So this morning, your outline is a basic outline. And so we want to dig into this a little bit more, because there's a lot to this than what's in the basic outline. So we got down through. about verse 27 last time. And so what's happened so far is that we saw that Adonijah took it on himself to exalt himself. The Bible has some things to say about that, doesn't it? Exalting ourselves. To exalt yourself is a good way to set yourself up to be brought down. The Lord warned about that. He watched people come in to a banquet, and everybody saw it. He saw so many, anyway. Most of them were seeking the highest seat. He said, you've got to come in and take the lowest seat. And if the one who invited you wants you to have a higher seat, he'll give it to you. And then you'll experience promotion. The Bible says, promotion cometh from the Lord. But unfortunately, too many times, people spend too much time trying to promote themselves, and that's what Adonijah did. He took it totally on himself. He had nobody that put him where he wanted to be. It was totally on his own. He just decided Daddy's about ready to die and he can't do anything about it. And I need to take the steps I need to take right now to get myself in the position that I need to be in. And so he promoted himself, got together with Joab and Abiathar the priest, and got the political leaders and the military leaders in place, and announced himself to be king along with all of his brothers. But you notice who he had. He had the three, I'll just say, political leaders in their different offices. And he had all his brothers. That was about the size of it. And they all had a big banquet, announced him to be the king, and thought they'd done it. They'd got it accomplished. But in verse 28, And we found out found also last time that Nathan the prophet, it's always interesting to me how to watch how people do things and think they've got things all under control. But they're forgetting that God still has something to say about things. And God had already said some things about what was going to happen. And these people were operating in opposition to what God said was going to happen. They were doing what most people do. They take the word of God to be the word of man. They just looked at it like, well, that's what David wants to happen and so forth. But they weren't interested in what the word of God actually had to say. And so when you come down to realizing that then Nathan let Bathsheba know, she went in and talked to David, let him know what was going on. And then Nathan came in and confirmed her story. added a little extra information that he personally had, personalized it if you will. They both gave their own testimony but the story was the same. And so David began to take steps. So in verse 28 it says, Then King David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence and stood before the king And the king swore and said, As the Lord liveth that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even as I swear unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne and my stead, even so will I certainly do this day. So David David's oath, King David's oath of declaration is made to establish Solomon on the throne. Now he had already had a covenant with God. He had, under the direction of God, had established who the king was going to be. He had promised that to Bathsheba. Everybody knew about that. It was not a secret thing. It was done in the open. It was done like things are supposed to be done, out in the open. And yet they conspired against him. So when he brings Bathsheba in, she's standing there, not just representing herself. He called her in because David had made a covenant with her, but the covenant But it involved Solomon. So ultimately the covenant is Solomon is the recipient, the main beneficiary, that he's the one who is to carry on David's line that God had promised to him. And so he's making an oath to declare the establishment of Solomon on the throne here in verses 28 to 38. So verse 29, Remember, when you look at this verse 29, and the king swore and said, as the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress. These are not just words, if you will, to try to add some sacredness to what David is saying. No, he's remembering God's covenant that God made with him. We need to remember that when we think about the covenant that God made with David. In 1 Kings chapter 1 and verse 13 the Word of God says, Go and get thee in unto David, Nathan speaking to Bathsheba, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. So that was a covenant that was made, and we need to remember that. David takes an oath here then. He made a covenant back then, and he's standing by his covenant. And so this is an oath that he's making now when he says, when he brings God into account with this and said, as the Lord liveth, In other words, this covenant was made before God. And so as the Lord liveth, God's going to bring it to pass. And we're going to follow through with what God moved to be said. And so it's an oath, if you will, of conviction and confirmation because of his faith. David's faith, looking at the covenant that God made with him back in 2 Samuel and all of that. David believed that. He believed what God had said as far as the one that was going to reign on the throne. And so he's making these statements based upon what God had revealed to him. So as the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress. He's calling upon the living God. Secondly, David's Redeemer. As sure as the living God and God's deliverance in the past, is what he's saying. As sure as God has delivered me in the past because he made a covenant with me, that's how sure this is. This is going to stand. It's a wonderful thing when God's saints can set to seal what they believe. with their own experience. In other words, the experience of our life becomes a stand. It's an evidence that people can see. It's also an assurance to us of God's faithfulness to us. As surely as God has been faithful to me all my life and kept his word, you see, it's not just us hoping things are going to, or us determining, but as surely as this is what God has said, and God has kept his covenant with me and redeemed me all my life. He has a testimony of his life. This goes beyond, like when you look at our salvation, our security is in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But where do we get our assurance? When you look at 1 John, He talks about the evidence of God's faithfulness to us and God's working in our life. We can look at the change that God has wrought that is not anything that we ever did for ourselves. It's what God has done for us. It's not what we've done. It's what God's