And king David was old [and] advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he obtained no warmth.
The first book of Kings opens with a bedroom, not a coronation. Israel's great warrior-king lies under piles of blankets and still cannot get warm — and one of his sons is already counting on it.
Kings picks up the story of Samuel without a break. The first thing it shows is a reign running out, and a son who moves on his father's weakness.
It is clear that the Books of Kings are the natural continuation and successors of the Books of Samuel. But here we have David approaching his end; and the eldest of his sons who then survived — Adonijah — takes advantage of the king's infirmity for his own ambitious purpose. There was no fear of God in this. It was well known in David's house and in the land of Israel that God had chosen David from among his brothers, and that He had also been pleased to appoint Solomon to the throne of Israel… So Adonijah's sin was not merely ambition, nor even merely rebellion against King David; it was rebellion against the LORD.
David was only about seventy. One writer traces the lost body heat back to what his life had cost him.
David was about 70 years old and extremely feeble. Many things brought him to this weak condition: the strenuous life he had led, the hardships and exposure of his youth, the cares and worries of his reign, the chastening he went through because of his great sin, and much else. It is another illustration of that rigid law: what a man sows, he will reap. It was a premature decay with the complete loss of natural heat.
Sorrow ages a man. Another writer sets David's worn frame beside Someone who carried more grief and never lost His strength.
At thirty-three years of age, the Lord Himself appeared to be fifty years old (John 8:57), but His strength was unbroken. He was not worn down by grief, as David was. As the Man of Sorrows, His face was marred more than any man. Love stamped this character on His features, for in sympathy He carried all the sorrows that sin had brought upon our miserable race.
David's servants look for a practical fix.
David was near to death. He complained of the cold, though he was well covered with blankets. His servants thought that a young girl, a virgin, would help to warm him. Why could not one of his wives do this? But they found a beautiful young woman, Abishag, and brought her to the king. She ministered to the king's needs, but he did not cohabit with her. Men will use any available means of dealing with problems instead of committing the problem to the Lord.
An older weakness lies behind the new one. David had spared the rod with the son who now grabs the throne.
His father's weakness had fed his flaws. That same weakness had done so much to bring on the disasters of David's own life… Families of believers often see their testimony ruined by the weakness of the parents. In sparing the rod with their children they bring the rod upon themselves, as well as dishonour upon Christ. God never acts like this. His discipline is the proof of His love toward us. The weakness of parents is not a proof of their love. It proves their selfishness: they spare themselves by sparing their children.
Left to himself, the shivering king would have let the crown fall to the wrong son.
Solomon is anointed, so to speak, at the very last moment of David's reign. The life of the old king was like a candle-end about to go out, still giving off a feeble glow. He lacked the strength to make a prompt, firm decision according to God… In the book of Kings, David is responsible to appoint Solomon king according to God's order. It is clear that he would have failed in this responsibility if God had not stepped in.
Adonijah bet that a cold old man was a finished man.
Adonijah had thought David was too old and too drained of strength to have any more power as king. But the God who had brought David through all his troubles was still God. He could enable David to use the moral and spiritual power that had carried him through much opposition before. God always backs up what is His own work.
- Cold — At about seventy, David is worn out by hardship and by the chastening that followed his great sin. The lost body heat is what he had sown.
- Contrast — Christ looked older than His years and carried more sorrow than David. Yet His strength was never broken.
- Clothes — Blankets and a young nurse were man's answer to a problem never taken to God. People reach for any means at hand instead of committing the matter to the Lord.
- Consequence — David spared the rod, and the son he never corrected now crowns himself. Sparing the rod brings the rod back on the parent.
- Continuity — David's candle was almost out, and he would have failed his last duty. God stepped in. Adonijah bet on the king's weakness and lost, because God backs up His own work.
And his servants said to him, Let there be found for my lord the king a young virgin; and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get warm.
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