1 Kings 2:22

It did not look like much on the surface, but Solomon was wise. Solomon detected the unjudged ambition and rebellion of Adonijah's heart. So he judges, even though it was his own mother Bathsheba who was involved. She presented what she called a small petition. That is often done when there is something great behind it, though not always known. Bathsheba on this occasion was only the instrument of one who did not seek something small, but the greatest place in the kingdom. And so Abishag is the request.

He was apparently the oldest of David's sons at the end of David's life, and may have thought that he would succeed to the throne. But without consulting his father he said, "I will be king," and both Joab and Abiathar helped him. David at once proclaimed Solomon as king. He afterwards asked to have as wife Abishag, with whom David had shared his bed. According to Herodotus (3.68), eastern countries counted this as a claim to the crown. That agrees with Solomon saying, "Ask for him the kingdom also." It also explains the advice Ahithophel gave to Absalom: to sleep with his father's wives in public.

To give Abishag to him would be to grant him some right to his father's succession. It would give him some contact with the kingdom, which he might be able to claim at a convenient moment. It would be to accept his claims and the revolt led by Joab and Abiathar (v. 22) as lawful. Should the woman who had served David as a chaste virgin be given to this godless man?

"You know," he says, "that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel expected me to reign" (v. 15). How could such claims fail to stir the indignation of the true king?… His words alone show an embittered heart. That bitterness was held down for a long time. It comes out now because he had not judged himself in the least. To be sure, he also adds: "The kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, for it was his from the LORD." But is this a real recognition of the will of God, a real submission to the throne of righteousness? Adonijah accepts it because he cannot do otherwise.

She ought to have just reported to Solomon what Adonijah had said. Instead she told him she had only a small petition to make, and urged him not to deny her request (vv. 19-20). But Solomon also was too quick to assure his mother, before hearing her request, that he would not refuse it.

Solomon at first shows mercy to Adonijah. But Adonijah's will is still restless, and he wants the dead king's wife. This wakes up the righteous judgment meant for those who had failed in integrity and had risen up against God's anointed. It is the first mark attached to the king reigning in glory. He carries out righteous judgment in the earth. There is no escaping the watchfulness of this judgment.

It will be the same for the Church. Will the King of Glory ever hand over to another the bride He has chosen for Himself as King of Grace?… Here judgment did not wait: that very same day Adonijah is put to death.