Day 24: II Samuel 22:19 - I Kings 7:37

After finishing the Psalm that ended yesterday's reading, we read David's last words. Which he apparently gave quite a bit before he died since we read about a few more things in his life after that. We read about David's mighty warriors. We read about the time David sinned by taking a census of all Israel and Judah. As David is on his deathbed, Adonijah (Absalom's next youngest brother) tries to set himself up as king. But some quick thinking by Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet get David to crown Solomon king, as he promised Bathsheba he would. Solomon becomes king, God makes him wise and prosperous, and he builds the Temple and a palace for himself.

David's mighty warriors are awesome. These guys make the Navy Seals look like wimps. I'm serious. The Army Rangers would cry if they met up with David's mighty men. Check out some of these stories for yourself in II Samuel 23:8-39. One of my favorites is a guy named Eleazar. The Israelites were fighting the Philistines, but they retreated. Eleazar stood his ground and fought until his hand got tired and froze to his sword. The Lord brought about a great victory, and the rest of the troops only returned in time to strip the dead. Interesting thing I hadn't noticed before (or didn't remember), Uriah the Hittite (Bathsheba's husband) was one of David's mighty men.

David takes a census of all the fighting men in Israel. Joab tries to stop him, but David insists. Apparently this is a very sinful thing to do (I'm not entirely sure why). Perhaps because it was David counting the men to glory in his strength... I don't know. But after the census is complete, David is conscience-stricken and repents to the Lord. The Lord gives David three options for punishment for his sin: three years of famine, three months of fleeing from their enemies, or three days of a plague. David chooses the three day plague. The Lord sends a plague and 70,000 people die. This is what makes me think that perhaps the sin of the census was an attempt to trust in human strength (similar to why God wanted to make Gideon's army smaller). If David trusts in the strength of his armies, he's not trusting in the Lord. David, upon seeing the plague, says to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.” Once again we see that personal sin has corporate consequences.

David goes to offer a sacrifice to the Lord so that the plague will stop. It is in the scene of this sacrifice that he he makes one of my favorite statements. He goes to the place where he is supposed to make the sacrifice and offers to buy the threshing floor and all the animals for the sacrifice. The man who owns it tells David that he will give it all to him free of charge. To this David replies, “No...I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” I love the concept of offering to God something of value, something that has a cost associated with it. It makes me think of the words of Jesus when he tells His followers to count the cost before following Him. But we'll get to that.

David gets pretty old and is about to die. His son, Adonijah, decides to set himself up as king. We read yet another flaw of David's parenting because it says that never once did he rebuke his son and ask him why he behaved the way he did. Bathsheba and Nathan inform David of this and he quickly acts to have Solomon crowned king. In this case, there's really no battle or struggle. The people rally around Solomon and Adonijah yields without a fight. He does try to sneak the throne back by asking for a strategic marriage that would have given him the kingdom. Solomon then has him killed. He then goes on to have many of his father's enemies killed.

God appears to Solomon in a dream and offers to give him whatever her asks for. Solomon asks for wisdom, and God grants his request. He also gives him wealth and honor because He was pleased with his request.

Solomon builds the temple for the Lord, and it's pretty impressive. Cedar and gold everywhere. It takes seven years to build. Solomon then builds himself a palace. That takes thirteen years. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Maybe Solomon is starting to get a little enamored with his wealth?

Tomorrow's reading is I Kings 7:38 through 16:20.

Peace.