done for us. It's not us trying to make our life something so that we can look at what we've done and say, well, there's my assurance. No, it's when we look at what God has done and been faithful to us. then it gives us great assurance because we have evidence. So this experience of our life is evidence of God's faithfulness, and just as sure as God's been faithful to me all these years and delivered me, God will deliver me from this incident as well, and God's going to confirm His word. So David's honor and faithfulness is reflected, is a reflection of his God. Now, that's what godliness is. David is here in this incident a reflection of the faithfulness of God. God has been faithful to me and God will still be faithful to me. That's a statement of his confidence in God. And it is also an evidence of his godliness. It's his godlikeness, if you will. In other words, he's displaying evidence in his character. This is not one of those times in his life when David fell into sin or just did things on his own. No, this is David, at the end of his life, having a testimony of his faith in God. And even in the weakest part of his life, when he's about to die, he's going to stand for God. Now, that's a testimony of godliness. That's the testimony like we looked at in the devotional this morning. Here's another incident of some great adversity in David's life. Remember I said when we started this chapter, it's David's final battle. He had a lot of battles in his life. Here's his last battle. When David was ready to die in his weakest state as a human being, fleshly, as far as the flesh is concerned, he was strong on the inside. Weak on the outside, but strong in faith. And so, what a blessing it is when we can come to the end of our life, look back at God's faithfulness, and say, God has been faithful to me all my life. And by His grace, I will be faithful to Him and God will bring things to pass. And so that's what David is doing. And that's a wonderful testimony to have. So he says assuredly in verse 30, even as I swear unto thee by the Lord God of Israel saying assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead even so will I certainly do this day. And so in verse 31 you see an example of godly humility. Then Bathsheba bowed her face to the earth and did reverence to the king and said, let my lord, King David, live forever. That's quite a testimony. Stop and think about that. She's not only reverencing, she's reverencing him as her king. She's his wife, but she's recognizing his office, in this case, as her king also. So she's taking her place that way. You know, sometimes, many times, people want to use their natural connection, if you will, their family relationship to influence God's people for themselves. That's not what she's doing here. So she's recognizing him as her king and as her husband, and this wish upon him. my Lord King David live forever." How long is he going to live? I look at that and say, well, that's just a formality. No, it's not just a formality. She's saying what she wishes would be the case. In other words, you've promised that my son's going to reign on the throne, but I'm not in any hurry for you to die. If I had it my way, you'd keep on living. But God's going to have His way and will submit to the will of God. But in her heart, she'd like Him to stick around. So she's not being ambitious as much as she is submitted to the will of God, all of this. She's in no hurry for Him to die so her son can sit on the throne. This is quite different than you see with Adonijah, isn't it? He's a son that As far as he's concerned, the sooner his dad dies the better off because if his dad dies then nothing can change what he wants. So then you look at verses 32 to 40 and you have David's care and that he commands the oath to be executed. He calls for Zadok In verse 32, and King David said, call me Zadok the priest. So I've promised, and now I'm going to bring it to pass. By God's grace, it's going to happen. And the way things happen here, as I was studying through this again, I could not help but think about how different things are when people do the right thing the right way. Now you have people that have tried to do the right thing the wrong way. But in this case you have somebody that's trying to do the wrong thing the wrong way. And the fact that he's doing the wrong thing is very evident by the way he's doing it. Taking things into his own hands to make it come out for him. And so he calls for Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah. Bring these to me, the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. King also said unto them take with you the servants of your Lord and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule and bring him down to Gihon. Now notice what he's saying here. David uses the same man that Adonijah had passed by. Adonijah set these people aside. Why? Because he knew these were people that were faithful not only to David, but they were faithful to God. That's what you're looking at here. Nathan is a man who was a prophet, a man of God who was faithful to God. And so it is with the rest of these men. You look back at their history. They had a history of being faithful to God and faithful to David. And Nathan was willing to stand up to David, take the plate, stand with God, and confront David about his sin. He was willing to risk his friendship, if need be, to stand with God. So he chose these faithful men that Adonijah didn't want around. So he used the same men that Ed and Ida had bypassed, who had shown themselves faithful to him and set them forward to establish Solomon on the throne. So Solomon's going to start out with the men that are the leaders in his kingdom. He's going to start out with David's most faithful men. And so he appoints the people. Who did Adonijah get? Well, he got the three people he connived with, and he got his brothers. What about the rest of the people? Say, what about the rest of the nation? I'll say something again about that in just a little bit, but I want to bring that to your attention, what's going on here. He appoints the people that are to be involved, all of his guards, which Benaiah was in charge of all the guards, all of his servants, and his own mule. In other words, he got all the things that make it obvious that David is the one who is doing this. Because it's all of David's, his guards, it's the ones that are the most faithful to him. It's all the things that belong to David, his mule. This is the one David rides on. Nobody rides on this one except the next king. Everything reflects David's authority. That's what's involved here. All of this reflects David's authority. Adonijah didn't do that. Adonijah bypassed the things