EXALTATION comes from GOD ALONE!
April 7 Bible
Reading: 1 Kings Chapters 1-3
EXALTATION comes from GOD ALONE
Then Adonijah the son of
Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I
will be king"; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and
fifty men to run before him. (1 Kings 1:5). Then
Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the
horn, and all the people said, "Long
live King Solomon!" (1 Kings 1:39)
King David
had become old and advanced in years (1 Kings 1:1), and the time had come for
his successor to take over the throne of Israel. It appears that King David had
already decided that Solomon, the second son of Bathsheba should become king
after him by the promise that he had made to Bathsheba earlier, which we can
see from her words to King David: Then
she said to him, "My lord, you
swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, 'Assuredly Solomon your
son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.' (1 Kings
1:17). King David renewed the pledge that he had given her earlier: And the king took an oath and said, "As
the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress, just as I swore to you by the Lord God of
Israel, saying, 'Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he
shall sit on my throne in my place,' so I certainly will do this day."
(1 Kings 1:29-30)
We need to understand that it was
God’s will as well that Solomon would succeed the throne of Israel after David, and we can find this from the
account of Solomon’s birth in 2 Sam 12:24-25: Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay
with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him and He sent word
by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord. The word Jedidiah literally
means ‘Beloved of the Lord’, since God loved Solomon from his birth. Also,
it was God’s will that Solomon should become king after David that we see from
the following verses that God had spoken
to David:
- "When your days are fulfilled
and you rest with your fathers, I will
set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will
establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish
the throne of his kingdom forever. (2 Sam 7:12-13).
- Behold, a son shall be
born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him
rest from all his enemies all around. His
name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his
days. He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be
his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel
forever.' (1 Chron. 22:9-10).
The Lord had reserved to Himself the
right of nominating the king (Deut 17:15), which was acted upon in the appointments both
of Saul and David. In the case of David the rule was so far modified that his descendants
were guaranteed the perpetual possession of the sovereignty of Israel but only
those whom God chooses (2 Sam 7:12).
Let us understand one simple fact: “exaltation comes from God alone”. “For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another” (Psalms 75:6-7). Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that He alone will exalt us in due time. "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:6)
