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.’
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 Standard Set Before Solomon
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.
H. L. RossierHere 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."
A Promise Hung on a Condition
David is quoting God's promise back to Him. The rest of 1 Kings shows how his sons walked.
Leslie M. GrantThe 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).
Two Promises, Not One
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.
Edward DennettThe 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:
The Numerical BibleSo, 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).
What the "If" Exposes
The if does not only weigh on kings. One writer applies it to us all.
H. L. RossierHere 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 Applied to Us
The charge does not stay with Solomon.
H. L. RossierIt 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.
Summary
- 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.