of the Lord. That is, go back, read the law, the commandments of the Lord, and then you will be prosperous sitting on the throne. We read the same in Joshua, as Moses is giving the charge to Joshua. He commands him much as David is commanding Solomon. And again, promising prosperity to him if he will just keep the way and the laws, the judgments, the testimonies, and the commandments of the Lord. You see, the law of the Lord is perfect. As we said last Wednesday night, God has not forbidden us to do one decent thing. If it's good, if it's uplifting, if it'll make you a better person, God said, do that. The only thing that God has forbidden are things which by their very nature are destructive. Things that will tear you down, things that will destroy you, things that will destroy those around you. The law of the Lord is perfect. And so David is encouraging Solomon, now keep his judgment, keep his law, keep his commandments, keep his testimonies that you might prosper. That the Lord might continue his word that he spoke concerning me saying, notice if your children take heed to their way and to walk before me in truth with all of their heart and with all of their soul, there shall not fail thee, said he, a man upon the throne of Israel. There is a group that are known as British Israelites. And they take the promise of God to David that there would never cease to be one of his seed sitting upon the throne. And they in their theories say that when the Babylonian kingdom came and defeated Israel, that one of the descendants of David fled to England with other of the Jews and as they were dispersed, they sort of scattered all over Israel. And that the king of Israel, or they mean the king of England today, or the queen, is a direct descendant of David. And thus, there has not ceased be the monarchy actually transferred to Britain. And that the monarchy in Britain is actually related to King David. A lot of speculation and a lot of imagination and a lot of conjecture. But they say that the tribes scattered. And so the tribe of Dan ended up in Denmark. And thus, you call the people Danish or Danish, but spelled Danish. And the word ish in Hebrew is man. And so Danish would be Dan's man. And so those nations where they have sort of the ish on the end are the various tribes of Israel that scattered around. The Swede-ish, the Fin-ish, and the Fool-ish. So, the whole theory. What they do not recognize is that the covenant that God made with David was a conditional covenant. The Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me saying, If your children take heed to their way, they walk before me in truth with all their heart, with all their soul, there shall not fail, said he, a man on the throne of Israel. The truth of the matter is they did not keep the ways of the Lord. They forsook, even Solomon himself at the end of his life, forsook the ways of the Lord. And thus, it was a conditional promise. And people need to note that. In reality, the promise is to be filled and will be fulfilled in the Messiah, in Jesus. He will be the root out of the stem of Jesse. All right, you mean the stem, the branch out of the stem of Jesse. And that he will sit upon the throne of David to order it and to establish it in justice and in righteousness from henceforth even forever. And of course, the promise made by Gabriel to Mary is that that child that was to be born of her would sit upon the throne of his father David. And he would actually reign forever. So we are still looking for the fulfillment of that promise. And God will keep his covenant with David. And Jesus will reign over the throne, on the throne of David. And he will reign as we will sing forever and ever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So, the conditional promise. David's seed, when Israel or Judah fell to Babylon, it brought an end of David's dynasty. An end of the monarchy over Israel. And it will not be established again until Jesus comes and sits upon the throne of David. Now, David is giving these instructions to Solomon. He said, Moreover, you know also what Joab the son of Zariah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether. Joab had killed both of these men. It was cold blood and murder. These men were a threat to Joab. They were both generals in the armies of Israel. And against David's wishes and commands, Joab took it upon himself to murder these two men. Now, David, at this point, felt himself too weak to deal with Joab. Joab had a lot of men who were serving under him, who were loyal to him. And David felt that he wasn't able to really deal with Joab, though he should have been dealt with because of his murders. The law would require him to be dealt with. So David is now instructing Solomon to deal with him. You know what he did to the captains of the host of Israel, who he slew. He shed the blood of war in peace. It wasn't in a battle. It wasn't in war. And he put the blood of war upon his girdle and about his loins and his shoes that were on his feet. Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and don't let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. And so ordering Solomon to take care of Joab. But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at your table. For so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother. And behold, you have with you this Shammai, the son of Gerar, the Benjamite of Baharim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day that I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at Jordan. I swore to him by the Lord saying, I'll not put you to death with a sword. Now therefore, hold him not guiltless. You're a wise man. You know what you ought to do with him. But don't let his gray head bring down to the, but bring it down to the grave with blood. Now, when David was fleeing from Absalom, you remember this Shammai was the guy that was cursing, throwing rocks, throwing dirt in the air. And David's, one of his captains said, let me go take his head off, you know. And David said, no, maybe God put it upon his heart to curse. When David came back from his fleeing to Mahanaim, this fellow was there to meet David pleading for his life saying, I was a fool. I shouldn't have said that and so forth. And David swore to him that he wouldn't kill him. But he realizes that this fellow Shammai has a rebellious heart. And so he is saying to Solomon, keep your eye on this fellow. Watch him because he has the spirit of rebellion and you may have trouble with him. And if you have trouble with him, go ahead and put him to