And the days of David were at hand that he should die; and he enjoined Solomon his son saying,
David's reign is closing, and the last thing he does as king is speak to the son who will take his place. The verse turns on one word: "commanded." What the dying king says here is not a farewell but orders for the reign that follows.
One writer calls this speech the old king's will, drawn from all he had learned:
As he dies, David leaves a commandment with his son Solomon, and insists upon his responsibility. It is, so to speak, the testament of the aged king and the fruit of his long experience... Solomon at the start of his reign must first of all be armed against anything that could hinder or ruin it.
David's concern reaches past his own death to God's people — the same concern two apostles had when facing their end:
As David was about to die, his words to Solomon have serious significance. Paul (2 Tim. 4:1-6) and Peter (2 Pet. 1:12-15) were concerned about the testimony of the Lord after their death. So was David. None of them was moved by selfish motives. They were moved by concern for God's glory among His people.
David asks first for courage. One writer shows what that strength rests on, then takes the next verse word by word:
The king must first of all "be of good courage and be a man." Obedience to the Lord and dependence on Him are the proofs of this strength, and the strength is to be used to "walk in His ways"... His statutes are the things He has set up, and His authority is attached to them. His commandments are the expression of His will, and we must submit to it. His ordinances (or judgments) are the principles He passes on to us, and the principles He acts by. His testimonies are the thoughts He has told us, which faith must receive.
(The ESV of the next verse reads "Be strong, and show yourself a man," and has "rules" where older translations read "judgments.")
The charge also named men David had left alive — Joab and Shimei. Some call this the revenge of a bitter old man. One writer answers that:
In the second chapter we have David's death. Before he died he charged king Solomon to judge righteously. David clearly feels that, to keep his own word, he had spared more than one wicked man. This lay on his conscience... It is wrong to call this vindictiveness; there was no vindictiveness in it at all... What filled the king's heart was not their personal opposition to himself. It was that this was so grave a sin against the Lord's anointed.
Behind the charge lies a warning about kindness that is never balanced by justice:
David, who represents grace, understood what was appropriate to a reign of righteousness. If there were no righteousness, grace itself would be nothing but guilty weakness... God alone has found, in Christ, the way to reconcile these two things: His perfect hatred for sin and His perfect love for the sinner.
One writer reads this handover of the throne — judgment for the guilty, kindness for the faithful — as a small picture of something far larger:
The punishment was well deserved. Joab had killed Abner and Amasa. Shimei had shamefully cursed God's King. Both were wicked men... He therefore asked Solomon to defend God's justice and lift it up from the defeat it had suffered, by punishing Joab and Shimei with death, while kindness is to be shown to the righteous. From the prophetic point of view, we get a glimpse of the coming righteous judgment of the King, our Lord Jesus Christ. He will carry out the vengeance of God and punish the evildoers. He will reward the righteous in His kingdom.
This is also a father guiding a son. Did the son listen?
Before David died he showed great wisdom in seeking to guide his son, Solomon, into the right paths for God. A very important lesson for fathers who have sons... Did Solomon pay any attention to his father? Yes, he did. Listen to his own words: "When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, 'Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.'"
- Testament — David's dying command is the fruit of a long life. It arms Solomon against everything that could ruin his reign before it starts.
- Motive — Like Paul and Peter facing death, David's concern is not himself but God's glory among His people after he is gone.
- Content — Be courageous, be a man, and let the whole Word of God — statutes, commandments, rules, testimonies — direct the walk.
- Balance — David had spared guilty men to keep his own word. Grace with no righteousness behind it is only weakness. In Christ alone the two are held together.
- Shadow — A throne handed on, evildoers judged, the faithful rewarded: a glimpse of the righteous reign of Christ still to come.
I go the way of all the earth be of good courage therefore, and be a man;
David is dying, and his last act as king is not to arrange his funeral but to hand his son a charge. His charge is short — be strong, be a man — and the next verse says what that means: keep the charge of the Lord.
David uses his last words to arm his successor for what lies ahead.
As he dies, David leaves a command with his son Solomon, and insists on his responsibility. It is, so to speak, the old king's last will and the fruit of his long experience... At the start of his reign, Solomon must first of all be armed against whatever could hinder or ruin it.
David's eye is on what will remain when he is gone.
As David was about to die, his words to Solomon carried real weight. Paul (2 Tim. 4:1-6) and Peter (2 Pet. 1:12-15) cared about the testimony of the Lord after their death. So did David. Selfish motives did not move these men. They cared about God's glory among His people.
The charge echoes words the Lord once spoke to Joshua. It also shows what this strength rests on.
There are many parallels between David's words to his son and the Lord's words to Joshua (Joshua 1). First of all, the king must be strong and show himself a man. Obedience to the Lord and dependence on Him are the proofs of this strength, and he is to use it to walk in God's ways. The Word of God directs that walk.
The next verse says what such strength has to do.
So David urged Solomon, "Be strong, and show yourself a man" (v. 2). To do that, he would have to keep the charge of the Lord, walk in His ways, and keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments and His testimonies written in the Law of Moses.
David piles up four words for God's word, and each carries its own weight. Rossier breaks them down:
His statutes are the things He has established, and His authority stands behind them. His commandments express His will, and we are bound to submit to it. His ordinances (or judgments) are the principles He passes on and acts by. His testimonies are the thoughts He has told us, and faith must receive them. For the Israelite all this made up "the law of Moses," and it was to be the divine standard for the walk of the faithful.
The same call comes again in the New Testament. One writer traces it back to what man was made for.
"Act like men": at creation God made man in His image, and so gave him the place of representing God in a hostile world. Let us not think little of such dignity and honor. "Be strong": whatever our natural weakness, strength is available in Christ.
(Older translations read "quit you like men" here; the ESV reads "act like men, be strong.")
The same holds true for us.
Our life finds its food and its strength in the Word of God. Only by keeping it can we travel through a hostile world without fear and see all we do prosper. It teaches us to walk in God's way. Can there be a greater blessing than to find a perfect path here on earth — the path of Christ, the path the eyes of God rest on with delight?
The charge came with a promise, and the promise had a condition.
The Lord had told David that if his sons took care to walk before Him in truth with all their heart and soul, David would never lack a descendant to sit on his throne. David reminded Solomon of this conditional promise (v. 4). Sadly, David's sons did not meet the conditions. Solomon began well, but he soon turned away from the truth of Scripture, and his sons went further still.
- Charge. David's dying words arm Solomon against whatever could ruin his reign.
- Motive. The concern is not personal legacy but God's glory among His people after the leader is gone.
- Strength. Here strength means obedience and dependence — the same call the Lord once gave Joshua.
- Standard. Statutes, commandments, judgments and testimonies make up the whole Word. Strength keeps all of it, not a part.
- Outcome. The promise had a condition. Solomon began well, then turned aside — which shows how much he needed the charge.
and keep the charge of Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest and whithersoever thou turnest thyself;
David is dying, and the last thing he hands his son is not a strategy for the throne but a standard for it. The charge sets one condition over the whole reign: God's written word, kept day by day. Does obedience really decide whether a life goes well?
At the end, David's concern is God's testimony after he is gone. One writer places him beside two apostles who felt the same:
As David was about to die, his words to Solomon have serious significance. Paul and Peter cared about the testimony of the Lord after their death, and so did David. None of them acted from selfish motives. Each was moved by concern for God's glory among His people.
Verse 2 tells Solomon to be strong. Verse 3 tells him what strength looks like. The Lord said much the same to Joshua when he took command after Moses:
There are many similarities between David's words to his son and the Lord's words to Joshua. The king must first of all be of good courage and be a man. Obedience to the Lord and dependence on Him are the proofs of this strength. He must use that strength to walk in His ways. The Word of God directs the walk itself, as we see here and in Psalm 119.
The verse piles up terms: statutes, commandments, rules, testimonies. Each names a different side of God's word, and together they make up the whole:
The Word has different characteristics and it is necessary to pay attention to all of them… His statutes are the things He has established, and His authority stands behind them. His commandments are the expression of His will, and we must submit to them. His ordinances (or judgments) are the principles He conveys and according to which He acts. His testimonies are the thoughts He has communicated to us, and faith must receive them. All this made up "the law of Moses" for the Israelite and was to be the divine standard for the walk of the faithful.
"As it is written in the Law of Moses" points to something Solomon could hold. Every king of Israel had a standing duty about that book. Neglecting it did damage long after Solomon:
Before Israel entered the land, the Lord gave a rule for the day when the people would have a king: "when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law… And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God." Suppose every ruler in Israel had obeyed this instruction. Suppose each had made his own copy of the law and read it all the days of his life. Then the long line of evils King Josiah later had to face would never have existed.
"That you may prosper" is the promise attached. One writer takes it as a rule that outlasts Solomon's throne, and says what kind of prosperity is in view:
Simple obedience to the word of God always has been, is now, and always will be the deep and real secret of all true prosperity. For the Christian, of course, the prosperity is not in earthly or material things, but in heavenly and spiritual things. And we must never forget this: it is the height of folly to think of prospering or making progress in the divine life if we are not giving wholehearted obedience to all the commandments of our blessed and adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The same principle reaches us now, and it shows where such a life gets its strength:
Our life finds its nourishment and its strength in the Word of God. Only by keeping it can we travel through a hostile world without fear and see all we do prosper. It teaches us to walk in the way of God. Can there be a greater blessing than to find a perfect path here on earth? It is the path of Christ, and the eyes of God rest on it with delight.
Solomon did not keep the charge. What followed shows the cost when a condition is dropped:
The Lord had told David that his sons must be diligent to walk before the Lord in truth, with all their heart and soul. If they did, David would never lack a descendant to sit on his throne. David reminded Solomon of this conditional promise. Sad to say, David's sons did not meet the conditions. Solomon began well, but very soon turned away from the truth of scripture, and his sons turned further still.
- Charge — David's dying concern was God's testimony after him, not his own name.
- Courage — verse 2 calls for strength; verse 3 shows what it is. Obedience and dependence, the same word once given to Joshua.
- Contents — statutes, commandments, rules and testimonies make up the whole Word. All four need attention.
- Copy — the standard was in writing. Kings had to copy out the law and read it for life. Skipping that bred later ruin.
- Consequence — obedience is the real secret of prosperity. For the Christian that prosperity is spiritual. Solomon started well, dropped the condition, and his sons fell further.
that Jehovah may confirm his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If thy sons take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee, said he, a man upon the throne of Israel.
David is dying, and his last words to Solomon fasten the future of the throne to a single word: if. It raises one question: can a throne held on terms of obedience stand? (Older translations say "in truth" where the ESV says "in faithfulness," and the writers quoted below use that older wording.)
The charge is not vague piety. The verse just before this one lists four words for God's Word. One writer defines each, then ties the list to the promise made here.
Here it is said: "To keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and His testimonies." Such is the whole of the Word. His statutes are the things He has established, and His authority is attached to them. His commandments are the expression of His will, and we must submit to it. His ordinances (or judgments) are the principles He makes known, and He acts by them. His testimonies are the thoughts He has told us, and faith must receive them. For the Israelite all this made up "the law of Moses," the standard God set for the walk of the faithful. A life ordered in this way must prosper in whatever aspect one might consider it... With these principles there would never have failed him "a man on the throne of Israel."
David is quoting God's promise back to Him. The rest of 1 Kings shows how his sons walked.
The Lord had told David that his sons must be diligent to walk before Him in truth with all their heart and soul. Then there would be no lack of a descendant to sit on David's throne. David reminded Solomon of this conditional promise (v.4). Sad to say, David's sons did not fulfil the conditions. Solomon began well, but very soon turned away from the truth of Scripture. His sons went farther still (1 Kings 11:1-9; 12:1-15).
If the throne depended only on obedience, the story would end in failure. But God's word to David runs on two lines at once.
The promise to David... is twofold, absolute, and conditional... When Christ, as the Son of David, is before the mind of the Spirit, the promise is unconditional. It announces God's purpose in grace. But when David's children, his immediate descendants, are in view, their stay on his throne depends on their responsibility — on their keeping God's law and walking according to His commandments.
God did not add that absolute side later, once the kings had failed:
So, for many centuries, that was the end of the throne of David. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise no failure of man could set aside. When He gave it, He had already taken the failure into account, and He declared what He would do: "I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules... then I will punish their transgression with the rod... but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness" (Psalm 89:29-33).
The if does not only weigh on kings. One writer applies it to us all.
Here we would be entering upon the ground of pure grace if only there were not an if... How this "if only" condemns us all! It absolutely condemned wise Solomon, and how much more ourselves, a worthless lot. If we must earn anything from the Lord by meeting our responsibility, we are condemned from the start. Of course grace also brings responsibility for those under its rule. But that responsibility is completely different. It says: "Let us be what we are." Legal responsibility says: "Let us become what we should be."
The charge does not stay with Solomon.
It is the same for us. Our life finds its nourishment and its strength in the Word of God. Only by keeping it can we travel through a hostile world without fear and see all we do prosper (Psalm 1:2-3). It teaches us to walk in the way of God. Is there any greater blessedness than to find a perfect path here on earth? It is the path of Christ, and the eyes of God rest on it with pleasure.
- The standard. Statutes, commandments, judgments, testimonies — together they make up "the whole of the Word." Solomon's throne rested on all four, not on a favourite few.
- The condition. The promise reached the next generation only if David's sons walked before God with all their heart and soul. They did not. Solomon's own drift began the decline.
- The two lines. God's word to David is absolute where Christ the Son of David is in view. It is conditional where his own heirs are in view.
- The failure foreseen. God guaranteed the throne with a promise no failure of man could set aside. He had already said what He would do when they forsook His law.
- The grace. Legal responsibility says, "Let us become what we should be." Grace says, "Let us be what we are." That same Word still feeds and steadies the walk today.
And thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and upon his sandals that were on his feet.
David is dying, and his last words to Solomon name Joab — the general who killed two rival commanders while Israel was at peace. Why raise this only now, on his deathbed — old bitterness, or a kingdom being set right?
The two men named in the verse were not battlefield casualties. The king's own general killed them both, each for a private motive:
Joab was David's nephew and the commander-general of his forces. He showed much warlike courage, but he was vengeful, and all through he seems not to have shared the king's mind. He murdered Abner by treachery, to avenge his brother Asahel — the man Abner had killed in self-defence. He also killed Amasa out of jealousy at having a rival, though David had promoted Amasa to be his general-in-chief. These, according to Solomon, were better men and more righteous than he.
David does not say Joab wronged Abner and Amasa. He says Joab wronged him:
What Joab had done to these men, he had done to David. "You also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me." Perhaps this bloody man thought he was serving his king the whole time he was serving his own interests. Impossible! What a man does in his own interest, he does against God.
The verse dwells on where the blood landed. Those two items carry meaning:
In time of peace the blood of war had stained Joab's belt and sandals — his service and his walk. This was a defilement. War must overtake him in turn. He had to learn that there could be no peace for him, because peace belongs to those who make peace. Neither Solomon's reign of peace nor his reign of righteousness could make room for such men.
Some read this charge as proof of a spiteful old man. One writer disagrees:
Critics have attacked David's character because of this charge. In his history of the people of Israel, Renan even calls the incident "a revelation of the black treachery of his hypocritical soul." However, the charge to Solomon to execute vengeance on these two men is not a stain on King David. The punishment was well deserved... David's own guilt had no doubt forced him to neglect the solemn duty that justice demanded. So he asked Solomon to uphold God's justice and lift it up from the defeat it had suffered.
Rossier names that long silence for what it was, and draws a warning from it:
But this absence of judgment was nothing less than weakness in David... The sinner's act of wrongdoing will find him out — perhaps when his hair is white with age, but it will come back to mind without fail.
David wants a throne set right, not a private score. One detail proves it: Joab had also killed his son Absalom, and David leaves that out.
David wanted Solomon's throne to be established in righteousness — a picture of the righteousness of the coming reign of the Lord Jesus. He will clear out of His kingdom everything that offends... David reminds Solomon that Joab had, in cold blood, murdered both Abner and Amasa. He did not mention Joab's killing of Absalom. Yet Joab did this while Absalom was helpless, when he should have taken him prisoner instead of killing him. Yet David gave no hint that his own feelings lay behind his demand that Joab suffer for his crimes.
One writer reads the change of kings as a change in how God deals with people:
David's reign is marked by grace, Solomon's by judgment... All through his reign David tolerated these men. He showed them grace. But Solomon is charged to put them to death. He must show them no mercy once David's reign of grace is over. David's throne, like God's at present, is a "throne of grace."
Clearing out such men is what makes the new reign stand:
Solomon's own thinking shows in his book of Proverbs: "A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil with his eyes" (Proverbs 20:8). "Take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness" (Proverbs 25:5). When Solomon had executed judgment on Joab and others, the Holy Spirit says, "So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon."
- Crime. Joab killed two better men — Abner out of revenge, Amasa out of jealousy — in cold blood, while Israel was at peace.
- Against the king. David treats the murders as done to himself. What a man does for his own interest, he does against God — whatever service he claims to offer.
- Defilement. Blood on belt and sandals marks a stained service and a stained walk. Peace belongs to those who make peace, so Joab could have none.
- Delay. David's long silence was weakness, not mercy. Delayed justice is not cancelled justice: wrongdoing finds a man out, even when his hair is white.
- Establishment. Judgment on Joab was not private revenge but the clearing of a throne. The kingdom stood firm once the king had put evil away — a picture of the reign still to come.
And thou shalt do according to thy wisdom, and not let his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
But shew kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table; for so they came up to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.
Most of David's last words to Solomon deal with justice — a murderer to punish, a man who cursed the king to judge. Why does one family stand in the middle of that list, marked out for kindness because of what their father did on the day the king fled?
Listen to the order of David's dying charge. The tone softens for a moment, then hardens again.
We listen eagerly for the last words of "the anointed of God". We hear him dealing out stern justice to Joab, the murderer of the two captains of the army of Israel... Then the voice seems to change to the softness of grace as he speaks of the sons of Barzillai. And on the other side of this apparent aside, we hear righteousness again. It pronounces the fate of the man who cursed God's king and disobeyed the king's command. Often the great deeds of life pass before the memory of those who are leaving it. But here is one who thinks of the injustice done to others, and of the kindness shown to himself by comparative strangers.
David knew what a reign of righteousness needed, even though his own life kept failing to hold the two together.
David, who represents grace, understood what was appropriate to a reign of righteousness. If there were no righteousness, grace itself would be nothing but guilty weakness. As a man, David had shown himself very little able to give each of these qualities its rightful place. Many times we find him too weak to carry out righteousness, as in the case of Joab, or we find him showing grace at the expense of righteousness. God alone has found, in Christ, the way to reconcile these two things: His perfect hatred for sin and His perfect love for the sinner.
The verse points back to a single act: supplies carried to a hunted king when his cause looked lost. Nobody ordered it.
At this point David's fortunes were at their lowest. Shobi, Machir and Barzillai declared themselves on his side. They met him and his company at Mahanaim, bringing with them what they felt he would need. David had not summoned them to entertain him; no superior force compelled them to hand over to the king what they owned. They brought, of their own accord, the things that suited the occasion... They saw in him the Lord's anointed, so the crowd's favourite had no attraction for them.
What happened to that kindness once the crisis had passed?
In time Barzillai died. Perhaps many in Israel soon forgot this scene and everything connected with it. But one heart never lost the memory of Barzillai's service. The king never forgot it, and Solomon his son was always to remember it. After his return David was busy with many important concerns. Even so, with his last breath he spoke of this service at Mahanaim, and committed Barzillai's sons to Solomon's special care. Before David and Solomon the sons of Barzillai had a place — not of distance but of marked nearness, for they ate bread at the king's table and feasted in the king's presence. Faithfulness to the Lord's anointed at a time when most people had deserted him was never to be forgotten. Such devotion was never to go unrewarded.
David's charge gives Barzillai's family more than Barzillai ever asked for.
David's thoughts delight to linger, in contrast, on what Barzillai had done for him (2 Sam. 19:31-40). He rewards that devoted old man far beyond his desires in the person of his sons. At first this touched Chimham alone. Now all the sons of Barzillai have a right at the king's table in return for their father's faithfulness. They enjoyed the glory of the kingdom in a special position of honour and closeness. Let us be mindful of this in our families. The devotion of parents to Christ is repaid in their children.
David's kindness kept running into limits. The Lord's kindness will not.
Barzillai's age kept David from doing for him all that he wanted. His hasty action over Mephibosheth tells us we have only a man like ourselves before us. But nothing can hinder the Lord Jesus from rewarding, as He will, all who have followed Him in His rejection. No one will suffer injustice on that day.
- Cost. Barzillai gave when no one asked him to, at the moment the king had nothing to give back.
- Memory. David spoke of Mahanaim with his last breath. Kindness shown in his worst days outlived every busy year after it.
- Grace. This kindness sits between two sentences of judgment. A throne that repays crime can also repay kindness, and without righteousness grace would be only weakness.
- Reach. The reward passed to sons who had done nothing. A parent's devotion to Christ comes back to the children.
- Table. The gift was nearness, a seat in the king's presence. Christ will reward in the same way everyone who followed Him in His rejection.
And behold, there is with thee Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day that I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Jehovah saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.
David is dying. In his last words to Solomon he names a man he had once forgiven — Shimei, who cursed him while he was running for his life. The verse raises a hard question: if David swore not to kill Shimei, why does he hand the case to his son at all?
Shimei's story runs from an insult to an execution.
Son of Gera, a Benjaminite, of the house of Saul. He cursed David and called him "a worthless man." He threw stones and dust at him while David was hurrying away from Jerusalem during Absalom's rebellion. But he submitted when David returned, and David did not punish him then. When David was dying, he reminded Solomon of Shimei's wickedness, because Shimei had cursed the king the Lord had anointed. Solomon later promised Shimei his life on one condition: that he never leave Jerusalem. Shimei broke the agreement, and he was put to death.
The timing shows the man. He cursed David on the day David looked finished.
When it seemed to Shimei that David was losing to Absalom, then he felt safe in cursing him. But when David regained his authority in Israel, Shimei changed his attitude and came to David to apologise. He apologised out of fear for his own safety. But David accepted it and swore to him by the Lord that he would not kill him.
Refusing revenge is not the same as leaving wrong unanswered.
David would not take revenge for his own sake. But later, when he was near death, he charged Solomon to see that Shimei suffered for his wickedness. This was simple righteousness. After David's death, no one could say that David was only seeking revenge. Similarly, God may allow evil men to live today, but future eternal judgment awaits them.
Shimei was still in the kingdom and looked reconciled. Yet David's words draw a line between sparing a man and clearing him.
He was then apparently restored, but if David in grace had spared him, he did not hold him innocent. Everything now depended on how he behaved under the king of righteousness. His conduct would show whether his repentance was real.
Commentators differ on how to judge the charge itself. Some defend it as overdue justice.
Critics have attacked David's character because of this charge. However, the charge to Solomon to carry out vengeance on these two men is not a stain on King David. The punishment was well deserved. Joab had killed Abner and Amasa. Shimei had, with great vileness, cursed God's king. Both were wicked men. David's own guilt had no doubt made him neglect the solemn duty that justice demanded.
Others feel the shame of it more sharply — a king passing on to his son what he could not do himself.
David's own sins in the matter of Uriah and Bathsheba had weakened his hands. It has been well said that a crippled hand cannot swing a heavy sword. Besides, had he not used Joab as his tool for the murder of Uriah? As he lay dying, he charged Solomon to deal with Joab and the others he had spared. Still, the whole story is humiliating.
One reign gives way to another, and grace gives way to judgment.
Throughout David's reign David tolerated these men and showed them grace. But he charges Solomon to put them to death. They must receive no mercy once David's reign of grace is over. This is solemn, sinner. David's throne, like God's at present, is a "throne of grace."
When the sentence came, it fell on a man who had broken his own word, not on a man taken by surprise.
Though Shimei did not keep his promise, Solomon would keep his. Solomon also reminded him of the wickedness of his attitude toward David, and that this wickedness would come back on his own head. David had not killed Shimei, so that no one could call it personal revenge. But justice had to be done, even though David was no longer alive. Shimei's case is a warning to us not to speak evil of those in authority.
- Curse. Shimei cursed David at his lowest point. The insult struck the king the Lord had anointed, so it was no private quarrel.
- Grace. David swore not to put him to death, and kept the oath; he would not take vengeance for himself while he sat on the throne.
- Delay. Being spared is not being cleared. Shimei kept his life, but his repentance stayed untested.
- Test. Life under the new king exposed him. He had one condition to keep, he broke it, and repentance born of fear proved empty.
- Judgment. God likewise lets evil men live now under a throne of grace. But the reign of grace ends, and then judgment falls.
And now hold him not guiltless; for thou art a wise man, and thou shalt know what thou oughtest to do to him; but bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood.
David's last words to Solomon are about Shimei, a man he had spared during his own lifetime. Is this a dying king settling old scores, or something else?
David refused revenge while he lived. The charge he now gives his son is a different thing.
For his own sake, David would not take revenge. Yet later, near death, he charged Solomon to see that Shimei suffered for his wickedness (1 Kings 2:8-9). This was simple righteousness. After David's death, no one could say David was only seeking revenge. In the same way, God may allow evil men to live today, but eternal judgment awaits them in the future.
The delay itself has a cause, and it is not to David's credit. Commentators trace it back to his own history.
David's own sins over Uriah and Bathsheba had weakened his hands. There is truth in the saying, "a crippled hand cannot swing a heavy sword." Besides, had he not used Joab as his tool to murder Uriah? When he lay dying, he told Solomon to deal with Joab and the others he had spared. Still, the whole story is humiliating.
The words "do not hold him guiltless" draw a line. Mercy is not the same as a verdict of innocence.
He seemed to be restored. David had spared him in grace, but he did not hold him innocent. Everything now depended on how he behaved under the king of righteousness. His conduct would show whether his repentance was real.
David knew what his son's reign would need, even where his own reign had failed.
David, who represents grace, understood what was appropriate to a reign of righteousness. If there were no righteousness, grace itself would be nothing but guilty weakness. As a man, David showed very little ability to give each of these qualities its rightful place... God alone has found, in Christ, the way to bring these two things together: His perfect hatred for sin and His perfect love for the sinner.
David names the man and the guilt. He leaves the method to Solomon.
Solomon is best known for his wisdom. His father joined righteousness to this divine quality. David charged his son about certain offenders he had spared until then, and said, "You are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him … Act therefore according to your wisdom" (1 Kings 2:6-9). Righteousness was to be carried out with divine wisdom, so there would be no mistakes.
Years later the case came back, and it turned on a promise.
Someone reported Shimei's trip to Solomon. Solomon called him in and reminded him of his promise to stay in Jerusalem, and of Solomon's own promise to have him killed if he broke it (vv. 41-42). Shimei did not keep his promise, but Solomon would keep his. Solomon also reminded him how wicked his attitude toward David had been, and that this wickedness would come back on his own head. David had not killed Shimei, so that nothing would look like personal revenge. But justice had to be done, even though David was no longer alive. Shimei's case warns us not to speak evil of those in authority.
The charge also looks ahead to a greater reign.
This is the first mark of the king reigning in glory. He executes righteous judgment in the earth. Nothing escapes the watchfulness of this judgment. We see it in the case of Shimei.
Another writer turns this on the reader:
David tolerated these men all through his reign. He showed them grace. But he charges Solomon to put them to death. Once David's reign of grace is over, they must receive no mercy. This is solemn, sinner. David's throne, like God's at present, is a "throne of grace" (Heb. 4:16). David let his enemies live. Judgment fell on those enemies when Solomon's glorious reign began, and that reign pictures the coming thousand-year reign of Christ. If you refuse God's grace and stay unreconciled, you must face judgment. In grace God lets you live now, as David let his enemies live.
- Guilt held. David's grace spared Shimei, but it never called him innocent. Sin left unjudged is still sin.
- Grace tested. His life now hung on how he behaved under the king of righteousness. His conduct would show whether his repentance was real.
- Grace needs righteousness. Without righteousness, grace is only "guilty weakness." David could not hold the two together. In Christ, God does.
- Righteousness needs wisdom. David names the guilt and leaves the method to Solomon. Wise justice makes no mistakes, and no one can call it revenge.
- Grace has an end. David's reign tolerated these men. The throne we come to now is a throne of grace, but the reign that follows lets nothing escape.
And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
David's story closes with one quiet sentence. The king dies, and they bury him in the fortress he once captured. Behind that short line sit large questions. What does "slept with his fathers" claim? Why does the burial place matter? And why did his tomb still matter centuries later?
The record is sober. One commentator adds up the years and draws a lesson from them:
2 Samuel 5:4 tells us that David was 30 years old when he began to reign, and reigned 40 years over Israel. So he died at 70 years of age and was buried in Jerusalem. For seven years he reigned in Hebron and for 33 years in Jerusalem. By the time David died, Solomon was already reigning and his kingdom was firmly established. Solomon also reigned for forty years. How short indeed is the span of earthly glory! The last days of Paul in prison were much brighter with rejoicing than the last days of either David or Solomon.
The phrase sounds gentle, but it states one thing only: the man died. Scripture uses different words for being buried with one's fathers:
"So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers" only expresses his death. In Scripture that is a different expression from "buried with his fathers." Compare 2 Kings 15:38 with 2 Kings 16:20 and you will see it at once.
Scripture uses the same expression of good and bad kings alike. One commentator warns against reading a quiet death as a verdict on the man:
"Asa slept with his fathers" — the same words that are said of Jeroboam, of Rehoboam, and of so many others. It may be a special favour. … But this favour is far from showing that the Lord took pleasure in them. It does not show either that they had found beyond the tomb the happiness their hearts had sought in vain in the world.
David rests in the stronghold he took from the Jebusites, the people who held it before him. The names of that place carry meaning:
Zion is the place which illustrates God's sovereignty in grace, as we see from another psalm (Psalm 78:68). It shows that grace at work when man has done all he could to produce utter ruin. … Zion itself means "fixed." Scripture first mentions it (2 Samuel 5:7) when David takes it out of the hand of the Gentile "treader down" — the Jebusite. It becomes then "the city of David," which, we rejoice to remember, means "Beloved."
Another book of Scripture closes David's history on a different note, and that choice fits its purpose:
The last verses of our chapter (1 Chronicles 29:26-30) repeat 1 Kings 2:10-12 in view of at last closing David's history. The Holy Spirit mentions his old age, "full of days, riches, and honour." That fits the purpose of this book. It also stands in contrast with his end, as 2 Samuel 23:1-6 and 1 Kings 1 record it for us.
David's tomb was still a well-known landmark long after his death. That fact settled a question about the words David wrote:
Was David writing of himself? Impossible. He had died and was buried, and his tomb was with them, still holding his dust. Clearly his tomb was then well known. And all were perfectly agreed that he, the first of his dynasty, had not risen from the dead. Yet he wrote of One who would die, and would be raised soon afterwards. For God would not leave that One's soul in Hades (the place of spirits without their bodies), and He would not allow His body to see corruption.
One writer points to how Paul used David's death when he preached:
He contrasted Christ with the Psalmist. He said, "David indeed, having in his own generation ministered to the will of God, fell asleep and was added to his fathers and saw corruption." But He whom God raised again "saw no corruption" (Acts 13:36-37). This fact is of fundamental importance for us today.
The same sentence in Acts sums up David's whole life:
In Acts 13:36 we have a full, unqualified commendation of David's life. No "but" comes in to spoil the picture. … We notice David "served his own generation by the will of God." He could not truly serve his own generation unless he served the will of God.
- Slept — the phrase states one fact: the man died. Scripture uses it of faithful and faithless kings alike. It settles nothing about a person's standing before God.
- Buried — he rests in the stronghold he took from the Jebusites. It became the city of David, a name that means "Beloved" — grace stepping in after ruin.
- Remained — his tomb still held his dust centuries later. That fact proved his words pointed past himself to Another.
- Contrast — David's body saw corruption. God raised Christ, and He saw none. Everything for us today rests on that difference.
- Serve — David's epitaph is not his throne or his forty years. It is that he served his own generation by God's will. That part is open to us too.
And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
One sentence closes the reign of Israel's most famous king. Forty years, split between two capitals. Commentators read it two ways at once: as the record of a man's life, and as a picture of Christ's coming kingdom.
The same figures appear again at the end of 1 Chronicles, but that book closes David's life on a different note.
The last verses of that chapter (1 Chron. 29:26-30) repeat 1 Kings 2:10-12 in order to close David's history at last. The Holy Spirit mentions his old age — "full of days, riches, and honor" — to match the purpose of Chronicles. This stands in contrast with his end, which 2 Samuel 23:1-6 and 1 Kings 1 record for us.
The first stretch of the reign covered only part of the nation. Commentators count it as seven years and a half, and they find meaning in the place as much as in the length.
In this first subdivision, then, we find David in possession only of part of a divided kingdom. We trace the growth of his power, despite enemies and hindrances, until the death of Ishbosheth opens his way to the throne of all Israel. During all this time (seven years and a half) his throne is in Hebron. That place holds many cherished memories, linked forever with the faith of his pilgrim forefathers, from Abraham to Jacob. "Communion," with all that it implies, must be the power of a kingdom.
The move to Jerusalem did not end the fighting. Some commentators see the pattern of Christ's kingdom here. They note that David's fighting never stopped, and that peace came only with the son who followed.
David reigned at Hebron for seven years before he reigned at Jerusalem. This period was one of conflict between the house of David and the house of Saul. But even after this, when all the tribes owned him as king, David fought one long series of conflicts with Israel's enemies all around. True, he was successful in these conflicts. His conquests reached far and near, for God was with him and gave him victory over his enemies. But a time of conflict, however successful, is not a time of quiet and rest. Solomon, as his name shows, was the peaceful prince.
The two figures add up to forty, a number that carries weight through Scripture. One writer warns against turning the pattern into a timetable.
David reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three in Jerusalem, together forty years. That number always expresses the sufficiency and completeness of whatever it is used about. And Messiah will rule among His enemies till all of them are put down. But how to divide the era of judgment… is not revealed. God will give understanding to diligent faith. But if you try to line up the events of David's reign with the future course of judgment, you will certainly fall into mistakes.
Put the reign beside David's age, and the whole life looks brief.
2 Samuel 5:4 tells us that David was 30 years old when he began to reign, and reigned 40 years over Israel. So he died at 70 years of age and was buried in Jerusalem… Solomon also reigned for forty years (1 Kings 11:42). How short indeed is the span of earthly glory! Paul's last days in prison were far brighter with joy than the last days of either David or Solomon! (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
The length of a life matters less than what it served. Acts looks back on David and commends him with nothing held back.
In Acts 13:36 we have a full, unqualified commendation of David's life. No "but" spoils the picture. Another translation gives a delightful rendering of the verse: "David, indeed, having in his own generation ministered to the will of God, fell asleep."
The reign ends and a more splendid one begins. Yet the man who suffered is not the poorer of the two.
There was this difference between David and his son. Together they picture our Lord Jesus Christ in His sufferings and in His glory. Still, we would be very wrong to suppose that David had not a better portion before God than his son had. Faith is better than its own results. If we could have heaven without the pathway of faith on earth, we would never be as blessed as we hope to be.
- Forty — the whole reign adds up to the number of sufficiency and completeness. Messiah will rule among His enemies until all are put down.
- Seven — at Hebron David held only part of a divided kingdom, in a place tied to the faith of his fathers. Communion must be the power of a kingdom.
- Thirty-three — all Israel owned him as king, yet his reign stayed one long series of conflicts. Peace waited for Solomon.
- Seventy — David died at seventy, and the span of earthly glory is short. Yet Acts 13:36 commends his life with no "but" in it.
- Better — the throne passed to the son who reigned in glory. Yet faith is better than its own results, and David's portion before God was the better one.
And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.
David's long reign ends here. His son takes his place, and the throne still carries his father's name. Commentators see more here than a note on history. They read this verse as a summary of the whole reign, and as a picture of a greater King to come.
This is not the start of something new and separate. Solomon had already sat on his father's throne before David died. One writer sees the two reigns as a single whole.
The Second Book of Samuel shows David setting up the kingdom of Israel. The opening of First Kings shows us that same kingdom firmly established by Solomon. Note that Solomon's rule forms one continuous whole with David's. The death of the old king did not interrupt it for a moment, because Solomon had sat on his father's throne while David was still alive. As a picture, this is one single, unbroken reign. Its two periods look very different from each other, yet the reign joins them both in a complete and unbreakable unity.
The verse comes right after David's burial, yet it does not describe day one of the new king. It states what marked the reign from start to finish, and sets it against what came before.
David dies (vv. 10-12). Here the Word does not note the opening of Solomon's reign. It notes what marks that reign in general and as a whole: "his kingdom was firmly established." This is the character of the kingdom of righteousness, in contrast with the kingdom of grace, which was full of trouble and rebellion.
A king makes his throne secure by dealing with wrongdoing. Solomon wrote that principle down himself. The same chapter that opens with his enthronement then applies it to Joab and others.
We can learn Solomon's own thinking from his Book of Proverbs: "Take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness" (Proverbs 25:5). After Solomon carried out judgment on Joab and others, the Holy Spirit says, "the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon" (1 Kings 2:46).
The chapter ends by saying it again. One writer notes the gap of time between the two statements, and sees the same pattern in what is still to come.
So, when the evil had been fully judged, "the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon." Three years passed before Scripture says the kingdom was fully established… In the same way, when Christ takes His kingdom, there will be a short period in which Gog and Magog come down from the far north to attack Israel — a land brought back from war and living in peace. But they will be judged without mercy, so that Christ's kingdom may be established in unchallenged supremacy (Ezekiel 38).
Solomon sat on it, but the seat kept his father's name. That detail runs right through Scripture, even though Solomon later built a throne of his own.
It is worth noting that the throne is always called David's throne, not Solomon's or any other king's (1 Kings 2:12; Jeremiah 13:13; Jeremiah 29:16). Solomon made a throne (1 Kings 10:18; 2 Chronicles 9:17-18)… All of this carries symbolic teaching. It will be fulfilled in the One who will sit on the throne of David in power and glory for a thousand years.
The promise God made to David reached further than Solomon. Commentators take his enthronement and everything that follows it as an advance sketch.
Solomon and his glorious reign foreshadow the reign of that greater Son of David, our Lord, in whom the covenant promise made to David will be fully accomplished. The section that begins with Solomon's enthronement is full of rich meaning, both as a picture and as prophecy. Solomon's righteous judgments, his wisdom, his reign in peace, and above all the building of the temple, all foreshadow Him who will soon receive the throne and build the temple of the LORD (Zechariah 6:13).
The same phrase, "the throne of David," appears again when Gabriel speaks to Mary. There it does not point back to Solomon's day.
Luke tells us how Gabriel announced the coming of Christ as a Saviour, and then goes on to say: "the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David" (Luke 1:32). In this verse the "throne of David" refers to Christ's thousand-year reign… David's reign foreshadowed the reign of Christ.
- Continuous — David's death interrupted nothing. Solomon had already sat on his father's throne, so the two reigns form one whole.
- Characteristic — the verse does not report day one. It sums up the whole reign: a kingdom of righteousness, unlike the reign of grace, which was full of trouble and rebellion.
- Cleared — a throne is established when the wicked are taken away from the king. That is why chapter 2 ends with the same words.
- Christ's — the throne always carries David's name, never Solomon's. It waits for the One who will sit on it in power and glory.
- Coming — Gabriel used the same phrase to Mary. So Solomon's established kingdom is a sketch of a reign still ahead.