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person in his kingdom? Yes, indeed, if people are loyal to their king they will want to do as the King wills.
1:6. His father made a fondling of Adonijah. He, in return, made a fool of his father.— M. Henry. 1:8. For the history of Zadok and Benaiah see 2 Sam uel 8 :1 7 ; 15:24; 2 1 :53 ; 8 :18 ; 20:23.— Gray. 1:33. The command that he “ ride” COMMENTS was especially significant, for no one, FROM THE under pain of death, might mount the COMMENTARIES king’s mule; to ride thereon was an V. V. Morgan actual declaration that he was king.— Horn. Com. 1:50. The horns or projections at the four corners of the altar, to which the sacrifices were hound, and which were tipped with the blood of the victim, were symbols of grace and salvation to the sinner. Hence the altar was regarded as a sanctuary (Exod. 21:14) but not to murder ers, rebels, or deliberate perpetrators.—-J . F. & B. 2 :4 . A reference to the promise made to David of the sovereignty being vested perpetually in his lineage (2 Sam. 7:11-16), which was confirmed to Solomon afterwards and repeated with reference to its spiritual meaning long after (Jer. 5 3 :1 7 ).— J. F. & B. 2 :5 . There are many instances in the Scriptures of the Lord’s appearing to individuals in dreams to communicate to them a knowledge of his will. Such dreams are to be carefully distinguished from ordinary dreams, for the ordinary dream has no significance.— Pract. Com. God was well pleased because Solomon chose what would enable him to be serviceable to others.— Arnold. 2 :6 -9 . This has been charged to David as a spirit of revenge in his dying hour. But not so. It was justice. It was to save life. It was to bring peace instead of civil war, which would surely have come and brought disastrous times, if. these criminals in high places and great power should be allowed to live.— Peloubet. 2 :1 0 . About six months after the coronation of Solomon (cf. 2 Samuel 5:5 with 1 Chron. 20 :2 7 ). The interval was spent in developing his ideas and plans for the future glory of the kingdom, and providing for the permanent worship of God (see 1 Chron. 22).— J. F. & B. 3 :2 . The '“ high places” were altars erected on natural or artificial eminences, on the theory that the worshipper was thus brought nearer the Deity. They had been pro hibited by Moses because of their association with idolatry (Lev. 17:3, 4) but, as the temple was not yet built in Israel and the tabernacle was moved about from place to place, they seem to have been tolerated without special rebuke from God.— Gray. 3 :7 . Solomon’s expression “ I am but a little child” is not to be taken in the sense of years but experience. He was probably twenty at this period.-— Gray. 3 :9 . Choosing is a test of character. It is not what we get, but what we choose; not money or poverty, but the love of money; not success in gaining pleasure, but what we seek first, that tests us as to what we really are.— Peloubet. People think that it is possible for them to postpone mak ing a choice. But it is not. Today every one in this school will again choose between godliness and the service of the world; for if you do not choose the one, by the very refusal to choose that, you choose the other.— Schauffler. It is significant that Solomon’s request for wisdom applies wholly to his kingly work and has no reference to personal holiness. The extent of power is the measure of responsi bility. Solomon-felt his responsibility, but did not seek the personal purity necessary to the conserving of that power. Hence, his record is one of the saddest in the Bible.— Pract. Com, 3 :1 0 . God was well pleased because' Solomon chose what would enable him to be -serviceable to others.-— Arnold. 3 :1 4 . He failed to meet the conditions and only lived about sixty years.— Pract: Com. ELEMENTARY Mrs. S. W . Barrett Memory verses: Matt. 26:39, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Psalm 40:8. What is a king?. He rules over a whole country or nation, doesn’t he . But does he rule over every individual
Who is the King God sent to rule in all our hearts? God sent the Lord Jesus to suffer and to die and to rise again from the dead that we who accept Him as our Saviour and King may be come the children of God. Do you know that some people are the children of the devil? And the children of the Devil say “ I will” when they do the things that dis please God, but the children of God who have made the Lord Jesus their King say “Not as I will, hut as Thou wilt.” God has told us a story in the Bible of how Solomon came to be king and how he asked God to give him an understanding heart.
The Young King’s Prayer When King David was very old he was taken ill and everyone thought he was going to die. One day the queen, Solomon’s mother, came to the king’s bedside and she said to him, “My lord, thou hast promised me saying, ‘Surely Solomon thy son shall reign after me and shall sit upon my throne,’ and now thy son Ad-o-ni-jah hast said, ‘I will be king’ and hast made a great feast, and my lord, the King, knowest it not.” King David knew that God wanted Solomon, who was then a young lad, about 20 years old, to rule the people after David, so the King called for the prophet Nathan and the priest and the captain of his body-guard to come to his bedside. There he gave them instructions that they should anoint the lad Solomon to be King at once. “That he may come and sit upon my throne,” said King David, “ for he shall be king in my stead, and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. The three men went out at once and made all the preparations for the ceremony. Just outside the city walls of Jerusalem was a beautiful natural spring, called Gihon, and there Nathan and the priest called all the people to assemble, except those who had gone to feast with Ad-o-ni-jah who had proclaimed himself king. The crowds gathered. Men and women, young men and maidens gaily attired in theii; very best bright colored robes, each one carrying their musical instru ments, and I think there must have been just troups of happy children, don’t you? At last they saw the gates of the city open and Nathan and the priest in their white robes came leading the procession. Then came the lad, Solomon, riding on King David’s very own mule and accompanied by King David’s body-guard of soldiers. When they came to the spring, I presume Solomon must have dismounted from the mule and knelt before the priest who had brought a vase of oil from the tabernacle which he poured upon the boy’s head anointing him to be King over Israel and over Judah. Then, at the loud blast of the trumpet, all the peo ple shouted, “ God save King Solomon.” The young King led the procession back into the city, through the streets and up to his father’s palace, the crowds of people following, playing and singing, cheering and shouting with great joy. And don’t you think as soon as Solomon reached his father’s palace that he went and knelt before that loving father who had taught him to love God, and asked for his father’s blessing? I think that is what he did. But do you know that when Solomon was all alone he prayed to God saying: “And now, O Lord, my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David, my father; and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or
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