Day 69

1 Kings 2

David’s Instructions to Solomon

2 When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

5 “Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. 6 Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7 But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8 And there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.”

The Death of David

10 Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. 11 And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Solomon’s Reign Established

13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you come peacefully?” He said, “Peacefully.” 14 Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.” 15 He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, for it was his from the Lord. 16 And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said to him, “Speak.” 17 And he said, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” 18 Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.”

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right. 20 Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” 21 She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.” 22 King Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on his side are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.” 23 Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! 24 Now therefore as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.” 25 So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.

26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because you shared in all my father’s affliction.” 27 So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28 When the news came to Joab—for Joab had supported Adonijah although he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and caught hold of the horns of the altar. 29 And when it was told King Solomon, “Joab has fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is beside the altar,” Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” 30 So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “The king commands, ‘Come out.’ ” But he said, “No, I will die here.” Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.” 31 The king replied to him, “Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father’s house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. 32 The Lord will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33 So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore.” 34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35 The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.

36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. 37 For on the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. Your blood shall be on your own head.” 38 And Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39 But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And when it was told Shimei, “Behold, your servants are in Gath,” 40 Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41 And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, 42 the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’ 43 Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I commanded you?” 44 The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So the Lord will bring back your harm on your own head. 45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” 46 Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died.

So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. [1]

Psalms 37, 71, 94, 119

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

37  Of David.

1    Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

2    For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb.

3    Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

4    Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5    Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

6    He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

7    Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

8    Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

9    For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

10    In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

11    But the meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in abundant peace.

12    The wicked plots against the righteous

and gnashes his teeth at him,

13    but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his day is coming.

14    The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose way is upright;

15    their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.

16    Better is the little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

17    For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18    The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will remain forever;

19    they are not put to shame in evil times;

in the days of famine they have abundance.

20    But the wicked will perish;

the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;

they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

21    The wicked borrows but does not pay back,

but the righteous is generous and gives;

22    for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,

but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23    The steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he delights in his way;

24    though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord upholds his hand.

25    I have been young, and now am old,

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging for bread.

26    He is ever lending generously,

and his children become a blessing.

27    Turn away from evil and do good;

so shall you dwell forever.

28    For the Lord loves justice;

he will not forsake his saints.

       They are preserved forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29    The righteous shall inherit the land

and dwell upon it forever.

30    The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

31    The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

32    The wicked watches for the righteous

and seeks to put him to death.

33    The Lord will not abandon him to his power

or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

34    Wait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

35    I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,

spreading himself like a green laurel tree.

36    But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;

though I sought him, he could not be found.

37    Mark the blameless and behold the upright,

for there is a future for the man of peace.

38    But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39    The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

40    The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him. [2]

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

71 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame!

2    In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

incline your ear to me, and save me!

3    Be to me a rock of refuge,

to which I may continually come;

       you have given the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

4    Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

5    For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

6    Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;

you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.

       My praise is continually of you.

7    I have been as a portent to many,

but you are my strong refuge.

8    My mouth is filled with your praise,

and with your glory all the day.

9    Do not cast me off in the time of old age;

forsake me not when my strength is spent.

10    For my enemies speak concerning me;

those who watch for my life consult together

11    and say, “God has forsaken him;

pursue and seize him,

for there is none to deliver him.”

12    O God, be not far from me;

O my God, make haste to help me!

13    May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;

with scorn and disgrace may they be covered

who seek my hurt.

14    But I will hope continually

and will praise you yet more and more.

15    My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,

of your deeds of salvation all the day,

for their number is past my knowledge.

16    With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;

I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

17    O God, from my youth you have taught me,

and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

18    So even to old age and gray hairs,

O God, do not forsake me,

       until I proclaim your might to another generation,

your power to all those to come.

19    Your righteousness, O God,

reaches the high heavens.

       You who have done great things,

O God, who is like you?

20    You who have made me see many troubles and calamities

will revive me again;

       from the depths of the earth

you will bring me up again.

21    You will increase my greatness

and comfort me again.

22    I will also praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, O my God;

       I will sing praises to you with the lyre,

O Holy One of Israel.

23    My lips will shout for joy,

when I sing praises to you;

my soul also, which you have redeemed.

24    And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,

       for they have been put to shame and disappointed

who sought to do me hurt. [3]

The Lord Will Not Forsake His People

94 O Lord, God of vengeance,

O God of vengeance, shine forth!

2    Rise up, O judge of the earth;

repay to the proud what they deserve!

3    O Lord, how long shall the wicked,

how long shall the wicked exult?

4    They pour out their arrogant words;

all the evildoers boast.

5    They crush your people, O Lord,

and afflict your heritage.

6    They kill the widow and the sojourner,

and murder the fatherless;

7    and they say, “The Lord does not see;

the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

8    Understand, O dullest of the people!

Fools, when will you be wise?

9    He who planted the ear, does he not hear?

       He who formed the eye, does he not see?

10    He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?

       He who teaches man knowledge—

11        the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,

that they are but a breath.

12    Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,

and whom you teach out of your law,

13    to give him rest from days of trouble,

until a pit is dug for the wicked.

14    For the Lord will not forsake his people;

he will not abandon his heritage;

15    for justice will return to the righteous,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16    Who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers?

17    If the Lord had not been my help,

my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.

18    When I thought, “My foot slips,”

your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

19    When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul.

20    Can wicked rulers be allied with you,

those who frame injustice by statute?

21    They band together against the life of the righteous

and condemn the innocent to death.

22    But the Lord has become my stronghold,

and my God the rock of my refuge.

23    He will bring back on them their iniquity

and wipe them out for their wickedness;

the Lord our God will wipe them out. [4]

1 Kings 3

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

3 Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.

3 Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon’s Wisdom

16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.

23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’ ” 24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice. [5]