“Finally, a backbone”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, August 29, 2023
1 Kings 1:38 – 2:4 (Forward, p. 31) CEV p. 359
King David, for all his courage, sagacity and smart decisions in the earliest years of his reign, certainly seems to have ‘lost it’ later on. One dictionary defined ‘sagacity’ as wisdom, intelligence, foresight, discernment, keen perception, and the ability to make good judgments, and while these qualities can well said to distinguish David’s career early on, they seem woefully absent later—in fact, to my thinking, ever since his disastrous affair with Bathsheba. To me, he really seems to lack moral courage and an ability to move ahead and make rational, godly, constructive decisions.
That is, until the episodes surrounding today’s passage: somehow the arrogant and presumptuous self-enthronement of his oldest surviving son Adonijah has stirred into action. However, even here David needed a tremendous nudge. Somehow David was unaware—or didn’t take seriously—this son’s boasting that he was going to make himself king. And, likewise, he passed off as ‘nothing’ Adonijah’s action in obtaining horses and chariots and hiring men as bodyguards. He ‘didn’t want to hurt his feelings.’ No, it was not until Nathan the prophet heard about it and tipped off Bathsheba, that David was prompted to do something. Finally, he had found himself a ‘backbone’.
Here, finally, David does something that probably needed to be done years previously. He designates Solomon as his successor, even as he had promised Bathsheba, and took the steps to make it so. He arranged for Solomon to ride his own mule, David’s mule, and go to the Gihon Spring. Now, we might well wonder about this mule and what it signifies, especially as we often think of donkeys or mules as being stubborn and stupid. But, the thinking in the ancient world was very different: they saw riding on a donkey as a symbol of kingship and in many cultures donkeys or mules were actually part of the coronation or enthronement process. Furthermore, this was King David’s own donkey: the import of this would not be missed by anyone. Solomon was to be king in David’s stead.
Now, what about the Gihon Spring? The Gihon Spring, located just outside the actual city walls, appears to have a special symbolism in Israel. Symbolically, being a spring and the source of life, it was held to be sacred.
And historically, its very existence is what made it possible for Jerusalem to exist in the first place, as it was its only source of water. Furthermore, it was very close to the Temple, where the priest Zadok would have had his supplies. And so, this was a rather fitting place for Solomon to be anointed as king.
At David’s instructions, Solomon, Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, David’s army chief, accompanied by two groups of foreign mercenaries, the Cherethites and the Pelethites (David’s bodyguards), made their way to the spring, and once there Zadok anointed Solomon and proclaimed him as king. Trumpets were sounded and music was played as the returned to Jerusalem and all the city was made aware of it. Finally, David showed a bit of intestinal fortitude, a bit of gumption, and did the right thing.
And, not only that, David’s parting instructions to Solomon cannot be surpassed. He tells him to be strong and brave and do everything that the Lord your God commands—following His teachings and obeying everything found in the Law. Oh, that David would have following all these injunctions over the entire course of his life! But, at least he has seemingly learned his lesson and wants Solomon to learn from it as well.
But, oh, the terrible and lasting consequence of his sin, the outcome of his not having faithfully following God’s laws and teachings and obeying them. Would Solomon heed this and learn therefrom? Only history would tell, and we know all too well, from reading ‘the rest of the story’, he did not. I pray that we, you and I, unlike Solomon, might learn from David and not repeat his mistakes.
Forward notes: “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the Lord your God” (chapter 2, verses 2-3a).
“What would you say as the end approaches? Some people are remorseful; some are pensive; some try to get everything in order. A year ago, Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain died after 70 years on the throne. I wonder how she prepared for her final days.
“Today, David is at the end, or near the end. He has lived a full life, raucous, violent, majestic, lustful, flawed, and visionary. Now he is about to
leave things to his son Solomon. And he is quick and clear: be strong, be courageous, and walk in the ways of God. Pretty textbook advice, except as David knows—from many failures—how hard it is to follow that advice.
“It is a holy time, the time of leaving. I remember my time with my father just before he died. He said he loved me, that he was proud of me, and that I would do well in the years to come. So, David spoke to Solomon. Then it was up to Solomon.”
Moving Forward: “Are you feeling hopeless? Let David’s words lift you and give you hope.”