S) "9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. 10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, and Solomon his brother."
1 Kings 1:9-10 (NASB)
O) Adonijah was the son of Haggith, and David's fourth son. David had already told Bathsheba that her son, Solomon, would become king. By this time, David was essentially on his death bed, and Adonijah conferred with Joab and Abiathar (see v.7), determined to take the throne for himself. He gets a small procession going, and throws a party - but Nathan, Benaiah, the mighty men, and Solomon are too square.
A) I had a lot of things working against me in junior high and high school, and I don't think I was ever going to be a cool kid. Part of that experience carried over into my adult life, and on into my life as an adult believer. Sometimes it's easy to feel like the unpopular one, not getting invited to go out after work, hearing people stop talking about something that was obviously entertaining as I walk near them, things like that. It's easy for me to fall back into a mindset of the outcast. This story is a good reminder, though, that being the outcast is sometimes a straight-blessing from God. Nathan, Solomon, and the others were excluded, because Adonijah was committing treason to the throne, the theocratic kingdom of the LORD, and they were not going to cheer for his treachery. So, when I feel alone in my pursuit of God (mostly at work), I need to remind myself that I'm on the side of the King's Son. If I'm not invited, because I have a reputation as a straight-edge, then I need to take that rejection as a sign of growth. I want people to know that I am different - because of Christ - and that I won't support things contrary to His Word.
A) I had a lot of things working against me in junior high and high school, and I don't think I was ever going to be a cool kid. Part of that experience carried over into my adult life, and on into my life as an adult believer. Sometimes it's easy to feel like the unpopular one, not getting invited to go out after work, hearing people stop talking about something that was obviously entertaining as I walk near them, things like that. It's easy for me to fall back into a mindset of the outcast. This story is a good reminder, though, that being the outcast is sometimes a straight-blessing from God. Nathan, Solomon, and the others were excluded, because Adonijah was committing treason to the throne, the theocratic kingdom of the LORD, and they were not going to cheer for his treachery. So, when I feel alone in my pursuit of God (mostly at work), I need to remind myself that I'm on the side of the King's Son. If I'm not invited, because I have a reputation as a straight-edge, then I need to take that rejection as a sign of growth. I want people to know that I am different - because of Christ - and that I won't support things contrary to His Word.
P) Father, heal my way of thinking. You are a God of the underdog, the downtrodden, the outcast - these are the people You redeem for Your purpose, Your will, Your Kingdom. Like Nathan, in v.11, let me be a man of action. When I am left on the outside of some social clique, lead me to the inside of Your purpose. Remind me that I am set apart for the good works You have planned for me, just as it says in 2 Timothy 2:14-26. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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