The Fault Is Not With God; It is With Us!
When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him.
. . . Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, " will be king." So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. (His father had never rebuked him by asking, "Why do you behave as you do?’’ He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)
Adonijah conferred with Joab . . . and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support.
. . . Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, ‘’Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it?
. . . So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room . . .
"What is it you want?" the king asked. She said to him, "My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the LORD your God: 'Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.' But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it. . . . My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals."
I Kings 1:1-21
David was old and about to depart from the earthly realm. By all accounts, he had been a very successful king. He had greatly expanded the borders of Israel and subdued her enemies.
His accomplishments were laudable.
But as towering as his legacy was, there was one chronic weakness that David seemed unable to deal with: David never seemed to have the guts to deal with issues of rebellion and indiscipline in his home. His son Adonijah, just like his other son Absalom, sought to usurp the throne right before his eyes! Just like Absalom, Adonijah rode around with a horse and chariot with fifty men running ahead of him. (His father never rebuked him by asking, ‘’Why do you behave as you do?") But for the wise counsel of Nathan, who encouraged Bathsheba to hold David to his promise to make Solomon king, there would have been utter chaos after the death of David.
There is a valuable lesson here: God will not do for us what he expects us to do for ourselves. God will not discipline our children for us when He has given us the power and responsibility to do so. Many times, we neglect our basic responsibilities and wonder why there is so much turmoil in our lives. There are even times when we resort to lengthy times of fasting and prayer to reverse things that could have been averted if we had had the guts to intervene and squash them much earlier on!
When we allow things to fester around us because we are afraid to address them, we must understand that the fault is not with God; the fault is fully ours!
His accomplishments were laudable.
But as towering as his legacy was, there was one chronic weakness that David seemed unable to deal with: David never seemed to have the guts to deal with issues of rebellion and indiscipline in his home. His son Adonijah, just like his other son Absalom, sought to usurp the throne right before his eyes! Just like Absalom, Adonijah rode around with a horse and chariot with fifty men running ahead of him. (His father never rebuked him by asking, ‘’Why do you behave as you do?") But for the wise counsel of Nathan, who encouraged Bathsheba to hold David to his promise to make Solomon king, there would have been utter chaos after the death of David.
There is a valuable lesson here: God will not do for us what he expects us to do for ourselves. God will not discipline our children for us when He has given us the power and responsibility to do so. Many times, we neglect our basic responsibilities and wonder why there is so much turmoil in our lives. There are even times when we resort to lengthy times of fasting and prayer to reverse things that could have been averted if we had had the guts to intervene and squash them much earlier on!
When we allow things to fester around us because we are afraid to address them, we must understand that the fault is not with God; the fault is fully ours!
Prayer: Father, I pray that you will give me the grace and the boldness to address things in my life that need to be courageously tackled. Help me not to overlook issues that can grow into massive problems because I have left them unattended. Amen.