Leaving a Challenge – 1 Kings 2:1-12

In the movie “Saving Private Ryan” the said private is finally saved by Captain Miller but only at the cost of Miller’s own life. As he is dying, Miller tells private Ryan to “earn this.” He passes on a challenge that to the end of Ryan’s life he seeks to live out.

David is dying and he too has a challenge to pass on.

When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 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.’

“Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. And there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.”

Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. (1 Kings 2:1-12, ESV)

Death is the final leveler. No one escapes it, not even the great among us. But for the leader death should also be a time of handing over one’s wisdom and mantle. We need challenges to live great lives before God. The dying have great power to pass on such a challenge.

David recognizes that his son’s rule will be filled with danger, the greatest being failure to follow Yahweh’s ways. Though when Yahweh promised David a dynasty He did not make it conditional on his or his son’s obedience, the individual success of any man on his throne would be directly tied to his loyalty to Yahweh. It is Solomon’s failure to maintain such loyalty that will be his undoing and the undoing of the kingdom.

But there are other threats in the form of those who would wrest power from Solomon. Joab had already shown himself a threat when he backed Adonijah as king. David had spared his life but knows that Solomon must not. Yet Solomon must find a wise way to dispose of Joab. And Shimei of the house of Saul is still a threat, yet David swore he would not kill him, so Solomon must find a wise way to do so. It is a shame that in such times the only answer to things would be violence.

Were David’s challenges to Solomon appropriate? Probably. We must be careful that the challenges we leave to our successors are not unhealthy or inappropriate. They may be too burdensome or simply wrong.

David’s death led to Solomon’s reign on his father’s throne and the firm establishment of his kingdom. David has succeeded as a leader for his people. Every other king on his throne will be compared to him. His heart for God and his leadership under God changed Israel forever. What will be the legacy of your leadership and mine? Will we at our deaths hand over something precious the Lord has enabled us to create?