death. So David slept with his fathers, was buried in the city of David. And the days that David reigned over Israel were 40 years. Seven years he reigned in Hebron and 33 years he reigned in Jerusalem. He was 30 years old when he began to reign. So he's 70 years old. There is a scripture in the New Testament. I think it's there in Acts where he speaks of the, well, yes, it's in Acts chapter two, where Peter speaks of David's sepulcher being there at the present day. So as late as the New Testament, David's sepulcher was still there in Jerusalem. So Solomon sat upon the throne of David, his father, and his kingdom was established greatly. Now Adonijah, the son of Hagath, remember Solomon said, behave yourself, it'll be okay. But he came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, do you come peaceably? She was really a little apprehensive about him. He said, peaceably. He said, moreover, I have somewhat to say unto you. And she said, say it. And so he said, you know that the kingdom was mine and that all of Israel had set their faces on me that I should reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and has become my brother's, for it was his from the Lord. Interesting recognition. He tried to set himself up. He recognized the Lord had set up Solomon. And now I ask one petition of you. Deny me not. And she said, keep talking. And he said, speak, I pray thee unto Solomon, the king. For he will not say no to you that he gives to me Abishag, the Shumanite as a wife. Now it was the custom for the succeeding king to receive the harem of the previous king. And so this is sort of a plot, a kind of a scheme by which Adonijah is still seeking to be recognized by the people as succeeding David to the throne. But Bathsheba seemed to be completely unaware of his intent, of his purpose. And so she said, well, I will speak for you unto the king. So Bathsheba came to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and he bowed himself to her. And he sat down on his throne and caused her to be seated there at his right hand. And she said, I desire one small petition of thee. And I pray you'll not say no. The king said, ask me, mother, and I will not say no. And then she said, let Abishag, the Shumanite, be given to Adonijah, your brother, as a wife. And King Solomon said to her, why do you ask Abishag, the Shumanite, for Adonijah? Do you ask for the kingdom also? He recognized that this was a clever ruse, a scheme on the part of Adonijah. You want him to have the kingdom also? For he is my elder brother. Even for him and for Abiathar, the priest, and for Joab, the son of Zariah. Then King Solomon swore by the Lord saying, God, do so to me and more also, if Adonijah had not spoken this word against his own life. He told him, behave yourself, you'll be all right. But he ordered, now therefore as the Lord lives, which has established me and set me on the throne of David, my father, who has made me a house as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day. And he ordered Benaniah, the son of Jehoiada, to go over and to take care of it. And unto Abiathar, the priest, this is the one that had joined with Adonijah. There were two priests at the time, Zadok and Abiathar. But Abiathar had joined with Adonijah and trying to set him up as king. He disbanded, he actually, what? Disbanded him or he just said, no, go home. He wasn't allowed to be a part of the priesthood any longer. Zadok was made then the priest over the people. Now, interesting enough, go back to 1 Samuel 2. And we have the story of Eli, the high priest. Now, Abiathar was actually a descendant of Eli. And so because Eli had not disciplined his sons and because they were real rogues and had really misused the priesthood, they abused the people. And Eli wouldn't correct them. So there came a man of God unto Eli and he said to him, thus saith the Lord, did I plainly appear to your house of your father when you were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? And did I not choose out of all of the tribes of Israel for you to be the priest or actually the Aaron and to offer on my altar the burnt incense to wear the ephod before me? And did I not give unto the house of thy fathers all of the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Why do you kick at my sacrifice and my offerings which I have commanded in my habitations and you honor your sons above me to make yourselves fat with the chiefest offerings of Israel? You're abusing the ministry. You're using it for your own profit. And God is rebuking Eli for these things. There are people today that are doing the same thing. Abusing the ministry. Using the ministry for their own personal gain. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel said, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord saith, be it far from me for them that honor me, I will honor and those that despise me will be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days will come that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house that there shall not be an old man in the house. And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation and all the wealth which God shall give Israel and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. And the man of thine whom I shall cut off from mine altar shall be to continue thy eyes and to grieve thy heart and all of the increase of thy house shall die in the flower of their age. And so this was the punishment of God because of Eli's using his position, abusing actually his position and allowing his sons to do so. So here Abiathar, the end of Eli and the seed of Eli from being the high priest and now it passes over unto Zadok. So he is sort of banished and exiled to Anathoth, to his own fields. For you are worthy of death, Solomon said, but I will not at this time put you to death because you bore the ark of the Lord God before David my father and because you have been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. Abiathar had fled with David and had stood with David in the rebellion of Absalom. So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which he spake concerning the house of Eli there in Shiloh. And then tidings came to Joab for Joab had turned after Adonijah though he turned not after Absalom. Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord. He caught hold of the horns of the altar. And it was told King Solomon that Joab was fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and he was holding on to the altar and Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada saying, go and fall upon him. