My Daily Meditation
Today’s Reading
The First Book of Kings
Chapter 2:1-46
1 Then the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2 I go the]way of all the earth: be strong therefore, and show thyself a man,
3 And take heed to the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and in everything whereunto thou turnest thee, (a)
4 That the Lord may confirm his word which he spake unto me, saying, If thy sons take heed to their way, that they walk before me in truth, with all their hearts, and with all their souls, thou shalt not (said he) want one of thy posterity upon the throne of Israel.
5 Thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains to the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed blood of battle in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let thou not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.
7 But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among them that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom thy brother.
8 And behold, with thee is Shimei the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, of Bahurim, which cursed me with an horrible curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the Lord, saying, I will not slay thee with the sword.
9 But thou shalt not count him innocent: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him: therefore thou shalt cause his hoar head to go down to the grave with blood.
10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
11 And the days which David reigned upon Israel, were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
12 Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was established mightily.
13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon: and she said, Comest thou peaceably? and he said, Yea.
14 He said moreover, I have a suit unto thee. And she said, Say on.
15 Then he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned away, and is my brother’s: for it came to him by the Lord.
16 Now therefore I ask thee one request, refuse me not. And she said unto him, Say on.
17 And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the King, (for he will not say thee nay) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.
18 And Bathsheba said, Well, I will speak for thee unto the King.
19 Bathsheba therefore went unto King Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah: and the king rose to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne: and he caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right hand.
20 Then she said, I desire a small request of thee, say me not nay. Then the King said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.
21 She said then, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.
22 But king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also: for he is mine elder brother, and hath for him both Abiathar the Priest, and Joab the son of Zeruiah.
23 Then King Solomon sware by the Lord, saying, God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah hath not spoken this word against his own life.
24 Now therefore as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, who hath also made me an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall surely die this day.
25 And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he smote him that he died.
26 Then the King said unto Abiathar the Priest, Go to Anathoth unto thine own fields: for thou art worthy of death: but I will not this day kill thee, because thou barest the Ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast suffered in all, wherein my father hath been afflicted.
27 So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being Priest unto the Lord, that he might fulfill the words of the Lord, which he spake against the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28 Then tidings came to Joab: (for Joab had turned after Adonijah, but he turned not after Absalom) and Joab fled unto the Tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
29 And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was fled unto the Tabernacle of the Lord, and behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
30 And Benaiah came to the Tabernacle of the Lord, and said unto him, Thus saith the King, Come out. And he said, Nay, but I will die here. Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
31 And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and smite him, and bury him, that thou mayest take away the blood, which Joab shed causeless, from me, and from the house of my father.
32 And the Lord shall bring his blood upon his own head, for he smote two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew not: to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether captain of the host of Judah.
33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house and upon his throne shall there be peace forever from the Lord.
34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and smote him and slew him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 And the King put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and the king set Zadok the Priest in the room of Abiathar.
36 Afterward the king sent, and called Shimei and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and depart not thence any whither.
37 For that day that thou goest out, and passest over the river of Kidron, know assuredly, that thou shalt die the death: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
38 And Shimei said unto the king, The thing is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39 And after three years two of the servants of Shimei fled away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath: and they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be in Gath.
40 And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.
41 And it was told Solomon, that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again.
42 And the King sent and called Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the Lord, and protested unto thee, saying, That day that thou goest out, and walkest any whither, know assuredly that thou shalt die the death? And thou saidest unto me, The thing is good, that I have heard.
43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment wherewith I charged thee?
44 The King said also to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness whereunto thine heart is privy, that thou didst to David my father: the Lord therefore shall bring thy wickedness upon thine own head.
45 And let king Solomon be blessed, and the throne of David established before the Lord forever.
46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada: who went out and smote him that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
(a) Editor’s thought - As any father would, he speaks to his son, passing along the sage advice and accumulated wisdom of his own life. We, must as parents do our best by them, to see that their transition from childhood to adulthood is made as smooth as possible. While we cannot shield them from all mistakes and errors, we can impart to them the one piece of best advice that is worth more than and above all others. This is to say, that they, put God in their lives, and use His precepts and wisdom to guide them through their journey on the road we’ve already traveled. For just as we as fathers and mothers seek to guide them so much more so, our heavenly Father wishes to guide us and them as well. We are throughout the Bible reminded of the benefits of seeking God first and His kingdom, in all that we do in life. Of such advice I can think of nor offer any better.
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