Today has been such a busy day for me that I almost forgot to post the recap for Week 11. But at last I have found a moment to finally sit down and blog. I'm looking forward to being more present here on the blog this week and getting up some posts that I've been tossing around in my mind for a few days now. I've also been working updating the URL. This whole domain name changing business can be tricky, but I think that by the end of the week we'll be YUMMommy.com! Super excited!!
If you recall last week, we read a little bit about David's son, Solomon. Well, in this week's reading we get to really meet Solomon and see what he is all about after he is appointed king by David. Before he dies his father instructs him to "...be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandment, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do.." (1 Kings 2:2-3). I loved how David was really trying to stress the importance of walking right in the sight of God. I truly believe that David's indiscretion with Bathsheba was probably his biggest disappointment in himself because he knew that he was called by God and he was supposed to be a righteous leader and role model for the Israelites.
So, I definitely don't think he wanted to Solomon to stray from God like he had. But of course, before Solomon was appointed and crowned king, his half brother, Adonijah had already tried to claim the thrown for himself. Therefore, it shouldn't have come as a shocker that after David died, he tried once again to reclaim what he thought was his right to rule over the Israelites by trying to get Bathsheba to convince Solomon to give him Abishag. Solomon was wise enough to look see that this was his half brother's way of starting to lay claim to what had been King David's and the throne was sure to be the next thing he came after.
Therefore, Solomon had him executed. I'm pretty sure that this was hard task for Solomon because Adonijah was his brother, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he didn't strike first Adonijah's greed and jealously over the throne would have caused him to kill Solomon eventually. I couldn't imagine battling with one of my siblings over ruling a nation and having to kill them before they killed me. However, we know that power sometimes brings out the worst in people.
One of the things I admire most about Solomon is that when God told him to ask for anything, Solomon didn't ask all the money in the world, the finest woman or the best clothing riches could buy. Instead, he said, "..give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between god and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" (1 Kings 3:9). According to Solomon's own admission in 1 Kings 3:7, he was a child and had no clue about any of the ruling over a nation business. I don't know too many teenagers in these times that if put in a high position of power and then given the opportunity to have been able to pick anything this is world to have would have picked wisdom to make them a better ruler.
Reading this makes me wonder if I'm doing a good job at raising my children to not be materialistic. I would like to hope that my children would be like Solomon and ask for a trait or skill that would help them to better serve the purpose that God has intended for their lives. Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with having or wanting material things but when you're able to choose something such as wisdom over riches, that's when you really know that you've grown and that you're serious about your purpose in life.
But I wish I could say that Solomon's wisdom kept him on the straight and narrow all the time, but it didn't. You see Solomon had the same weakness as his father and Sampson- beautiful women. "...he had seven hundred wives, princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David" (1 Kings 11:3-4). Talk about sister wives! I can't imagine sharing my husband 699 other women!
Secondly, this is just proof of we let the people closest to us like our spouses lead us down the wrong paths. It's sad that your spouse would do such things but for some the desire for control overrules our judgment of right and wrong.
How do handle pressure from your spouse to do things that you're not comfortable with?
Week 12 Readings
3/18- 2 Kings 7-10
3/19- 2 Kings 11-13
3/20- 2 Kings 14-17
3/21- 2 Kings 18-21
3/22- 2 Kings 22-25
3/23- 1 Chronicles 1-6
3/24- 1 Chronicles 7-12
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