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle and he said unto him, thus saith the king, come forth. And he said, no, I'll die here. And Benaiah brought the word to the king saying, thus said Joab. And thus he answered, thus I said to Joab and thus he answered me. And the king said unto him, do as he has said, fall upon him and bury him that you may take away the innocent blood which Joab shed from me and from the house of my father. And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head who fell upon two men who were more righteous and better than he and slew them with a sword. My father, David, not knowing what to do Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of the host of Israel and Amasa, the son of Jether, the captain of the host of Judah. Their blood therefore shall return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed forever. But upon David and his seed and upon his house and upon his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord. So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab. And then Benaiah was made the head over the forces of Israel. Jehoiada and then Zadok was made the priest in the place of Abiathar. And the king sent and he called for Shimei. And he said to him, build a house in Jerusalem and dwell there and don't go from there any place. So he's sort of under a house arrest. Only he is able to stay within Jerusalem. Don't leave Jerusalem. The idea was that this is a rebellious fellow. He's not to be trusted. David is saying, keep your eye on him. And so he figured the best way to keep his eye on him is to make him live right there in Jerusalem. And the day that you go out and you pass over the Brook Kidron, you shall know for certain that you will surely die and your blood will be upon your own head. So he has the freedom to live and to stay there in Jerusalem, but he can't leave Jerusalem at the cost of his own life. Shimei said unto the king, the saying is good, as my Lord the king hath said, and so will your servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem for many days. But it came to pass at the end of three years that two of his servants had run away to Achish, the king of Gath. And they told Shimei saying, behold, your servants are in Gath. So Shimei arose and he saddled his donkey and he went to Gath, to Achish to seek his servants. And Shimei went and he brought his servants from Gath. And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back again. So the king sent and called for Shimei and he said unto him, did I not make you answer by the Lord and protested unto you saying, know of a certainty that on the day that you go out and you walk abroad from here that you will surely die. And you said unto me, your word that I have spoken is good. Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment which I charged you with? And the king said moreover to Shimei, you know all of the wickedness which is in your heart privately. And this was a manifestation of the evil that was in the fellow's heart. He just was an evil man within. And the things that you did to David, my father, therefore, the Lord shall return your wickedness upon your own head. And the king Solomon shall be blessed and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever. So the king commanded Benaniah, the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and he fell upon him and he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. But now we see Solomon beginning to sort of turn from the commandments of the Lord. We read that Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And he took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had made an end of building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in the high places because there was no house built in the name of the Lord until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord and he was walking in the statutes of David, his father. Only he sacrificed and burnt offerings in the high places, which were actually pagan places of worship. But taking Pharaoh's daughter as his wife, it was something that Solomon began to do. It was a political kind of a marriage. And he took the daughters of many of the kings of the surrounding kingdoms in order to sort of keep peace with these nations. The fact that the king's daughter was one of the wives of Solomon. The whole idea was that a king would not want to attack Solomon because his daughter was there as one of Solomon's wives. Now, in Nehemiah chapter 13 verse 26, Nehemiah was rebuking the people who had come back from captivity because they were marrying the inhabitants of the land. And Nehemiah is rebuking them. He said, In those days I saw Jews that had married wives from Ashdod and Ammon and Moab. Their children were speaking half of the speech of Ashdod. They could not speak in the Jews language, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them. I cursed them. I smoked certain of them. I plucked off their hair. I made them swear by God, saying, You shall not give your daughters unto the son or your sons, nor take their daughters or your sons unto your sons for yourselves. Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? The intermarriages brought Solomon to sin. Yet among many nations, there was no king like him who was beloved of his God. And God made him king over all of Israel. Nevertheless, even him did outlandish women cause to sin. And so he is rebuking them, the people there, using Solomon as the example. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all of this great evil, to transgress against the Lord our God in marrying strange wives? And so this began with the Pharaoh's daughter. But then Solomon offering sacrifices on the high places. The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for there was a great high place. And there he offered a thousand burnt offerings upon that altar. And in Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, ask what I should give to you. And so there God is speaking to Solomon and he's saying to Solomon, ask Solomon, what would you like? What you want me to give? And Solomon said, you have shown unto your servant David, my father, great mercy, according as he walked before you in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee. You have kept for him the great kindness and you have given him a son to sit upon his throne as it is this day. And now, oh Lord, my God, thou hast made thy servant the king instead of David, my father. But I'm just a little