that would actually represent David's authority because he didn't have it. He appointed where they should go and what they should do. David's stamp and identity was on everything that's involved here. Couldn't help but think about churches. The Lord's churches have some stamps on them, don't they? We recognize that we don't take authority to ourselves to start a church. We recognize God's authority and how that comes. It doesn't come by a man taking it to himself. It comes from God. And God has established it in His churches, so it comes through His churches. You do the right things the right way. It's when you have self-ambition involved that you begin to twist those things. Now, you look at verse 33. What is the importance of this? And bring him down to Gion or Gion, whichever way you want to pronounce that. What is it about this? This is a well. There's nothing in the Word of God that indicates why David would pick this particular place. We can look at some things later in the Word of God and see that God had a purpose for it. I believe some things that are obvious. It was a well. It was a river flowed down through here. And it was a place where a lot of the people, and that is the common people, would be here. David wanted where there's going to be a multitude of people to know what's going on. David is making sure that everything that is done is open and aboveboard, and it's evident to everyone that sees it that David is the one who is doing this. There can be no doubt who's involved in this because he's doing it very openly. Adonijah had to do things in secret, didn't he? Go off on his own. So the reason is not given, but it would have been a place where there would have been a lot of people and they could go with him back into the city. And so there would be an agreement, if you will, association with the people. In Isaiah chapter, and this is one of the things where we see, well, we don't know why then, but in Isaiah chapter eight and verse six, We have a reference to this same river. It was a water course, actually. It was changed later on as far as the way it flowed. But this is the same river that it's talking about here, just a different name. But it's what it's talking about. Here God brings this up and so what is it referring to? The waters of Shiloh that go softly. Well it's referring back to Solomon. Solomon was David's son to sit upon his throne. Who is ultimately to sit upon the throne of David? Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? So what this is referring to, when it says, refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, they're refusing God's Messiah, God's King, that will bring peace to them. If they would have trusted God and done things God's way, worshiped God and not got involved in idolatry and all of that, if they would trust God, they'd have peace. in their Messiah. But they've rejected the Word of God, and they rejected God's Christ, and as a result suffered for it. And so God uses this incident historically. We can look at it and say, well, it's just a historic event. We just read over it and, well, I don't know what this River Gion is about, and just go on. But the fact is, it does come up later, and God had a reason for it, though we don't know what the reason for it was back then. We can see what the reason for it was in the future. So God appointed where they should go and what they should do under David's direction. And then there was a formal procession that took place. It says in verse 36, or verse Verse 34, he goes on to explain, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him their king over Israel and blow you the trumpet and say, God save King Solomon. Then you shall come up after him. So they anoint him. Adonijah didn't have any anointing. by God's prophet and priest. He didn't have the appointment of God. Solomon was appointed of God and marked out before the people. Then he shall come up after him that he may come and sit upon my throne for he shall be king in my stead and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. So David as king appointed the next king. He left nothing to chance. Adonijah He has the typical character of a self-serving tyrant. He took things upon himself. He didn't have the approval of the people. He didn't have any anointing by God's priest and prophet, no agreement with David. He appointed himself. But the people followed Solomon. and recognized him as on David's throne. Then he brought him up. It says, then shall ye come up after him that he may come and sit upon my throne, for he shall be king in my stead, and I have appointed him, he shall be king. He's going to sit while I'm still alive, bring him up, appoint him, and then bring him up and put him on the throne. While David is still king and reigning as king, he put him on his throne. I see so many parallels. I just mentioned this briefly. I see so many parallels between Solomon appointed by David and the Lord Jesus Christ. God anointed the Lord Jesus Christ, and God has established him. He sits at his own right hand, at God's right hand, and when Christ comes back, God's going to put him on that throne. All of that, there's so many parallels there. But in verse 36, notice what it says, "...And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, Amen. The Lord God of my lord the king, say so too." In other words, what you're saying, God approved that. He's approving, he says, Amen. In other words, so be it. and let God establish what you've said. Their trust is completely in God. Let it be established then and divine providence profits for His kingdom and show His approval. And that's exactly what happened, isn't it? God did bless His reign. Verse 37, As the Lord hath been with my Lord the King, even so be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my Lord King David. In other words, prosper him even more. That's not putting David's kingdom down. As a matter of fact, that's what David wanted to happen. He wanted the kingdom to be even better. David was not self-serving at this point. There's things that David did that were, but this is not. This all has to do with God's blessing. David's concern was not for himself, he's going to die. It's for the kingdom that's left behind. In verse 38, so Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites." In other words, these are the two groups of all those who were the guards in the palace and over David. They went down and caused Solomon to ride upon David's mule and brought him to Gaia. And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. I looked at that and I thought, out of the tabernacle? Where's the tabernacle? Well, the tabernacle was 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 17. Look back there quickly. 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 17. It says, And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in his place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for him. This is not the tabernacle that Moses had built in the wilderness that was brought up. And David suffered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So this is the tabernacle that had been built for the Ark of the Covenant. So this is where Christ is represented here. This is where this Ark of the Covenant, where the mercy seat was, and Christ is represented there. All of this is tied in with the blessing of God and the appointment of God. The official appointment then and pronouncement is what you find in verses 39 to 40. And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet and all the people said, God save King Solomon. And all the people came up after him and the people piped with pipes and rejoiced with great joy so that the earth was rent with the sound of them. I was looking to see here, there's another place where I noticed it, maybe a little later in the chapter, but it's mentioned specifically Israel involved in this, which is what Adonijah did not have. None of Israel outside of Judah was involved with him. It was just his family and the tribe of Judah. So then in verses 41 to 53, Adonijah is going to face some political reality. I like that, I think it's put that way in your outline and that's a good way to put it. He's facing some political reality. Would to God some people today would face political reality. They're going to, but in God's time. Verse 41, and Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise in the city being in an uproar? Well, he yet spake, Behold, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, came, and Adonijah said unto him, Come in, for thou art a valiant man, and bring us good tidings. He's wrong about that, wouldn't he? He's wrong about a lot of things. And he's flattering this young man, and his statement is completely wrong. He couldn't have been more wrong. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our Lord King David hath made Solomon king. Look at what he said. Verily our Lord King David. He's talking to the man who was the self-appointed king. And Joab's there, and his dad's there, all these people that had taken it upon themselves to put Adonijah in a place that he had no business being and had no right to. And this man says, our Lord, King David. It's kind of a reminder, isn't it? As a matter of fact, that's kind of a Pointed reminder. You guys do what you want to do, but he's still king of Israel. And our Lord has made Solomon to be king. Wow. That's a statement. Matter of fact, I think that's a brave way to put it, if you will, in face of these men. I look at that and his dad's there. And I think, good for you, son. You have the courage to state things how they are, regardless of who you're looking at. In verse 44, and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah 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 at Gaon. And they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that you have heard. And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. Boy, that puts the nail in the coffin for him, doesn't it? All of these things that have David's stamp on them and, oh, by the way, he's sitting on the throne. That's like, he's sitting on the throne. Adonijah, where do you stand now? You talk about some fear striking some people's hearts. He's finding out what the Word of God warns about exalting yourself, isn't he? The Book of Proverbs warns about that. Solomon knew all about that, didn't he? People that exalt themselves and end up being put down. Let another man's lips praise thee. Wait on God. for whatever promotion God has. These people, here's a young man that had never been questioned, never been challenged about what he wanted. And he's finding out how life really works. Some reality is coming to roost here. In verse 45 it says, and also thus said the king, the man that stilled the king out of Niger, This is what the king said. You can call yourself what you want to, but the king's still on the throne. And I like to think about that today. Regardless of what men do, our king is still on the throne. So this is what the king said. You said what you had to say. Now this is what the king said. He just undone, undid everything these people, boy these people were having a party weren't they? You talk about crashing a party. And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid and rose up and went every man his way and Adonijah feared because of Solomon and rose and went and got caught hold of the horns of the altar. Remember he had purpose that he would leave these individuals out and Solomon because he was going to get rid of them. Now he realizes Now it's my turn. Now it's my turn to be afraid. or let King Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword." That's vain words and you're going to see that as time goes along real soon. You're going to see that was just lip service on his part. He did not see himself as a servant of Solomon. Verse 52 says, and Solomon said, if he will show himself a worthy man, Solomon is already displayed. a great degree of wisdom. Very young man, but he already has a great degree of wisdom. Not like he ends up having, but he's making a very wise statement here. If he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth. This throne is going to be established in righteousness and judgment. Show yourself worthy and you have nothing to worry about. In other words, but if you don't, you have a lot to be worried about. But if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar, and he came and bowed himself to King Solomon. And Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house. Wow. Now that's a king's welcome to a man that's in big trouble if he doesn't watch his P's and his Q's. In other words, there is no brotherly kiss here. He's giving him space to prove who he really is. He's not being gullible. He's not taking vengeance until he proves himself to be wicked. And so there's just simply, he doesn't say, well, you're my brother, it's all okay. No, go down to your house. We'll see what happens. And we will see what happens. But to me, tremendous, so many different things. You can go into this a lot more even than what we have, but so many things that things are being set up, as I said, even for what God does later and what God says through Isaiah later in chapter eight. So many things are, foundations are being laid. Things are being set in place, not only for his kingdom, but for Christ's kingdom coming later. And prophetic statements that are made in the word of God.