Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes.
Ahijah the prophet has just torn a new garment and handed ten pieces of it to Jeroboam, Solomon's own servant. Yet the judgment announced here stops short of total loss. The reason God gives points away from Solomon, back to a father long dead.
The guilt belongs to the king
The charge just before this verse uses the plural, as though the whole nation had turned to foreign gods. One writer notes who God really has in view.
H. L. Rossier"They have forsaken me," says the Lord, "and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians... and they have not walked in my ways... as David his father did" (v. 33). "They" was Solomon, the king! No doubt all the people later followed that same path, but at this moment one man had sinned — the king. God had set him in a position of responsibility for all the people. His unfaithfulness brought judgment upon Israel.
A sentence postponed, not cancelled
Solomon keeps the throne until he dies. But the delay does not mean God let the sin pass.
A. J. PollockGod acted in judgment as He must ever do when the believer knowingly breaks Scripture. The kingdom was to be torn from him and given to his servant. The carrying out of this judgment was delayed, not for Solomon's sake but for that of his father David.
The same clause tested the man who received the prophecy. Ahijah had named the moment for Jeroboam's turn, and Jeroboam would not wait.
C. KnappAhijah had clearly said that Solomon should be "ruler all the days of his life." Only out of his son's hand would the kingdom be taken and transferred to Jeroboam. But Jeroboam was like a wilful, impatient child. He could not wait. He had to take the case out of God's hand and handle it himself.
"For the sake of David my servant"
Twice in this passage God names David as the reason He holds back. Reading the same phrase a few verses later, one writer draws out what it reveals about God Himself.
H. L. RossierIn verse 34 God, ever coming back to the grace He had shown to David, adds: "Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name" (v. 36). Grace is more in God's eyes than all glory. Or rather, grace is the most precious part of glory, because it stands, so to speak, at the head of all divine perfections.
"Who kept my commandments and my statutes"
God calls David a man who kept His commandments, though David's life held real failure. One writer points to how Scripture itself sums him up.
An Outline of Sound WordsAlthough there was failure with David, it could be written about him: "David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD." He "did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite" (1 Kings 15:5). This is a remarkable divine commendation.
What survives: a lamp, and a throne
The remaining share looks pitiful — God calls it one tribe. But one writer contrasts what happened to the ten tribes with what happened to the small one.
William KellyWhat mercy! "a light always." Greatly reduced — reduced in the size and glory of the kingdom. But there was a very marked difference from the ten tribes, the much larger part that passed to the other man. They would shift their loads from time to time. After continual changes in the ruling family, they had one king after another rising up. Not so with Judah. Judah was reduced to what God calls only one tribe. That word puts their loss of glory in the strongest possible way. Still, there the light shall be always.
If the lamp never goes out, someone must hold the promise that keeps it burning.
W. W. FeredayDavid's throne is guaranteed by God, not to Solomon or to any other unfaithful creature, but to Christ. Jeremiah 33:15-17 makes this clear. "In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land... For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel."
Summary
- Cause. The charge names the nation, but one man is meant. The king carried the responsibility, so his unfaithfulness brought judgment on Israel.
- Delay. Solomon keeps the throne for life — a postponement granted for David's sake, not for his own.
- Ground. God keeps coming back to the grace He showed David; grace stands at the head of all His perfections.
- Verdict. God's summary of David: right in everything except the matter of Uriah. That is a remarkable commendation.
- Result. One tribe looks like almost nothing, yet the light stays there always. And God guarantees the throne itself not to any failing man but to Christ.