child. I know not how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people, which you have chosen, a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge the people that I may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this, thy so great a people? Solomon, of course, was very humble at this point. He was overwhelmed by his position. He said, I'm just a child. I really don't understand the affairs of state. Yet I am over all of these people. Lord, I need your help. I really need your wisdom. Grant me, Lord, wisdom that I might properly rule over your people. Oh, would to God we had politicians today that would acknowledge their stupidity and say, I don't have the answers. You know, when they want to be elected, they're all telling you, we've got the answers. We'll correct all of the problems. Elect me and, you know, we'll reduce taxes and we'll do all of it. They don't know what they're doing. It's obvious. Look at the mess our state is in. Our nation is in. Would to God we had those that would say, you know, Lord, I need your help. I need your wisdom. I've been placed in this position, but it's really more than I can handle. Grant me wisdom, Lord, that I might do the right thing, that I might serve these people in a proper way. And so, it pleased the Lord that Solomon asked for the wisdom. And God said to him, because you have asked this thing, you didn't ask for long life. You didn't ask for riches, nor did you ask me to give you the lives of your enemies. But you've asked for understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according to your words. I have given you a wise and understanding heart so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. The great wisdom that God gave unto Solomon wrote over a thousand proverbs If you think that that's nothing, write one proverb for me. And you'll discover writing proverbs is not really a simple thing. Over a thousand proverbs, many songs and great wisdom. But I will also give to you that which you did not ask, riches and honor so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto you in all of thy days. And if you will walk in my ways, notice again conditional, walking in his ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments as your father David did walk, then I will lengthen your days. So I'll give you many years. So Solomon awoke and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord and he offered burnt offerings and he offered peace offerings and he made a feast for all of the people. So there came then to Solomon two women. They were harlots and they stood before him. And the woman, one woman said, Oh my Lord, this woman and I dwell in one house and I had a child with her in the house. It came to pass in three days that she also had a child and this woman and I were together and there was no stranger with us in the house, just the two of us. And this woman's child died and in the night because she had laid upon it, she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me while I was asleep and she laid her child at my bosom, the dead child. And when I arose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead. But when I looked and considered, behold, it was not my son which I bore. It was the other woman's. And she said, Oh no, the living is my son and the dead is her son. And this they said, No, but the dead is your son and the living is my son. And thus they were speaking before the king. They were arguing. My child. No, it's her child. No, no, my child. And the king said, Bring me a sword. So they brought a sword to the king and the king said, Divide the living child in two and give each one half. Then the woman of the living child, whose was the living child, the woman whose child it really was, was moved. She yearned upon her son. She said, Oh my Lord, give her the child and no wise kill it. But the other said, Let it neither be mine or yours. Cut it in two. And the king answered and said, Give her the living child and no wise kill it. She is the mother thereof. And all of Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged. And they feared the king for they saw that wisdom of God was in him to do judgment. So a quick manifestation of the wisdom that God had given to Solomon in this judgment over this child, discerning who the true mother was by the threat of the execution. Let's pray. Father, we pray that we might learn to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, that you might lift us up. Help us, Lord, not to seek to exalt ourselves, lest we be abased. And we do ask, Father, that you would grant to each of us wisdom. Lord, we face so many issues, so many questions, so many decisions in life. And we realize, Lord, that you know so much better than we. We don't know many times, Lord, which is the right road, the right way. And so we look to you, Lord, for guidance. We look to you for wisdom. And we ask, Lord, that you will help us, that in the wisdom that you give to us, we might be able to fulfill the obligations that come upon us as parents, as friends, that we might, in wisdom, guide and direct our ways, your wisdom. We thank you, Lord. You have promised that if we lacked in wisdom, that if we would just ask you, that you would give it to us freely. And so, Lord, even at this time, there are so many issues that are pressing, and we need help, your wisdom, Lord. And so may we walk, Lord, in your ways, keeping your commandments, your statutes, your judgments, walking in wisdom. In Jesus' name, amen. Shall we stand? Tonight, again, we'd like to encourage you to come and spend some time in prayer before going home. Maybe you need wisdom in a certain issue that you're facing. Maybe even Christmas, there are some important decisions, family decisions, and so forth that need to be made, and you really don't know just what is the right course of action to take. You'd like to have God's help, God's wisdom. These men are here to pray for you, that you might discover the help that God wants to give to you as you seek Him. The Bible tells us to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts, to not lean to our own understanding, but in all of our ways, to acknowledge Him. And He has promised that He would direct our paths. And so they're here, they're here to minister to you and to pray with you. We would encourage you, spend time in prayer before you go. Receive God's wisdom, God's help, God's direction, God's guidance for your life. And we'll see you tomorrow evening. The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace.