Psalm 5, 6; 1 Kings 1:38-2:4; Acts 26:24-27:8; Mark 13:28-37
Surprisingly, Adonijah determines the wise course of action is to step aside and acknowledge Solomon as king. The cry of the people convinced him that this would be the right way to go. Now it is time for David to give Solomon his parting instructions. David begins correctly, by calling on Solomon to follow the Lord and obey His commands. When David has lived this way he has prospered and he teaches Solomon just as Moses taught Joshua and as he spoke to the people in the book of Deuteronomy. There are many important things the future king should know but none more important than reminding him that his kingship is of the Lord and is a promise to David that his son will sit on the throne. The first and most important thing in wisdom is fear of the Lord as Solomon himself will affirm many times in his writings but not always in his life.
Stay awake! That is the command of Jesus concerning His coming again. What would it mean to us to stay awake? Jesus, like David, is giving parting advice for the future without him. We are to seek God’s kingdom and nothing else, we are to fix our eyes on Him and to seek Him with all that we have and all that we are. In our setting of time and place it is easy to be complacent. We are 2000 years after Jesus, in prosperous time and place, in the midst of relative peace and security, it is easy to be fat and happy. Have we lost our sense of anticipation? Do we truly pray for the coming of the kingdom with a sense of urgency and expectancy or are our prayers filled with requests that will establish our own kingdom? The covenant promise on which we rely is the promise of the participation in the eternal kingdom f God and it is for the coming of the king on which our hearts should be set.
Agrippa is astonished at Paul’s words, thinking him out of his mind. Paul shows no great respect to the king, sharing with him that his hope is that all those present should be converted to the faith and be like him, with the exception of his chains. Interestingly, it seems Paul could have been set free if he had not appealed to Rome but since he did, the law required him to have the hearing he asked for. He had a divine appointment and promise that he would bear witness in that place as well and Luke was part of the company that went with him. Paul has borne the loss of all things and even in chains he continues to extol the virtues and glories of Jesus.
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
he whose word cannot be broken
formed thee for his own abode;
on the Rock of Ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
thou may'st smile at all thy foes.
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