Topic: CHILD DISCIPLINE
Text: 1 Kings 1:1-10
1:1 Now King David was old, [a]advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm.
1:2 Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her [b]stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.”
1:3 So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
1:4 The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.
1:5 Then Adonijah the [c]son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will [d]be king”; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
1:6 (And his father had not [e]rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” He was also very good-looking. His mother had borne him after Absalom.)
1:7 Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah.
1:8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.
1:9 And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of [f]Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel;[g] he also invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants.
1:10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon his brother.
STUDY:
One role God expects of all parents is to enforce discipline on their children. Proverbs 29:15 states thus; “The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.” We may never know for sure why the father is not mentioned in this instruction.
We see in our text today where the above scripture played out clearly. Adonijah felt it was his turn to ascend the throne of Israel. He never allowed his father, David, who was still alive, to make the pronouncement rather he organised his coronation group and took them to where they would crown him king. He also extended his invitation to a selected few and left out others.
Though he may have been the eldest after Absalom, but it was not right for him to declare himself king. The problem lies in v. 6a. “And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” Though David was a very reputable King in Israel, he was very weak in enforcing discipline at the home front. This led to some of his children misbehaving. Please, keep an eye on your children so that they will not grow out of control and bring shame to the family.
Prayer:
Lord, please give me the grace to bring up my children in your unity. Amen.
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